Ragbrai 08

[csm]

Got home this afternoon finally. the trip to IA started last Thursday. This was my first full ragbrai. Originally had planned to drive my eurovan pop-up but the driver situation fell through so I chartered with a company that has been doing it for years. made things very easy. they handled the luggage each day and had prearranged campsites. and they had beverage coolers with reasonably priced beer, soda, tea, etc.
it was hot. first couple of days were hilly (5000 ft of climbing the second day: in IA!!!) but the days were manageable.
it is hard to imagine just how many people are on the ride with you. I think they cap it at 10000 entries but there are probably twice that some days. I counted 15 Serottas, mostly legends. I saw one Parlee, a couple of Calfees including a tandem, a million treks, specializeds, and c-dales.
I rode with my nephew, father and son. I was a bit ambivalent about it as I recently switched jobs and had not gotten the miles in that I hoped for this year. after the first day, I rediscovered what I love about cycling; riding! it really did reinvigorate me and made me look forward to getting up and riding. each day I worried less about miles ridden, avg speed, time, etc and just enjoyed the moments. Iowans are really great people and go all out for this.
it was a joy to ride with my son and nephew. they have a routine that is basically Forrest Gump does whatever movie they are quoting. made some of the hills and head winds go by quickly.
I think I am gonna try and do it again next year! it was a great time.

[malcolm]

My wife and I considered doing it this year, but time constraints and other things made it unrealistic. I found the registration process somewhat daunting. I'm not sure I ever actually figured out how to do it. We may consider it for this coming year.

[csm]

the registration process is a bit time consuming. this year there was a lot of registrations for sale afterwards. lots of people got in on the lottery and then for various reasons couldn't go. I saw some registrations selling for $50 the wk prior to the ride. not sure how next year will be but am planning on riding it again. would be fun to set up a team and run it that way.

[BigMiles]

Some of the bicycle clubs in Iowa take Out of State members, registration is easy and you don't have to mess with the lottery system.....look up Iowa Bike Clubs and check out their individual website to see if they take Out of Staters

[TimB]

this is funny, as "Out of Staters" is the name of the club that I've used as our charter company every time (5) I've done RAGBRAI.

CSM, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself in IA. One of the...purest life-affirming moments I've ever had was on RAGBRAI. I'm sitting under some big shade trees in some small-town center square, with a 2-pound piece of church-lady peach pie I got for $1.50 when the local polka band gets up and starts to play. Septegenarians all, except for the lead 'singer' who is probably in her late 40s. She couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, but no one seems to care. Little kids dancing all around...

[csm]

I used out-of-staters this year also. my dad has used them for 5 yrs and no complaints.
I had some kind of apple pie saturday. had a topping on it that carmelized wonderfully during baking. the church lady wouldn't give me the recipe. said I had to come back next year. then she took my address and said she's see what she could do.

[gone]

I also did RAGBRAI this year (my second) and had a great time. I was with a couple of friends and we rode out to the start and did 100+ miles per day for 9 days (two days out to the start then RAGBRAI). We stayed in hotels or with friends so we usually got "our century" by riding out to the where we were staying each night and back to the route in the morning.

It was interesting because the experience was different depending on where and when we joined. Most days we hit the middle and gradually worked our way up to the front but one day we didn't join the route until 10:00 AM and got on the route about 7 miles from the last overnight town (Tipton). It's definitely a different experience riding with the folks in back. I've come to a conclusion about groups wearing matching jerseys:

If they're at the front, they're on the same race team.
If they're in the middle, they belong to the same club.
If they're at the back, they drink at the same bar. :D

It was great fun though and if you've never done it and get the chance to jump on it.

[malcolm]

If you use out of staters does that preclude the lottery? If so is there a fee and how far in advance do you have to sign up. What do you do about sleeping, camping etc. and getting your gear from the start to finish. We (the wife and I) are very interested and would like to do it next year. The registration process for this year was very cumbersome to say the least and we wound up with life events that prevented it from happening anyway. Next year it is on the schedule unless there is unforseen events. Thanks for any input.

[csm]

out of staters is a charter sevice and you will need a wristband number before they will allow you to join. you can reserve in anticipation of getting a number. I didn't hear of anyone who didn't get a wristband that tried. On the ragbrai forum there was a bit of bellyaching about bandit (non-paying) riders and how they should have been able to buy a wristband from someone who ended up not being able to go.
if you join a team then you get your registration through the team captain. basically if one member gets in, all get in. It is worth the effort. maybe we could start a team S Bend or team It's the Tubing Dammit or something next year made up of all forum members who wish to go. it is certainly something to think about.
there are a few things next year that I will do differently. wider tires, etc. overall though I was very stoked about the whole thing. I am still smiling thinking about it!

[csm]

the charter services haul your gear from one camp to the next for you. there are other services that some provide depending on price, etc. follow the link off ragbrai.org for more details.
oos had busses to take us from le claire, ia (the finish) to missouri valley ( the start). I left my car in long-term parking. it was pretty easy all things considered. we may try the camper van route next year if we get enough interest; if not we will go with oos charters again I suppose.