Ragbrai part 2

[Djaric]

Figured I'd just start another thread.

So Ragbrai, what is it?  Its a bike ride across Iowa sponsored by the Des Moines Register that is going on 35 years stright.  (this year was 34)  Ragbrai stands for the (Des Moines) Registers Anual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.  It is a ride that always runs from west to east but varies in location and distance each year and has 10,000 registered weeklong riders every year.  Although many people join up along the way and there are also daily passes.  So at any time there are 12,000 up to 15,000 bikers or more going down the roads.  This years ride was 444 official miles with an optional loop on one of the days that brougth the days total to near 100 miles.  So either 444 or 464 with the loop.  And it runs the last week in July, this year from Saturday the 22nd - Saturday the 29th.

Saturday begins with all of the people and teams and what not assembling in the overnight/start town of Sergeant Bluff.  Pretty much I get there around 1, set up my tent and stuff with the club and then sit around and bake in the sun all day then go to bed.  As per tradition the first day was as sunny as ever, but luckilly wasnt as hot as last year.  Last year was just horribly hot.  I mostly just wandered around, scoped out the liquor stores, bought some stuff I needed, worked on my bike some and found a few folks smoking cigars.  Went to bed and then we all have to get our bags and tents and stuff on the truck before 7am.

Then we head out to Ida Grove, a short 54 mile trek.  Well, I did, the club all sort of left when they wanted to so I was on my own as usual.  Seeminly easy day.  We had hills but they were pretty gental going up but fast downhill.

[Djaric]

Monday Day 2, 77miles Ida Grove to Audubon
Then was the "FUN" day on Monday, going from Ida Grove to Audubon, a Distance of 77 miles.  That turned out to be 77 miles of horrible hills and 15mph+ headwinds for the whole day as we were headed south for over half of it.  Wow it sucked.  You know its bad when you have to pedal to go downhill. 
That night we had only 2 Kybo/porta-pottys/whatever for our camp area.  There were 2 others but they were a little walk.  Someone was thinking.  :X

Tuesday Day 3, 68 miles Audubon to Waukee
So onto Day 3.  Tuesday day 3 was much more enjoyable, with the overall elevation decreasing and a little shorter at 68 miles.  We still had some bad hills but not as much and we weren't into the wind, thankfully.  That night started out nice as we had our own virtually private camp area, since a few other teams didnt show up there and at least 4 bathrooms, maybe 6 I dont quite remember.  And it was QUIET!  So we were all hoping to get an awsome nights sleep.  Well, mother nature had other plans.  It started sprinkling soon after I got in, then poured! for a bit.  Then let up and quit.  Then later on that night a storm rolled though, thunder heavy rain, that whole bit.  My tent held up pretty well.  Finally getting to sleep, when the wind starts to pick up a bit and though my ear plugs (which frankly arent that helpfull at times) I hear someone over the emergency address system saying a storm is coming this way with possible heavy winds, rain, and lightning.  "Simply Awsome" I think.  They anounce their mumbly warning a few more times then it stops.  At this time most of us are out of our tents wondering what the fudge is going on.
See Last year, on the second night there was a huge storm that rolled though, 80mph+ winds, rain lightning, a few possible tornados and one person died when a large tree branch fell on him in his tent, sparing the two other people in the same tent.  So we were a little weary of that happening again.  Some of us headed towards the emercency shelter, some of us stayed in their tents, some in the UHaul truck and some of us, and Me found shealter in a nearby house that was nice enough to let us in.  Well turns out it wasnt that bad, but I'm glad I wasnt outside in it as I start to freak out in storms when im stuck in my tent.  Mostly the whole "Ok wheres the water?  Wheres it goingn to leak!  Why isnt it leaking yet!" Part along with the wind and not knowing whats going on.  But my tent faired just fine in the morning.  My bags that I had put garbage bags over were nice and dry. 

