RAGBRAI elevation

[betagirl]

Ok, so this year's RAGBRAI is the 4th most climb and 6th most difficult ride overall in the past 34 years of its history. The first day is 10 miles of flat, then 35 miles of hills as we enter the Loess Hills of Iowa. That part of the ride, while painful, looks like it's going to be really pretty:

http://www.reflectiveimages.com/Brok...Grasslands.htm

Total of 17,325 feet of climb for the week, with distance*climb at 7699230. I realize that for those who live in the mountains, this would be relatively easy. But my training ground is Chicago, where my biggest hills are overpasses
Who says Iowa is flat?

http://www.geobike.com/geobike/profi...P=1977:2:2:2:2

Hopefully we're spared the headwinds and heat that usually go along with the ride. Though we've been relatively lucky with cooler weather most of the days the last 4 years. Wind? Not so much luck there.

Anyone else subjecting themselves to this fun!?

[KnottedYet]

My boss the bike goddess will be there. Her group always has plastic "Zippy the Pinhead" clowns on their handlebars.

Someday I'd like to do a bunch of the multi-day rides. I loooooved the one (and only) I've done so far.

[Nanci]

Have a great time! At least you won't be at work!!

[Pax]

We have a friend back in IL who's doing it for the third time, if we were still home we were going to help sag her group. As it is I'll have to check here for updates.

[annie]

Beta,

I'll be there eventually. Riding out from home (Dubuque), starting on July 21, with three other women. We'll be self-supported all the way. We won't actually hook up with RAGBRAI until Monday evening, or maybe sometime during the day on Tuesday, depending on our daily mileage on the way out. We are planning on 100+ mile days, Friday and Saturday, but one never knows. If the winds are really bad, that will slow us down. If storms come up, we'll probably try and wait them out. We're pretty flexible in scheduling, actually. And since we're hauling our own gear, which will weigh at least 50 lbs., we won't be moving any too fast. They will be long days in the saddle. But fun! We each ride our own pace and re-group often. We enjoy each other's company and riding out like that let's us have that time together before we hit the huge chaotic crowds of RAGBRAI. It is a very enjoyable time. This will be my third year doing it this way.

I know it's almost impossible to find someone you don't even know on RAGBRAI, but if you happen to see a small group of women, three with BOB's and one with panniers, it could be us! Come and say hi. We tend to ride later in the day, since we have no set time that we HAVE to have our stuff packed on a truck or bus. That way we avoid the huge crowds of cyclists on the road, too. Much more peaceful towards the back. If I see anyone on your team, I'll ask if you are around. Who knows..........

annie

[Sparky]

My husband I are going. This will be my fifth year. The second year I did it is shown on the website as the 2nd hilliest ever. I learned alot that year. I am hoping to survive again. Husband's first year of riding a bike, he is worried about the hills. We have the same training problem here in our area of IN overpasses look out.

We have inspiration this year with Lance riding. Maybe he'll let us draft on the hills. ha ha ha

[betagirl]

Annie and Sparky, I ride with Team Megawatts. There are only 2 women on the ride this year for the first 4 days, then we pick up a 3rd on Thursday. I'm the tall one Hope to see you out there.

This about sums up my team:

[annie]

This about sums up my team

Your team and how many others!! Is that you in the photo? Nice bright jerseys. Should be easy to spot. I'll keep my eyes open.

My "team" (all 4 of us) is Team Cheetoes. (Guess what our favorite snack/junk food is!) We have Chester Cheetoe t-shirts - I don't believe they make a jersey. Which we probably won't wear, since they'll be too hot. We have bright orange/black striped skorts with matching headwraps and team cheetoe necklaces, with cheetos made out of sculpey clay. We're still working on getting bags of cheetos to hand out, but since we'd have to carry them with us, that might not work so well. Smashed cheetoes anyone? I'll try get a picture of us before we go. Give you an idea of who to look for.

I don't expect I'll see anything of Lance. He will probably be in the overnight town before I leave the previous one.

annie

[betagirl]

Oooooooooo CHEETOS! Those are my favorite snack of all time. If you have them to hand out, I'll be following you the whole ride!

That's me in the pic, yeah. We tend to hustle to the beer town and spend an inordinate amount of time there. With a mandatory stop at Tender Toms of course. Mmmmmm. I have yet to eat at Mr. Pork Chop. It's just not appetizing to me. But I do like his bus.

We change jerseys every day. This year's jersey is purple with yellow. But we'll be in the orange one day. I'm not sure what the "schedule" is yet.

Here are some more pics for you to try to scope us out. We're a pretty laid back group, and lots of fun to hang out with. So if you spot us stop on by.

We rode up to Minnesota last year for the heck of it when the route was so close to the border:



I'd be the girl in this pic:

[Nanci]

The guy on the right is much hotter than Peter Reid!!

Nanci

[jobob]

You and your friends are ever so stylin' in your assortment of team jerseys, betagirl !

but Coors Light ?!?!? oh the humanity

[betagirl]

but Coors Light ?!?!? oh the humanity

LOL!! Let's just say the selection was severely limited at that bar. It was like drinking water. I think on all of RAGBRAI you can get bud lite, miller lite, coors lite and mikes hard lemonade.

My Irish ancestors roll over in their graves every year.....

[Lise]

beta, help a friend out. Put a guy aside for me, OK? Thanks.

(Peter Reid is very, very hot. I will not stand down from this position. )

[betagirl]

Alas Lise, they're all married. The 2 in the photo with me are from Atlanta to boot. There are a couple single guys, 2 on the east coast and 1 in St. Louis. But none are local.

I have to admit I had no idea who Peter Reid was. (Thanks google images)

[Lise]

Alas Lise, they're all married. The 2 in the photo with me are from Atlanta to boot. There are a couple single guys, 2 on the east coast and 1 in St. Louis. But none are local.

I have to admit I had no idea who Peter Reid was. (Thanks google images)

Alas, indeed. You can tell your friends that they are, at least, appreciated.

My friend, you must visit the Triathlon board occasionally. Thread Drift is particularly ...fun. Peter Reid has his own recent thread, initiated and largely sustained by me!