2008-07 RAGBRAI Bike Ride

Ray and LeAnn both ventured out to ride on the RAGBRAI bicycle ride across Iowa this year. Our brother-in-law John and neighbor Mike (thanks for all the planning, phone calls, emails, and coordination) along with 2 of his workmates (Shannon and Michele) made up the riding team this year. We rented an RV again this year for the overnight stops. Mike’s friend Matt (thanks getting us the best parking/camping spots everywhere) was our driver and support crew.

We rode 2 days this year across the middle of Iowa, both in terms of east/west and north/south direction. We started in Jefferson and rode almost 60 miles to Ames the first day and then almost 80 miles from Ames to Toledo the second day. Our route mainly followed the Lincoln highway (US 30), one of the first complete routes across the US.

We arrived in Jefferson on Tuesday evening and ended up with a parking spot at the very end of the county fairgrounds. This was a quiet area, except for the trains rolling through town and blowing their whistles all night long. It seemed as if trains went through every half hour or so. This was the case along the whole route. It was amazing how busy the train tracks were in this area, with coal, tankers and boxcars going both directions at all times.

We walked downtown and had a bite to eat (a recurring theme you will read about over and over again) and listened to some music before heading back to camp. On the way back, we walked through a very dark area and looked up to see a brilliant sky full of stars. You can see so many more stars out in the country than you can in the city. The moon came up and washed some of them out, but it was a beautiful sight.

We left Jefferson about 7:00 AM and headed east. It was a clear day with light winds (although from the east), relatively cool and flat terrain. There was only one hill to speak of, and it was a killer. A lot of people had to walk their bikes up the last few hundred yards. During the day we heard and saw a lot of ambulances going back and forth, which surprised us, but when you consider the number of riders (estimates range from 15,000-20,000 each day) and the varying skill levels and speed, it is easy to understand how accidents can happen.

We stopped about every 10 miles or so for refueling, either food or beverage or both. The towns along the route all have lots of food and drink to benefit the local community sold by community groups, schools, churches, scout troops, etc. Although the bike ride does not have a specific charity sponsor, everyone along the way benefits. The ride itself follows a different path each year and has been in every county in Iowa at some point in time. This was the 36th ride.

As we rode into Ames, we went right through the Iowa State Univeristy campus. There was a lot of open space and it looked very pretty. The campground was about a mile form campus in the football stadium lot. We arrived early on Tuesday due to the short route. We went over to another tent campground which had portable showers. These were individual showers in the back of a converted container van, 12 showers to a container and 2 containers on sight. It sure was a better set-up than last years open air showers in show barns!

Across the street from the stadium were the large festival grounds for the evening which included the food stands, bike stores and entertainment venue. The featured acts were Styx and The Nadas, and the concert was a benefit for flood relief which devastated a wide area in Iowa. RAGBRAI was also selling bandanas to benefit the flood relief. The crowd at the concert was very large, so it appeared to be a success.

We again got up and got going about 7:00 on Wednesday. It was another clear day, but the winds were a little stronger (again in our face), but the terrain was much hillier, one hill right after another all day long. The 20 extra miles and all the hills slowed us down, but we all made it in by 5:00.

We noticed during the morning that the food lines were a lot shorter than Tuesday (and last year), so we were able to walk right up for a giant breakfast burrito at Farm Boys, which usually has a very long line. We never did figure out why that was the case. There were probably a lower number of riders that day as Tuesday was extremely large due to the short, easy route and its proximity to Des Moines allowed a lot of people to come for that one day. The good thing on Wednesday was it seemed like we heard and saw less accidents.

Our destination on Wednesday night was Tama-Toledo. We had a nice long decent into Tama through the river valley. We saw some signs of flooding in the valley. Matt had done some scouting around town and befriended a local who allowed us to park the RV in front of his house and set up our tents in his yard. We were just a block from the courthouse square where the festivities were centered.

We hit the food lines at their busiest time, so it took some time to eat. But by the time we finished eating the lines for pie and ice cream were short and quick, so we topped off our tanks with some great home made pie and ice cream. Small little John Deere popper engines were used to crank the ice cream, and they always sounded like they were ready to stop running, and made a loud popping noise every few seconds.

There is a great amount of trust and friendship on this ride. Everyone is willing to help out someone in need. Local stores would set out power strips for anyone to use for charging cell phones. Many farmers along the side of the road would have drinks or food and just have a free will offering, no set price. Food and beverage prices were reasonable, and there was plenty of competition to keep it that way. Schools opened their doors for space, cooling off, or rest.

It is a fun experience and well worth the time it takes to prepare for the ride. I would recommend everyone try to do some portion of RAGBRAI sometime in their life. Not every segment may be easy, but it is doable. You see young kids riding, and you see 70+ year olds riding, many doing the whole week. It is not a race, so you just have to know your pace and work to that.