So as some of you may have heard (or maybe noticed my absence from the race circuit over the past couple of weekends?) I was in Iowa last week for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa or RAGBRAI. My dad and I had been toying with the idea for a couple of years and decided that this was the year so I joined the Quad Cities Bicycle Club last December for “guaranteed” entry (there is a lottery for registration) and marked my calendar. In the meantime, my dad began his training, mostly on his new Kurt Kinetic Road Machine considering the brutal Iowa winters and recent floods. (My dad lives in Iowa.)
Day T minus 2 (Friday July 18)
The Northworst flight to Moline, IL was ok. I made it safe and sound. My luggage, however, did not. I was standing at the baggage carousel, waiting patiently, when I spied a bag (hardly recognizable as luggage) going around and around. I thought to myself, “That poor sap.” As I stood there longer I realized that I was the only one left waiting and that duct-taped piece of canvas was the sole piece of luggage left on the carousel. After closer inspection, I realized that those were my clothes hanging out of that thing like the legs of a soft shell crab sandwich. I have no idea what happened. It was not overstuffed or anything and it was (read WAS) a sturdy piece of luggage. My theory is that it fell off the baggage truck and was run over. Actually, my first theory was that the C02 cartridges that I had forgotten to take out of my saddle bag had exploded, but that was not the case. In all of that, I only lost one arm warmer.
My dad had loaded up the bikes in the car so as soon as he picked me up from the airport we headed over to the trucks that were transporting our bikes from eastern Iowa to the start in western Iowa. (I had thankfully shipped my bike via UPS to my dad’s house.) As I unpacked my bike from the cardboard box I realized that the guys at Arrow Bicycle meant business when they said that the bike would be protected during shipment. It was disassembled… and I am no bike mechanic. I did manage to get the derailleur and fork back on, but was concerned about the headset and such, but no time to deal with that now. It was raining and I just wanted to get my bike on the truck. With that taken care of we headed to the house where I washed my clothes to get the dust and grease out of them, ate dinner, packed up the duffel bags and got to bed early.
Duffel bag packed and ready to go.Day T minus 1 (Saturday July 19)
We awoke to rain but today was not a ride day so no worries. We caught our bus in plenty of time and settled-in for the long drive to Missouri Valley, IA. The bus ride was uneventful and I passed time talking with my new best friends, Dean and Kently, as well as watching a video on how to ride a bike. I guess it’s mandatory for RAGBRAI riders. I got a good laugh out of it anyway. We arrived at the campsite, set up the tent, and went off in search of a mechanic to give my bike the once over and some food. With the bike taken care of and a belly full of spaghetti, we settled in for the night.
Dad waiting to board the bus for Western Iowa.
No, those are not denim shorts but rather lycra bike shorts made to look like denim shorts. Anyone know where I can get a pair? Sonja said she would race in them if I got them for her.
Tent City, night 1.Liftoff – Day 1 (Sunday July 20) Missouri Valley to Harlan
We woke up early (4am) and noticed that no one else was up so my dad decided to go back to sleep. Let me rephrase all of that. My dad woke up early (he’s an Army guy) and then woke me up and asked if I wanted to wait until 5am to get up. WTF? You wake me up to see if I want to go back to sleep! Of course I want to go back to sleep. I didn’t want to get up in the first place. Anyway, 5:30 rolls around and I decide it’s time to get up as my dad has already packed up for the day and I was afraid he was going to tear down the tent right from over my head. Packed-up, bags loaded on the truck, we set off in search of coffee and food and decided to just find something on the route. I had been told that you pretty much eat your way thru this thing so I assumed there would be something along the way. Boy, was that the right assumption. Within 5 miles of starting a 500 mile journey across Iowa I run into Joel and Lacy Steen. Joel races for Route 1 Velo, my former team and current club. I had heard he was going to be out there, but could hardly fathom the chances of running into him. About the same time I saw Joel, my dad and I stopped at Chris Cakes for breakfast. $5 for all you can eat pancakes, sausage, and coffee. Life is good. Or at least it was until my dad crashed. But it wasn’t a real crash. His wasn’t even moving when it happened. He just tipped over getting back on his bike after breakfast. It was actually pretty funny once I realized that he was not seriously hurt.
On the bike and watching the sunrise.
Chris Cakes... a staple of RAGBRAI.
Dad's boo-boo.
Dad!