OH yea, on the way in Tuesday, we were directed onto a very nice blacktoped 4lane highway, with one lane blocked off for bikers to come into town.  Well going along, I hear a cop car fire up the sirens behind me, and then I look back to see a pickup pulled over, but the cop car isnt stopping for him!  I see this bike fly by with this cop car right behind him.  He pulls off, and the car pulls up behind him, but I kept riding.  I asked some people behind me what had happend and apparently the kid was TAILGATING a pickup truck!  Said he was going like 40.  I wonder if he got a ticket, that would be something to be proud of, I guess.  But the dude was some jerkoff kid in his early 20s if that.  With no helmet even, so he had it coming. 

[Djaric]

On to Wednesday, day 4.  70 miles. From Waukee to Newton.
This ride was pretty uneventfull.  I met some people along the way who were from Iowa City, near where I live in Cedar Rapids.  Somehow I managed to meet up with them for most of the rest of the ride.  Or did I meet them Tuesday?  Eh, whichever.  The hills were less, but still very much present. 
OH yea I remember.  This was a day Lance Armstrong added for riding.  I met up with them just outside of Bondurant.  Or rather a huge pack of 60+ bikers flew past me going "ON YOUR LEFT!"  I think I saw Lance up in front.  They were followed by an Ambulence.  Wodner why.  I'll just say it wasnt for Lance.  Had some great Chinese buffet in Newton with a tastey Tsing Tao beer.  Downtown Newton was packed because Lance was giving some sort of speach in the beer garden about cancer this and that.  I didnt really care that much, so I just had dinner.  Should have brought a smoke with me, that would have helped to pass the time.  Also picked up my "new" bike that I got to ride for all of Thursday. 
A Cannondale 6-13 full carbon frame and fork.  And seat post. 


They said the full carbon frame bike starts at around $3,800.  hock:  Although the almost as light aluminum, or mixed carbon/aluminum starts at around $2400.

Rode it around some, everyone with my group oooed and awwwwed at it and how freaking light it was.  The guy with the Titanium bike felt left out and was like, "Oh yea feel mine!"  But his was a bit heavier.    Rode it some more made sure the gears worked, and headed out.

Thursday, Day 5 77 miles, ~96 with the loop  Newton to Marengo
Uggh.  This day was opressive.  You went to bed wet from the humidity and you woke up wet from humidity and dew.  It was overcast for most of the day, but it was Humid. OH so humid.  And getting hotter as the day went on.  You just cant function to your full potential when its that humid as I experienced later one, but first I had to fix my "new" bike. 
Thats right.  IT would NOT shift to the big ring in front, and that was bad news because other then hills, I would be in that big ring.  So fiddled wiht it a bit, thinking it might have been a derailure stop out was set too tight, but that didnt quite work.  So I started out and rode till I found a bike stand.  I thought about having them look at it, but they already had quite a line.  So I just looked at it somemore.  Turns out it wasnt pulling enough cable, or rather for whatever reason, the cable was a bit loose.  Temperature change?  So I borrowed a few tools and sort of tinkered with it till it would shift, but it wasnt quite right but well enough.  I then helped out a woman, and her very impatient boyfriend? adjust her stem.  So finally I was off...  An hour or so later then I had planed.  This being a long day, that wasnt good.
So went along, dark, humid, overcast, wishing I had my different sunglass lenses in (orange instead of 'smoke')  Trying to adjust to the roadbike, since My beats is a mountain bike with road tires.  Noticing my hands are starting to feel numb, my back hurts and my butt.  Oh man, that seat although padded, was not very forgiving to an already sore behind.
So I get to the loop and by this time the humidity had to be in the 90% range.  The loop was 17 miles of bumpy roads and hills.  Lots of hills.  And this bike had no Granny Gear (the small one) so climbing up hills was quite a chore.  Although the bike was geared such that if I had trained on a road bike, it probably wouldnt have been a big deal.  So anyway, I struggled on and actually walked  hill or two.  hock:  The unyeilding humidity was getting the better of me at this point, so the free cookie stand was very welcome at about halfway.  By this point I had stuck my helmet on my handle bars and was rocking out with my skull cap.  (Yea bad I know, but come on.  )

