RAGBRAI 2010 first time

[Trek-chick]

According to their website...just try to get 1000 miles under your belt before the event and you will do fine. I am not fast either, by any means, I just want to have fun, meet some TE'ers and, eat my way across Iowa!!!!!

[Catrin]

According to their website...just try to get 1000 miles under your belt before the event and you will do fine. I am not fast either, by any means, I just want to have fun, meet some TE'ers and, eat my way across Iowa!!!!!

Sounds like fun - and with cycling a metric or so a day we can certainly eat our way across Iowa Right now I am much better at endurance than speed - so that is a good sign

[divingbiker]

I would definitely be up for this, as long as I could use the tent setup/breakdown service. (When I did a tour in Nebraska a few years ago, I was the last one out of camp because I wore earplugs and didn't wake up. Tearing down camp was a pain.)

I did two days of RAGBRAI in 2005, and had a great time. Of course I got to sleep in a bed at my friend's house, so that helped. It was amazingly hilly, but I was borrowing a hybrid with low gears, so I was spinning up hills past guys on their road bikes with doubles.

So all that is to say I'll be watching for the November thread.

[northstar]

I got to ride the Tuesday ride this year - it was the most fun I've ever had on a bike! Would love to see some TE gals next year. Woo hoo!

P.S...the food? EXCELLENT

[Possegal]

I'll be watching for the Nov thread too. This really appeals to me. Of course I'll be in the slow and steady group, for any other members who are looking for that group.

[TrekTheKaty]

I ride my bike so I can eat anything I want, so this sounds like paradise!

I tried to drive through Burger Kind on a 38-mile organized ride on Sunday--but my group missed the turn My order never caught up with me.

[slowandsurly]

I cannot even begin to describe how much fun I had on RAGBRAI. My friend and I rode the entire week and we enjoyed every moment. We took the advice of many and really stopped to enjoy the towns and the people. We found ourselves riding in the back most of the time, which was a really fun place to be. Not to mention it was alot less crowded. I would love to do this ride again next year. This was a good year for RAGBRAI virgins like me, since it was flatter and shorter than other years. I was worried because I only put in 100 miles this season (I'd been focused on running instead), and I do not have any hills to train on. But I was fine. I only walked one hill (Potters Hill) on the last day. It really felt like we were just biking from one festival to the next. As a matter of fact at some point along the route, maybe wed or thurs I saw a sign that said Free Central Iowa Water at the next stop. And it was at that point that I remembered I was biking across Iowa. We were having so much fun biking from one town to the next that I forgot! We used the Register's Baggage truck for our luggage, and camped every night except friday. We were fortunate enough to get to sleep in a house and have a home cooked meal. We were really lucky, the weather was great except for a storm friday morning.

I was very sad to hear about the rider that died. We were in the pack fairly close to the ambulance and watched as the helicopter landed. But we got there after the accident and did not know much about what happened until we read the papers. My thoughts go out to his family and community.

I can't wait to do this ride again. I'm starting to get over the withdrawal I experienced the first couple of days this week, but now I have to convince myself I don't need to keep eating liking I'm biking 60-80 mi a day! I've been searching for pork chops, pie, and ice cream at every intersection! If you haven't ridden RAGBRAI yet, do it... you won't regret it. We met many people who were there alone, no team or charter and they were having a great time. I think riding with a team would be alot of fun too.

RAGBRAI exceeded all our expectations!

[Bike Chick]

So glad to hear you had such a good time. It is an experience like no other! I gained weight the week I did RAGBRAI. Pie, pork chops and ice cream! Mmmmm good

[kjay]

1) Comraderie. I don't want to show up in Iowa alone! If there was a group to visit with before and after, I don't mind riding by myself (I'm not fast, but a good distance rider). So far no one in my family has been willing to go.

2) I believe if one member of the group gets picked in the lottery, the whole team is in.

Ideally, if we had a big enough group, we should be able to break up into skill levels. Then no one would ever get left behind.

THANKS, TTK! Good answers and I now understand perfectly. I had forgotten about the lottery.

[awm03]

I rode RAGBRAI for the first time last month. The most interesting rider by far was an 83-year-old woman named Lucy who was riding her 15th RAGBRAI. She rides with the Washington, IA bike club. What an inspiration!