Can you find the Chicken's chicken scratch?
This man is eating a ribeye on a stick at 9:30 in the morning.My dad and I arrived at camp together, pitched the tent, and got off our feet. My first bit of concern for him came when he went to stand up after his nap and fell over due to his legs cramping. Nothing some Vitamin “I” and Sports Legs can’t solve though. We had to be ready for the big 100 mile day tomorrow so we loaded up on pasta at the food vendors and again off to bed early.
Daily mileage: 57.29 miles
Daily hours ridden: 4:26:09 (yes I was slow and I don’t want to hear it from you!)
Alpacas!
Climbing with Dad.
Tent City, night 2.
Corn.
Food on a stick.
More food on a stick.
Dean with his seatless bike, the Mathias Bareback. (Please keep your comments clean!)We were rudely awoken at 2:15 am to the sound of a woman’s voice over the intercom at the fairgrounds telling us to evacuate our tents and seek shelter at the nearest building. We were herded into some sort of storage building and told that a vicious storm was on the way, possibly bringing hail and tornados with it. At this point I’m so tired I really don’t care anymore and lay down on the hard concrete floor (along with the beetles) to try and catch some more z’s. I notice that we are in a tin building (tin roof, tin walls) and I can’t help but wonder… is this really any safer than my tent? After an hour, the storm passes and we are sent back to our tents. My dad and I are lucky… our tent survived the storm. Some of the other campers, well, not so much.
Everyone it seemed was getting a late start today. Even my dad slept in but he was chomping at the bit to go by 6:30. I did manage to get my stuff together and we hit the road at 7am. The day’s route was 83 miles, which could be extended to 100 if so desired. We desired, and I’m glad we did. The Karras Loop circled around a state park and for once, I was riding beside a lake with trees and not cornfields. It was only the second day and I was already bored with corn. In fact, I must say that Western Iowa looks exactly like Eastern Iowa. The week’s longest day also brought the most climbing. Yes, there are hills in Iowa, brutal ones at that! By this time my dad and I had it worked out… I would ride ahead and wait for him at the next town. This saved my knees from climbing at 5mph. (Dad – you need to do some hill training!!!) My lesson for the day was that tandems are fun to draft behind. Also, sno-cones are good ride food. The one that I had in Coon Springs was exactly what I needed when I was about to bonk. After the last town I raced ahead to get a good campsite, set up the tent, and waited for Dad. For dinner, we tracked down a pork loin sandwich. You can maybe avoid eating corn in Iowa, but it’s impossible to avoid the pork. (Besides, any good Iowan knows that the corn is not ready yet.)
Daily mileage: 95.45 miles
Daily hours ridden: 6:52:17
The place to go for coffee, gatorade, and donuts.
Ready for 100 miles, day 2.
More corn.
I think these were the only trees I saw during the entire week.
Hills in Iowa.
Fred, I mean Dad.
Team Kum and Go. How do I sign up?
These Amish (?) girls were making homemade ice cream with these John Deere engines.Day 3 (Tuesday July 22) Jefferson to Ames
By this time my dad and I had an understanding. I was not going to wake up before 5:30 so he would get his stuff together and leave me alone. Today’s ride was only 55 miles and flat… a piece of cake compared to yesterday… so I decided to try to find some other riders to play with. I rode tempo and kept an eye out for pacelines. I only had two rules 1) if anyone in the paceline had aerobars I avoided it, and 2) no Freds! With these criteria, it was pretty hard to find a good paceline but finally one passed me that looked promising. I hopped on the back but soon realized that my “no Freds” rule was in jeopardy. I guess most guys when they see a woman riding tempo in front of them, they have to speed up when they pass to look good. I had moved up from the back of the paceline because of the gaps that the guys were letting form and found myself second wheel. I glanced at my bike computer and the speed was whatever it was – I can’t remember. When the guy in front of me pulled off I maybe increased the speed by less than ½ a mile per hour. Barely negligible. Anyway, I dropped them and sat up to wait. I was rudely told “Pull longer, not harder!” I wanted to say “If you hadn’t tried to impress me with your massive speed when you passed me you wouldn’t be whining like a little girl right now,” but I didn’t. I wound up taking a 5 minute pull. Back in the paceline I again moved up to second wheel and was urged to take a pull going up a slight hill. I maintained a good speed and could tell I had someone on my wheel but when I pulled off, there were just 3 of us. And my favorite quote… “You left some victims back there.” Me and my two new friends wound up pacelining into Ames. What fun because now we were taking steady but fast pulls, each sharing equally in the work.