But I survived and got to experience the great stretch of road of the town the loop is out of.. again.   Great as in, great for jaring things lose as there were bumps every 5 feet or so.  Took a break by the gas station near the start of the loop (Some people actually did it twice or more hock: ) A guy asks me if I got my coupon for the Century patch.  (They give out patches for riding the loop, a century is 100miles)  I go, "No.  I didnt see anyone handing them out."  He didnt either, so whatever, ill get one anyway dammit or else.  By this time the air had finally had enough with the moisture and was starting to sprinkle a little.  Never really rained though thankfully.

And then it happened.  Some miles later I had stopped to water the corn , and as im about to mount up and head out,  I spot a large group of cyclists lead by non other then ol Lance Armstrong.  hock:  "Hey!  Ive got the fast bike today, I might be able to catch them" I tell my tired body.  It was half true, they stopped not to far up the road at a famous vender weeklong vender on Ragbrai who sells Porkchops cooked over corncobs.  So I go, OOO PICTURE!  Grab my camera, and snap a picture of him.



I didnt get a chance to talk to him or anything as he was already surounded by people and a Camera crew who were following in a car.  So I mount up and wait for them to take off, and quite Proudly I sort of kept up with them, in my already tired worn out state. 
Until the first hill. 
Then there were just GONE!  It was quite amazing to see.  And you know he was holding back.  By the time I reached the top of the first hill, they were already on the second, so I gave up chase.  But it did get me inspired and found some energy somewhere..  So I stopped for home made icecream. 
A few miles after that, things once again got interesting as I noticed something was wrong with the cleat on my sandle.  Bolt Lose?, I wondered.  But I looked down and it wasnt my cleat thta was moving, it was the crank!  The crank on the bike was Lose!  OH CRAP!  So I pedal on and realize that, that was why the chian wasnt shiftign right either.  Because its a 2 piece crank, if one side is lose they both are and the whole thing had shifted.  I finally stop, flip my bike over and see what im up against.  Hmm Just a single 8mm hex bolt.  And of course I dont have that wrench with me today.  So I started asking people going by for tools.  No one cared.  "Oh sorry" said the guy with the double side bags in front, bags in back.  Whatever.  I know yo ass has some tools in there.  Finally some woman who was taking a break helped me out. 
"If I was lance you guys would suck my single nut to help fix my bike!!" I thought.
So I got going again, only for it to lossen up once more, so I finally stopped at a bike shop along the way and they tightened it up good.
The sun had finally started to peak out by then, and the humidity lessened.  I stopped for a smoothy and something to eat.
Then refueled, and with a working bike I took off for the last, flat stretch and made it ~14 miles in about half an hour.  That works out to be an average of 28 miles per hour so I was really booking it.    (I didnt have a bike computer on that bike, so Im not exactly sure)
Got into camp, we were lucky enough to stay in someones yard, and it was nice and quiet that night.  We also had our Wine and Cheese party that night.  Which wasnt really a good thing, cause I downed 4 champaign flutes of wine right away and then went downtown to find food and got myself lost for about an hour downtown, until the drunk wore off. 
I slept good that night.

Here is a view from Montezuma, one of the pass though towns.

