Ragbrai - ho!

[emily_in_nc]

Oh man, so sorry that you got sick! But you still accomplished a huge amount of riding and hopefully had fun too! I am glad you got to dip your tire in the Mississippi.

Your post brought back my experience with Bike Virginia in 2003. I got so incredibly sick I missed out on the last two days of riding. Turns out a rather large minority of the riders had contracted a campylobacter intestinal infection, most likely from chicken poop on a wet road in a chicken farm area that got sprayed up onto our water bottles. Nasty, nasty, nasty and almost the sickest I have EVER been. Some folks had to go to the hospital. My DH was not affected, but he drank out of a Camelbak, so that made sense. I so hated not to finish the event, but it could not be helped. Some riders finished but got sick later as it affects everyone at different speeds.

Best of luck with the Ragbrai another year. It will still be there. And feel better soon! :-)

[judithlsm]

Oh man, so sorry that you got sick! But you still accomplished a huge amount of riding and hopefully had fun too! I am glad you got to dip your tire in the Mississippi.

Your post brought back my experience with Bike Virginia in 2003. I got so incredibly sick I missed out on the last two days of riding. Turns out a rather large minority of the riders had contracted a campylobacter intestinal infection, most likely from chicken poop on a wet road in a chicken farm area that got sprayed up onto our water bottles. Nasty, nasty, nasty and almost the sickest I have EVER been. Some folks had to go to the hospital. My DH was not affected, but he drank out of a Camelbak, so that made sense. I so hated not to finish the event, but it could not be helped. Some riders finished but got sick later as it affects everyone at different speeds.

Best of luck with the Ragbrai another year. It will still be there. And feel better soon! :-)

OH MY! That is worse than nasty, makes my "fragile" stomach sick all over just reading this. LOL Once I got over being mad about being sick, I could see I biked 4 really hard days and probably could have finished. I will bike on.

[ny biker]

Oh man, so sorry that you got sick! But you still accomplished a huge amount of riding and hopefully had fun too! I am glad you got to dip your tire in the Mississippi.

Your post brought back my experience with Bike Virginia in 2003. I got so incredibly sick I missed out on the last two days of riding. Turns out a rather large minority of the riders had contracted a campylobacter intestinal infection, most likely from chicken poop on a wet road in a chicken farm area that got sprayed up onto our water bottles. Nasty, nasty, nasty and almost the sickest I have EVER been. Some folks had to go to the hospital. My DH was not affected, but he drank out of a Camelbak, so that made sense. I so hated not to finish the event, but it could not be helped. Some riders finished but got sick later as it affects everyone at different speeds.

Best of luck with the Ragbrai another year. It will still be there. And feel better soon! :-)

A couple of years ago I did the Covered Bridges Metric in Lancaster County, PA, which is Amish country. Meaning lots of horse-drawn buggies on the roads. Meaning lots of horse poop on the roads. And it rained for the first half of the ride. So I went to a grocery store the night before and bought some Saran wrap to wrap my water bottles in. The bottle that was in reserve on the seat tube was tightly wrapped. The one on the down tube that I was drinking from was wrapped so that there was a flap of plastic over the top. So to drink from it I reached down, opened the flap, took the bottle out of the cage to drink, then replaced the flap after putting it back into the cage. It was a hassle and after a while it got all messed up, but it was worth it for peace of mind.

There are several reasons why I haven't done that ride again, but miles and miles of poop-dodging is definitely high on the list.

BTW there are new rules about food handling for Bike Virginia, which I think are based on the some new state laws. Things like volunteers having to wear gloves and hand the food to the riders rather than letting the riders take their own food with possibly dirty hands. And I definitely notice at a big group ride if they are taking precautions at the rest stops and post-ride picnic -- things like having plenty of hand sanitizer front and center at the tables, insisting that riders remove their gloves before reaching for food, having hand washing stations next to porta-potties. It may cost a bit more and require a bit more effort but it's better than having lots of people get sick. As a back-up, I keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my bike bag. (Yes I'm a crazy germophobe, and not ashamed of it.)