There were not a lot of memorable towns on today’s ride, or maybe by this time they were all sort of running together. Boone did seem kinda cool… or maybe it was Ogden. I did see signs for the “Battle of the Bulge” something or other. Not sure what that was all about.
The overnight town of Ames is the home of Iowa State University and we were camping on campus. I once again collected the bags from the truck, set up the tent and waited for Dad while indulging in a beer courtesy of Greg from the Donner Party (slogan: We eat the slow ones.). We shuttled into downtown for dinner because I had heard about a local microbrewery, and I swear I met Chris K’s twin on the bus. This woman looked, talked and acted just like her. The big excitement for the evening was the fact that Lance had ridden and was expected to make an appearance at the Livestrong camp. Oh, and Styx was performing. I may have drummed up some enthusiasm about the Styx concert but they were not playing until 9pm, way past my bedtime these days.
Daily mileage: 54.88
Daily hours ridden: 3:34:27
Self portrait with Dad in the background. He kept telling me I was going to crash.
Flood damage.
Dad passed out in the tent with a flier stuck to his leg.
"We eat the slow ones."Day 4 (Wednesday July 23) Ames to Tama-Toledo
I don’t have a lot of fond memories about this day. I felt like Valverde cracking on the Hautacam. The day started with some Fred telling me I was riding too close to him. Funny thing is that he was BEHIND me when he told me this. My response was to tell him such and that he had control over how close I was since he was BEHIND me. I spent most of the day riding alone into a hellacious headwind and the day was surprisingly hilly as well. Finally an Air Force dude passed me with about 10 people on his wheel. I jumped on looking for a respite from the wind. Well, this dude was fast and eventually it was just the two of us, but then he cracked me on a climb outside of the final thru-town of Montour. I limped into town and found the beer garden and quickly downed 2 beers while waiting on good ole pops. A bit of miscommunication led me to believe that my dad had slipped by me so I took off on the final 8 miles to the overnight town of Tama-Toledo. I believe I was doing about 8 mph by this time… completely cracked… when 2 angels appeared and pulled me into town at a much more reasonable pace.
Once at the campsite, I set up the tent and collapsed. That is, until I realized we were camped next to the Livestrong group with their RV’s and satellite TV’s and they were watching the L’Alpe d’Huez stage. Ah, nothing like a nice cold beer and watching the Tour after a hard day on the bike. When Dad arrived we found a pizza joint in downtown Toledo and watched the Meskwaki Indians perform a dance. This reminded me of something. Lot’s of people use the cornfields as a bathroom during RAGBRAI. I resisted, not because of some hang-up about public urination, but because of that movie Children of the Corn. Remember the evil kid’s name in that movie… Malachai? Anyway, not really related, just rambling at this point.
Daily mileage: 77.06
Daily hours ridden: 5:08:51
Crazy unicyclist.
Locals.
My angels. I drafted these guys on the way into Tama-Toledo.
Meskwaki Indians.Day 5 (Thursday July 24) Tama-Toledo to North Liberty
As the week wore on, my notes were getting sparser and harder to decipher so all I remember about this day is the rain and the fact that I ate donuts for breakfast. I rode the first 50 miles with my dad, who seemed to be getting stronger with every day, then raced the last 20 alone to get to camp. I did have a flat tire and set a new record for myself in changing it, although with the rain, the CO2 froze my valve stem and I had to wait for it to unfreeze before I could close it. Along the way, I saw chickens, pigs, and apparently the world’s largest bull. When Dad rolled into town we headed over to the Iguana Grill because I was craving margaritas and Mexican. Dad says the best service is always in Mexican restaurants although he may be biased. I also broke down and bought some chamois cream at the vendor expo. I’ve never used the stuff but several unmentionable problems had me willing to give it a try. There was a nice zydeco band playing at the beer garden, but once again I was too tired to venture out past 9 pm. I’m getting old!
Daily mileage: 71.99
Daily hours ridden: 5:25:23
Dad and I at the start of Day 5.
Polish show hens.
Foghorn Leghorn?
