Attn cyclists: Anyone planning on doing RAGRBRAI this year?

[prolesunited]

RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa®, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world.

For those of you who have never ridden, this rolling celebration of Iowa attracts participants from all 50 states and many foreign countries. It has covered thousands of miles through the years, and hundreds of thousands of riders have hopped in the saddle to pedal part of those miles.

RAGBRAI is a bicycle ride-not a race. It started in 1973 as a six-day ride across the state of Iowa by two Des Moines Register columnists who invited a few friends along. It is held the last full week in July and hosted by The Register's front-page cartoonist, Brian Duffy and a team of Register staffers.

The RAGBRAI route averages 471 miles and is not necessarily flat. It begins somewhere along Iowa's western border on the Missouri River and ends along the eastern border on the Mississippi River. We change the route each year and announce the overnight town the first weekend in February in The Des Moines Register and on our web site.

http://www.ragbrai.org/index.html


I am planning on committing to this soon by sending in my registration form. I already have the time scheduled off work. Iowa is close enough that I can drive it or do a charter from Chicago.

Questions:
Anyone else interested?
Has anyone done this event before?
If not this one, any previous multiday events?
Any advice?

[revolve]

1. It is not the oldest tour

Dalmac, the ride in Michigan from Lansing to the Mackinaw bridge started in 1971, so it is older, and thats the one I am going to be doing since it is my home state.

[prolesunited]

2. That was the promo from their site

Do you have a link for that ride?

Have you done one of these before? How are you training?

BTW, welcome to DU! :hi:

[revolve]

3. Ive done it a couple times

Yeah heres a link to the site
http://www.biketcba.org/DALMAC/dframe.html

Right now i am doing indoor training, riding and hour or so most days but I hope to get outside again once it is warm.

Oh and thanks

[prolesunited]

4. Thanks!

I'm training inside as well. I bought a Kurt Kinetic trainer this year and haven't had any problems. I HATE training inside, though. As soon as it hits about 40, I'm back outside!

It was warm enough to ride outside between Christmas and New Year's here and I happened to have some vacation time, so I was out riding every day and logged about 150 miles.

I've done a couple centuries and I did the Katy Trails this summer and put in about 225 miles in four days, but nothing of this magnitude. Any tips or things you wished you would have known the first time around?

[revolve]

5. Nothing profound

But Baby powder in the bike shorts does prevent chaffing

[BiggJawn]

6. Yes it does...

Sort of stumbled across that one, sort of "I wonder what powder would do down there?".

[BiggJawn]

7. Might "Bike the Drive" and do a Century this year

But I have to leave home at 3AM to get to the 6AM start time for BtD.

I think I should be able to ride a Century in less than 8 hours.

Indoor training Sucks. Calling it "The Hampster Wheel" just doesn't express my TRUE feelings about it.

BORING!!!!

[prolesunited]

13. You should do Bike the Drive this year!

It's not that long and there's only one slight incline when you're approaching Illinois. You know I'll be there.

Wanna race! :evilgrin:

On edit:
Here's the Bike the Drive link
http://www.bikethedrive.org/
Other than massive protests and huge waves, it's one of the few times Lake Shore Drive is closed. There's 15- and 30-mile options. Anyone else considering it?

Also, the Chicago Bike Show is at Navy Pier March 26-28
http://www.chicagobikeshow.com/index.html

Wonder how many new toys I'll bring home. :-)

[bikebloke]

8. I prefer independent touring.

Carrying my own loads and sussing out navigation, food and lodging (a spot to pitch my tent). Riding in groups never really appealed to me.

Right now, my steed is terminally crippled. The frame broke - and not yet 9 years of virtually daily riding. I've jury rigged a fix with coat hanger wire and some goo called JB Weld. Only with sub freezing temperatures, I'm worried about brittleness. Meanwhile, a war horse frame is being constructed (hopefully this will be my 20 year bike). At least the old frame didn't break during a milder season.