[emily_in_nc]

A couple of years ago I did the Covered Bridges Metric in Lancaster County, PA, which is Amish country. Meaning lots of horse-drawn buggies on the roads. Meaning lots of horse poop on the roads. And it rained for the first half of the ride. So I went to a grocery store the night before and bought some Saran wrap to wrap my water bottles in. The bottle that was in reserve on the seat tube was tightly wrapped. The one on the down tube that I was drinking from was wrapped so that there was a flap of plastic over the top. So to drink from it I reached down, opened the flap, took the bottle out of the cage to drink, then replaced the flap after putting it back into the cage. It was a hassle and after a while it got all messed up, but it was worth it for peace of mind.

There are several reasons why I haven't done that ride again, but miles and miles of poop-dodging is definitely high on the list.

BTW there are new rules about food handling for Bike Virginia, which I think are based on the some new state laws. Things like volunteers having to wear gloves and hand the food to the riders rather than letting the riders take their own food with possibly dirty hands. And I definitely notice at a big group ride if they are taking precautions at the rest stops and post-ride picnic -- things like having plenty of hand sanitizer front and center at the tables, insisting that riders remove their gloves before reaching for food, having hand washing stations next to porta-potties. It may cost a bit more and require a bit more effort but it's better than having lots of people get sick. As a back-up, I keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my bike bag. (Yes I'm a crazy germophobe, and not ashamed of it.)

Me too -- I have little bottles everywhere: purse, backpack, bike bags, and we have several in strategic spots in our motorhome -- DH is a germaphobe as well!

If I had had any idea there was poop on the road during Bike Va. (it wasn't obvious), I would have taken precautions too. Glad to hear that they are being more careful now, but in my case, it didn't seem to be anything the organizers did or didn't do.

Wow, you went to a lot of trouble with your bottle on the covered bridges ride. I think I would just have brought a Camelbak instead. But good for you for being careful and not getting sick!

[Crankin]

Wow, I never would have thought of chicken poop. While I definitely know the connection between that and illness (that must have been awful, Emily), I am so not a germaphobe. I went through a phase where I tried to use hand sanitizer a lot (around the time of the bad flu, in 2009-10), I eventually stopped, after reading a lot of articles saying it does more harm than good, especially for kids.
I do ride in farm country, but I suspect not the large chicken farms you experienced in VA. So, I keep digging my hands in dirt and touching things, using soap and water when I can.

[ny biker]

I do ride through farm land a lot, without really being concerned. It's when it rains that I tend to worry. And the Covered Bridges ride is miles and miles of poop-dodging. (To be fair, I know a lot of people who really love that ride and do it every year. In fact some go up a day early so they can get in some extra miles. It just wasn't my thing. I went up a day early, too, but it was to visit the the railroad museum and take a behind-the-scenes tour at the Strasburg Railroad.)

Getting back to RAGBRAI -- is it a different route every year, like Bike Virginia?

[emily_in_nc]

Getting back to RAGBRAI -- is it a different route every year, like Bike Virginia?

Yes it is. Even though I've never done it, I have read that the route changes.

Crankin, we only use the hand sanitizer that is alcohol only -- not the anti-bacterial stuff. I know that is not good. We also don't use anti-bac soap, dishwashing liquid, etc. We use regular soap, but since we're always trying to conserve water in our RV, the sanitizer comes in handy (and when we can't wash hands, like on a bike ride etc.)

I've done plenty of rides in farm country but almost never ride when rain is in the forecast, so this has never been an issue before. It really was awful and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. One of the guys in our bike club got even sicker than I and had to be hospitalized for awhile.

[judithlsm]

I do ride through farm land a lot, without really being concerned. It's when it rains that I tend to worry. And the Covered Bridges ride is miles and miles of poop-dodging. (To be fair, I know a lot of people who really love that ride and do it every year. In fact some go up a day early so they can get in some extra miles. It just wasn't my thing. I went up a day early, too, but it was to visit the the railroad museum and take a behind-the-scenes tour at the Strasburg Railroad.)

Getting back to RAGBRAI -- is it a different route every year, like Bike Virginia?

The RAGBRAI route is different every year. They have a huge announcement party in January. It may be a north route or thru the middle or southern as we did this year. There are repeats of start towns and end towns but there are not many towns on the rivers. They really to do vary the overnights also. Some towns are just too small to handle it. Repeats may happen about every 10 years or so but never has there been a complete repeat of the entire route.
BTW I am feeling better and have biked twice (short rides) since we got home.