I so wanted to do this for the free lei.Day 6 (Friday July 25) North Liberty to Tipton
Again, donuts for breakfast. They seemed to work well yesterday so Dad and I once again hit up the Kum and Go for the fried golden and glazed goodness, some coffee, and Gatorade. Today was a shorter, flatter day so I was on the lookout for a good paceline, which I found in the form of the Air Force Cycling Team. We played well together but I had to leave them at Lisbon as that was the designated meeting town for me and my dad. Lisbon was an interesting town, apparently known for its kraut and brats. Too bad I was here at 9:30 in the morning. It just didn’t seem right to have a beer and a brat at the time.
During the last part of the day’s ride I found myself in another paceline and again caused a split so it was just 2 of us. When I dropped back to get some rest I noticed the guy had Capitol Hill Bikes on one of his jersey pockets. Turns out he is from VA and used to work at CHB. What a small world! We parted ways when we hit Tipton as his campsite was just outside of town and the QCBC campsite was in town. Anyway, it was nice to run into “Double L” on the ride.
As was the order of the week, I set up camp and waited for Dad. Dinner was pork. So far I had managed to not have a single piece of corn on this trip and I did not want to ruin my streak. We also stumbled across the Tipton Bakery and made note of it for the morning donut run. I had been looking forward to the “sausage pancake on a stick” that I had seen advertised, but the idea of fresh donuts was too much to resist.
Daily mileage: 63.61
Daily hours ridden: 3:44:19
If it was not 9:30 in the am I would have let my kraut go wild. Maybe next time.
This woman was selling her large melons.
So many beer gardens... so little time.
My Air Force buddies.Day 7 (Saturday July 26) Tipton to LeClaire
The last day. I am filled with relief that we only have 50 miles to ride today, and sadness that this is almost over, as well as a bit of pride because my father has ridden 450 miles and will complete his first RAGBRAI. I have to admit I had my doubts, but here we are packing up the tent and bags for the last time and setting off on the final day. I rode most of the day with him, except for when I bumped into Scott from NCVC. Again, what a small world!
Self portrait #2 (Dad again in the background)on Day 7. We are sporting our Fat Cyclist jerseys.
Scott.
Mr. Porkchop. Notice the ears.
Dad approaching the Mississippi River.
Dipping our wheels in the river.As we cruised the final miles I was almost in tears but smiling from ear to ear at the same time. We reached the mighty Mississippi River and as tradition calls for, dipped our front tires. We were done.
Daily mileage:
Daily hours ridden:
Memories: Countless
9 comments:
What a great story! And you had me laughing the whole time. What an accomplishment - plus, it looks like a blast. Go chikin and Fred!
Wow! Thanks so much for the post. I am going to be late for work after reading it, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed hearing about the race and the pictures were wonderful. Congratulations!
Hey....glad to hear you did RAGBRAI....I did it about ten years ago...3x. I did it on saggy thursday - winds like crazy - like 1/4 of the folks had to be sagged.
It's an awesome experience....pancake man, ostrich - the other white meat right? etc etc. I'll read your full entry later.
I encourage everyone to do it at least 2x.
Did you go solo or w/ a group that manages it for you?
btw...those jean shorts were actual pro shorts back in the 80's - as Carrera - a jeans company - sponsored a Tour team.
jaa - my dad and I were with the QCBC. They carried our bags from place to place and had reserved camping at each of the sites but that was it. We still had to use the shower trucks and were on our own for food etc. Next time I'm looking into the Pork Bellies charter service. I even had to brush my teeth with Gatorade one morning because I could not find any water. But at least our bags were deposited at our campsite each day so we did not have to haul them over long distances once we arrived in the overnight town. Definitely doing it again though! Too much fun.
Pork Bellies is awesome....I used them 2x - I recall its a a brother / sister outfit...or at least was in mid 90s. I can't wait to do it w/ my kids....
I have huge memories of doing the macarena (sp?) in a parking lot w/ 200 others all in bike shoes. And then riding a super fat paceline w/ John Howard while he was on his bike friday.... Fun Fun Fun...
I have a couple of friends that just got back from RAGBRAI. They are all still too pooped to put together much of a recount, much less with the humor that yours had.
How did you like that arch made out of painted bikes? Kind of Tour de France like.
Great stuff Chick! You made up for your time away w/ this entry. Although I believe Weds. went by without a Haiku. It's o.k. You get a free pass this week. Next week Pig Latin Haiku!
AWESOME! Thanks for sharing your memories, your Dad is a Rock Star NOW!
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