Sigourney, Iowa--I should establish right away that this town, where RAGBRAI ended its fifth leg on Thursday, was NOT named for Sigourney Weaver, the actress and gorilla-lover. I know this for two reasons: first, the town was here before Ms. Weaver, and second, it is pronounced SIG-or-ney, not sig-OR-ney.

It was necessary to do this because it is apparent to RAGBRAI riders that Iowa does strange things with town names. Today, for instance, we passed within sight of the water towers of Brooklyn, South England, North England (there was no England), and What Cheer.

Where the names came from no one seems to know because most of the townsfolk apparently descended from Slavs who spell their names using mostly consonants. When we entered Vining, we were greeted by two men playing Slavic polkas on accordians. In nearby Chelsea, the roadside vendors hawked a Slavic pastry called Kolaches.

Which brings me to the subject of food. Feeding 8,000 or so calorie-burners is a task of no small order. It works, in part, because of the townspeople, who evidently cook for weeks--cookies, donuts, pork sandwiches, brats, and so on--to prepare for the passing horde.

But the real RAGBRAI entrepreneurs are the people like Paul "Mister Pork Chop" Bernhard. Since 1983 Paul has been selling grilled pork chops for $5 right at roadside. He and his crew (his sons-in-law) are on the route every day, set up next to their old school bus, which is painted to look like a pig with wheels.

Other regulars are Tom's Turkeys and the rival pancake flippers, Chris' Cakes and the Pancake Man. But none have their deal down better than Mr. Pork Chop.

On a good day, he told me, he can gross $8,000, all cash. The key is to pick a shady spot at the top of a hill--never on a downslope where the riders will zip past--about two hours out from the day's start. That's when the pancakes are long-digested.

RAGBRAI isn't the only thing Paul does. Next week he'll be in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a bike rally of a different kind--Harley Davidsons. Paul says he likes both weeks, but there's a difference in customers besides Lycra and leather. Of the Harley riders Paul says: "They like to look rough and use the "f" word a lot, but they don't eat nearly as much."

Tom Fiedler, a RAGBRAI veteran, is political editor of the Miami Herald. In 1993, he cycled 4,500 miles from his home in Miami Beach to the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast.