Alternatives to RAGBRAI

[Ralph]

https://floridabicyclesafari.com/fre...ked-questions/

Florida Bicycle Safari....This ride has been going for over 40 years. It's put on by the Florida Freewheeler Bicycle Club (Central FL Club). Ride is in N Florida, second 3 days near Ga line. Rolling hills. Multiple rides each day. Haven't done it in years, but there is a 3 day version, and another 3 days at another site on Cherry Lake Campsite on Lake (not (positive about this) . Great food provided. breakfast, lunch, and dinner. also entertainment at campsite at night. (and beer) Your gear is transported to the second 3 days stay. Drive to the first 3 day safari. Never heard anyone say this was boring. Mostly I hear how good the food is. They hire a catering company to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

Cost and what is included. https://floridabicyclesafari.com/costs/

[verbs4us]

Anyone done TOSRV? Reports are that it's a beautiful ride, not too arduous and it's been going on for 60+ years. https://outdoor-pursuits.org/tosrv/ There is also the PanMass Challenge, which is a fund-raiser for Dana Farber Center Institute--crosses Massachusetts west to east, so you can appreciate the hills early and spend then next 200 miles recovering. https://www.pmc.org/

[merckxman]

The Bon Ton Roulet is a seven-day bicycle tour through the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Camping, college dorms and motel/hotel options.
https://www.auburnymca.org/BonTonRoulet

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by merckxman

The Bon Ton Roulet is a seven-day bicycle tour through the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Camping, college dorms and motel/hotel options.
https://www.auburnymca.org/BonTonRoulet

That definitely looks interesting. I was in Ithaca a couple years ago and I liked the area for riding.

[old fat man]

North Cascade highway with a group of friends? I did it solo while touring but fell in with a group who organized their own 4 or 5 day adventure with a sag wagon (non riding partner I believe). There are good lodging options well spaced along the route and you could continue into Idaho and Montana or turn around and ride back to the west.

[Plum Hill]

I’ve heard good things about Bon Ton Roulet.
Closer to home:
https://www.bikewisconsin.com/grabaawr/grabaawr.htm
https://www.bikewisconsin.com/sagbraw/sagbraw.htm
https://www.bikewisconsin.com/bikeno...hwoodstour.htm
https://lmb.org/ride-calendar/shoreline-west-2024/
Hotels: https://www.pedalacrosswisconsin.com/index.html Northwoods is very nice riding.

[StressStrain]

Originally Posted by old fat man

North Cascade highway with a group of friends? I did it solo while touring but fell in with a group who organized their own 4 or 5 day adventure with a sag wagon (non riding partner I believe). There are good lodging options well spaced along the route and you could continue into Idaho and Montana or turn around and ride back to the west.

North Cascades is an awesome area for this! I haven't been road biking there in a long time but this suggestion makes my mouth water.

Also glad to have learned in this thread of riding in a group with rider/driver sag support - with a rotating rider taking a half or full day off to drive. Great idea!

[rccardr]

Just as a side note, one of our group (the estimable SpaghettiLegs) discovered that everything in the bed sans bikes could be fit/wedged into the cab and locked, thus giving him the option of riding back down the route to meet up with us.

[Marvinlungwitz]

https://www.tourdayoopeh.com/

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by Marvinlungwitz

https://www.tourdayoopeh.com/

120 miles per day! And $185 per day is pretty steep too. But it’s definitely an interesting thought. And it’s definitely a challenge to train for. I’ve done 120 mile days but never 1200 miles over ten days.

[AngryScientist]

Ha, yea, I dont know what kind of shape you're in, or what the terrain is like, byt 120 miles/day for 10 days does not sound enjoyable at all to me. Just too much.

[merckx]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Ha, yea, I dont know what kind of shape you're in, or what the terrain is like, byt 120 miles/day for 10 days does not sound enjoyable at all to me. Just too much.

I agree.

At some point one has to step aside and reject the hyperization of our existence.

[sg8357]

Originally Posted by saab2000

120 miles per day! And $185 per day is pretty steep too. But it’s definitely an interesting thought. And it’s definitely a challenge to train for. I’ve done 120 mile days but never 1200 miles over ten days.

There is always PacTour, worlds best grilled cheese sandwiches.

https://www.pactour.com/southern-transcontinental

[tellyho]

Yeah, I'm all about credit-card touring at this point. Buddies + interesting route + AirBnb and tasty food / beers + no sleeping on the ground. 12L of bag capacity and you're good to go.

[Doug Fattic]

I've done RAGBRAI for many years until our bike project in Ukraine got in the way. Part of the success of RAGBRAI is the nature of Iowa itself. Lots of small towns where everybody knows everyone else and all of your business. If you drive down a country road and pass another car/pickup, they are likely to wave at you.

BRAN is a bicycle ride across Nebraska the 1st week of June that is similar to RAGBRAI except it doesn't have all the riders. A couple of my friends i've ridden with on RAGBRAI have done this ride a couple of times and really liked it.

PALM stands for Pedal Across Lower Michigan and has about 700 riders if I remember right. They try to stay in high schools. They feed you breakfast and supper and you find your own lunch. I did it once about 25 years ago. Their mileage goals are more modest at only 30 to 60 miles a day. It comes through my home town of Niles every once in awhile. The last time through I tried to count the number of steel frames where they camped in the football fiend. I counted maybe 5. It is a family oriented ride.

GOBA is a 7 day ride across Ohio. I've heard it has about 3,000 riders. I've talked to people that have ridden it but don't have any experience myself.