[Djaric]

Friday, Day 6.  48 miles Marengo to Coralville

Now is the begining of the end.  Only 48 miles, was a pretty easy day.  Except it got HOT.  Oh so hot.  Somehow I was about the last one out of camp as usual.  Would have liked to have beaten some more people in, if nothing else for bragging rights.  I ride pretty fast, but you can only make up for so much lost time. 
This ride was pretty easy and uneventful.  Once again I didnt meet up with the people from Iowa City on the road though.  Rather odd I had run into them so often in the first place.  Coralville gave us a nice welcome and had by far the best entertainment that night.  They had a Cuban/latin Jazz styled band and then some guy that played a mean keyboard/piano.  I was groving along while reading a book and FINALLY getting to smoke.  Smoked an AF Chateau Fuente Maduro.  Was real nice.
The Girlfriend also came to visit me since its close to where she lives and her brother also lives in Coralville.  But it was "too hot" for her brother, wife and 2 kids to show.  I think they were just weinies. 
Was VERY upset trying to find our camp though.  Some Genious had only put up ONE sign and left NOTHING on the message board as to where they might be.  OF course I could have asked information, but we shouldnt have to.  At this point I was starting to get a bit singed by the sun, was hot, and was getting into a bad mood some what because of the two mentioned reasons.  Not finding camp just put the icing on the cake.  So that was Friday.


Saturday Day 7, Coralville to Muscatine, the final day.
This day started off misty and humid.  But not too hot.  Got a decent start until the two guys I was riding with decided to stop at a little cafe in Iowa City.  Ok.. No biggie this shouldnt take long.  Had what turned out to be a decent, but not great breakfast.  But at least had good coffee.  At around 10 or 11 am it started to get HOT!  Really HOT!  And I kept stopping to get free water as well as hose myself down to help cool off.  So thats all well and good, except I HAVE to be to Muscatine and find the truck and the bus before 2pm, when they leave.  So I keep stopping, time keeps on going and soon I notice its nearing 1pm.  "Oh crap", I think.  So I try and hurry off.  I finally roll into Muscatine at around 1:20.  "Plenty of time", I think.  So I start looking for my team signs.  And keep looking.  And keep looking.  And.....  WTF!!  WHERE ARE THE SIGNS!??  WHERE THE HELL IS THE TRUCK!!  Yea.  Ol Genius struck again.  Apparently there was a SINGLE sign.  Somewhere.  And then at the information palce, they actually said where they were, which was a ways away.  But I didnt find either of those places.  So by this time I am totally freaking out, because I will never hear the end of it from the team if Im late.  But luckilly my parents are picking me up so its not that big of a deal, but I still have to get my stuff.
So im freaking out, the sun feels hot as hell, Im probably starting to burn, need more sunscreen.  My parents finally find them all, and call me on my cell.  "Phew," I think "At least thats taken care off.. Now where the  hell are they anyway?"  Never did find the place they were at.  I took refuge at a gas station and sucked down some gatorade while my parents came to meet me. 
So overall, I had a good time this year.  IT didnt actually rain on us while we were riding, which is always a plus.  A bit hot and a bit hilly, but what doesnt kill you.....
Next year?  Oh I plan on it.  I had just better have a job by then. 


The jersey is a bit big, so it makes me seem more beefy then I am.   I'm dipping my tire in the Mississippi cause I MADE IT!! 

[FSU Stogie]

Sounds like fun and awesome job! I know I could not do that. I am not much of a biker unless its a bike with an engine

-Ben

[Djaric]

Random pictures follow.





These two tards in on the near left demonstrate perfectly what was pissing me off for alot of the ride.  PEOPLE DID NOT GET OVER TO THE RIGHT!  They just stayed happily in the middle or where ever they wanted...  :X














Could also be called the "Great Beer Ride Across Iowa" 





Heres a morning shot, from Thursday.  Nice and Hazy.

[Djaric]

Sounds like fun and awesome job! I know I could not do that. I am not much of a biker unless its a bike with an engine

-Ben

ACK you snuck between my posts! 
YEa it was fun.  Its not really as hard as it sounds, it just takes dedication.


phew now that I have that all written out I can copy and past it onto other sites.


need to resize some of those pictures too.  :?

[Djaric]

bump.  [happy]

[Headley]

Really cool DJ.  That's one hell of an event!

[Cigar Penguin]

Hmm,how did I miss this?
That looks like you had loads of fun.
The wife and I love bikeing and hikeing,we would have loved that.

Thanks for the pictures.