[prolesunited]

9. I did that last summer

solo on the Katy Trail. It was a transcendent experience to say the least. One night I camped out on a huge hill surrounded by farmland. Went to sleep under a magical sky filled with stars and woke up to watch a purple-pink sunrise clear the fog from the hillside.

My dad was all freaked out about me doing Katy Trail alone, worried about what could happen to me. When I told him about my plans this year, he asked if I would be alone and I said, "No, I'll be with about 8,500 other people. Think they'll keep me safe?" ;-)

I'm sorry about your bike. Last year I bought a Trek hybrid and most recently a Trek 2300 WSD. I've been working on the trainer on my road bike, but I bought it so late in the season, I haven't gotten many miles in on the actual road.

Where do you live that you're still riding? How far? What about snow and ice? Who's making your bike?

I quit at about 40 degrees. I guess I'm a lightweight in comparison.

[bikebloke]

12. DC

I pedal about the DC area. Commuting, recreation, hauling groceries etc. My car. I'll ride no matter how cold. Just swaddled up for deep space. Though it's not the most fun riding. For snow, it all depends on how deep. Last year, I took a freak fall on ice. My leg was supposed to go under me, then decided to try the other direction for a change. Half the muscles in my leg were ripped from top to bottom. It then turned such a glorious black & blue, I was tempted to frame and hang it on the wall. So I'm a wee ice shy for the moment. Usually when I take a spill (and that's very rare) the worst to happen is that someone saw me.

I once spent a year in the saddle riding New Zealand, the east coast of Aussie and a circuit in Europe. Later, I spent a month in the Scottish Highlands. Back when it was safe to fly with a bike and not fret over security goons knicking it.

Waterford is making my frame, customizing it to my riding style and loads. The rest of my parts will transfer over.

[DonP]

10. I've done RAGBRAI four times

... and trust me, I'm a ceretified fat ass. It takes as much treaining as you want to put into it. I've seen old ladies riding three speeds make it for two or three days.

My sister lives in Mason City and has organized family rides with RAGBRAI about 15 out of the last 20 years.

It's a great time and you learn that there really is a Missouri river valley as you climb out of it for the first two days.

The distances are always manageable with day long rides running from 45 to 86 miles on average. They alkways make Wednesday a day with an extra loop to do a century run, if you are so inclined.

One of the mainstays has always been "Bob';s Biscuit Buggy" that parks about 5 miles out of towen every morning on the route and sells biscuits and gravy, frsh to riders.

Each little town that hosts the 8,000 plus riders tries to out do each other with entertainment, music etc. The Lutheran Womens club makes their budget for 5 years with their spaghetti dinners to 4,000 people in one night.

Go if you can, camp along the way and have their trucks carry your tent and baggage from town to town. It's less of a hard core bike ride and more of a "happening" as we old folks used to say, or a "Rave on wheels".

[pmbryant]

11. That's always sounded like a lot of fun

I've never done that event, or anything quite like it, I think. In fact, the only big event we've ever done is the Texas Easter Hill Country tour. It is a multi-day event (3 days), but all the rides start at the same place each day, and we've only done one day each time we've done it (in 2001 and 2003). They typically have rides ranging from 20 to 100+ miles. We've always stuck to the shorter ones (19 miles in 2001 and 36 miles last year), but hope to do one of 50+ miles this year. Hopefully they'll have such a route that isn't too hilly. We can do hills, but I'd prefer not to do both hills and long distance at the same time; at least not until we can work up to it.

As you know, I have a certain family member who lives in Chicago and who attends RAGBRAI religiously each summer. I'd love to be able to forward any questions to him, but he just took off on a cycling trip from Hanoi to Saigon until February 21. (What a hard life this guy has! :eyes: )

But check back in late February and I may be able to help you out. :-)

I'm not sure how I'd react to cycling in such a huge event as RAGBRAI. But it sounds like a unique experience from what I've heard, and I think I'd love to try it out some day, just to see what it's like.

--Peter