My RAGBRAI Report
#1
Clydeasaurus
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My RAGBRAI Report
I am back home after a wonderful week of riding RAGBRAI. I feel I could write a book about the week.
I rode 5.5 days of the seven days (about 370 miles of the 477 total) of the ride despite planning for the whole thing. Day 2 was very tough, and I decided to ride the bus to the midpoint town and ride from there. In this case, discretion was the better part of valor as I wanted to be sure that I didn't overdo it and miss the rest of the ride.
On day 5, my CPAP machine broke in the night leaving me tired and cranky. When I got ready, I found I had a pulled muscle in the exterior of my right lower leg. It hurt to walk around in my bike shoes, so I opted to ride the bus with several others all day. Some ice packs, beer, and Ibuprofen made me quite roadworthy the following day.
In summary, it was the most wonderful cycling event that I can imagine. RAGBRAI had a profound impact on me, and I found several things along the way.
I found
Last brag: on the final day, I did 53 miles and averaged 16.7 mph. It was a great feeling rolling down the last hill and seeing the mighty Mississippi River in front of me.
Thanks to all of you who have helped me train, find good gear, etc. Best purchase for the trip was my Crank Brothers Mallets pedals. They are great clipless pedals and they are working well with street shoes.
I rode 5.5 days of the seven days (about 370 miles of the 477 total) of the ride despite planning for the whole thing. Day 2 was very tough, and I decided to ride the bus to the midpoint town and ride from there. In this case, discretion was the better part of valor as I wanted to be sure that I didn't overdo it and miss the rest of the ride.
On day 5, my CPAP machine broke in the night leaving me tired and cranky. When I got ready, I found I had a pulled muscle in the exterior of my right lower leg. It hurt to walk around in my bike shoes, so I opted to ride the bus with several others all day. Some ice packs, beer, and Ibuprofen made me quite roadworthy the following day.
In summary, it was the most wonderful cycling event that I can imagine. RAGBRAI had a profound impact on me, and I found several things along the way.
I found
- some hills: Day one at 60 miles with about 4000 ft of vertical climb showed me I had undertrained for hills. Around my place, there aren't that many good sized hills. I plan to ride them over and over and over. The hills of Iowa are beautiful to behold!
- my legs: About day 3 and about 120 miles into the ride, my legs really started to feel strong. I rode behind my first paceline on my trike (surprisingly, there was a draft down there.) As we cruised along about 19mph from Boone to Ames, I heard someone yell "look at that three wheeler fly!" Two other days, I found great pacelines with my Stratus and they were a blast. Surprisingly, I caught many roadies drafting me and twice they came up to me and commented that I was really flying along on that thing.
- my humility: Watching others go up the hills in perfect form was humbling. There were folks in their 70s on the ride and they were amazing physical specimens.
- my rhythm: I learned more about my body's rhythm for riding. My shifting became second nature on most hills, but there were a few where I misjudged my shifts ended up mashing my way up the right.
- extremely friendly people: The people on RAGBRAI are wonderful. Meeting people from all over the world who were pleasant to ride with was a great experience.
- food: I doubt I lost any weight, but didn't plan to do so. The roadside stands selling fresh foods, smoothies, ice cream, beer, etc. were awesome.
Last brag: on the final day, I did 53 miles and averaged 16.7 mph. It was a great feeling rolling down the last hill and seeing the mighty Mississippi River in front of me.
Thanks to all of you who have helped me train, find good gear, etc. Best purchase for the trip was my Crank Brothers Mallets pedals. They are great clipless pedals and they are working well with street shoes.
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2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
#3
Triathlon in my future???
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I haven't heard from other people in our area that were supposed to go.
How was the Harlan evening storms?
Great job.
How was the Harlan evening storms?
Great job.
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2007 Jamis Ventura Comp
2006 Jamis Explorer 2.0
2000 Specialized Hardrock (bought used)
Swim, Bike, Run and sounds like fun
2007 Jamis Ventura Comp
2006 Jamis Explorer 2.0
2000 Specialized Hardrock (bought used)
Swim, Bike, Run and sounds like fun
#4
Keep on, keepin on
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Ragbrai was one of the best bike related vacations I've ever had. We had great weather - except for one day when I got caught in the storm before Jefferson. Other than that - I met awesome people, partied everyday, and rode all 471 miles. I skipped out on the century loop, but who cares.
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Bike Fun Fanatic
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Sounds like you had a blast, good for you. Nice work also on your strategic decisions on when to take the bus. I should also consider trying this as a bike vacation.
#6
Clydeasaurus
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Awesome, B PIDDY! How was that 2nd day for you? How many miles did you have in at the start?
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2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
#7
Keep on, keepin on
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Well I was really banking on getting in a bunch of miles during June, but we've had a cool wet summer, so I only had maybe 600 or 700 miles going into the ride. I spread my miles over my three bikes and I never can remember how many each have.
The second day was by far the most brutal. I got a really late start and I wasted a lot of time in Kimbleton waiting for a few guys to catch up since they did the century loop. That was a weird day. It started and ended fairly flat, but that middle portion had some heavy rollers. Not to mention it was pretty hot that day. To top it off I got a nice cool shower before rolling into Jefferson. After that day, the rides seemed pretty easy. Tama-Toledo to North Liberty was a cold one. I froze the whole way. Thought I was gonna get sick actually.
All in all, Ragbrai was the most fun I have had in a long time. I feel like I accomplished an awesome goal and had blast doing it. The people in the little towns you go through are sooo nice and welcoming. My favorite part was high fiving the little kids in the towns. I can't wait to come back.
The second day was by far the most brutal. I got a really late start and I wasted a lot of time in Kimbleton waiting for a few guys to catch up since they did the century loop. That was a weird day. It started and ended fairly flat, but that middle portion had some heavy rollers. Not to mention it was pretty hot that day. To top it off I got a nice cool shower before rolling into Jefferson. After that day, the rides seemed pretty easy. Tama-Toledo to North Liberty was a cold one. I froze the whole way. Thought I was gonna get sick actually.
All in all, Ragbrai was the most fun I have had in a long time. I feel like I accomplished an awesome goal and had blast doing it. The people in the little towns you go through are sooo nice and welcoming. My favorite part was high fiving the little kids in the towns. I can't wait to come back.
#8
Keep on, keepin on
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#9
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I've been waiting all week for this report. Glad things went well! Tom where are your pictures?
#10
Clydeasaurus
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__________________
2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
#11
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Tom,
I'm glad you guys had a good time. I though about you a number of times last week. I even decided to call you to see how things were going only to flip through my phone to discover that I don't have your number anymore.
I'm glad you guys had a good time. I though about you a number of times last week. I even decided to call you to see how things were going only to flip through my phone to discover that I don't have your number anymore.
#12
Senior Member
Tom...wonderful report! I've wanted to do the ride for several years, have the dates marked off my calendar for next year!
#13
Clydeasaurus
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I read your katy trail tour and would like to take the family for that ride... maybe when the boy is 9. It seems very flat. I thing I would shoot for 4 days on the katy, though.
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2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"
2007 TerraTrike Cruiser (XL) Trike
2004 Rans Stratus XL LWB Recumbent
1999 Trek Navigator 200 21"