paednoch

Not a Joke. This is almost too weird but MY lbs got a call this am (he is an official RAGBRAI shop) from the coordinator and said that Lance has heard about RAGBRAI for years and has always wanted to do it. Well I guess he is..If anyone here doesn't know about this ride it is the Oldest largest bicycle tour in the world. It is pretty much a party ride.. I have been doing it for 20 years or more and it don't get old. The links below provide the information from the Des Moines Register.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/app....dll/frontpage

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...15/1001&lead=1

Dead Roman

i could TOTALLY see lance doing that. I mean... its fun and non competitive... and lance has said many times how mush he hated racing the last few years.

paednoch

Lance likes beer because the Name of the ride now is Registers Annual Great Beer Run Across Iowa. Honestly I hope people stay out of his way and let him take in the ride. It is like Mardi Gras on wheels. Fun Fun FUn beer beer beer. (not all drink on the ride but those who do usually take hours to travel the meager 75-80 miles each day mostly embibing in the last few miles quite heavily and arriving in the overnight town AFTER the non-drinkers are in bed)

kuan

Man I'm there. Not officially.

cycle17

I have heard numerous stories about this ride from sooo many different cyclcists. Perhaps this is what I need to do next summer. This one is already pretty booked up for me.

deastin

Be advised if you do plan to do our little ride of two things. 1 Its cold in the morning when you get up and HOT as #$%& by noon, most people do not bring proper clothing, tights on the ride tend to run about 30% then usual retail. 2 Iowa is NOT flat. No this is not a joke. There will be at least two hilly days in the mix every year. While not mountains they usualy are very long and under the sun and 60+ milage days will destroy your will to pedal. Also the ride runs west to east because usualy the wind blows that direction out here all summer, expect for the week of Ragbrai when it magicly switches and blows E to W all week. Its a great ride and Iowa is a great place, just dont take it too lightly.

ken cummings

This almost sounds like a plug for RAGBRAI, as if it needed it. Lance is still a pro, I can not see him going on such a high profile event without some funding going to his Foundation. I am not being sour about it, that is just the way things are.

paednoch

IT is a plug for his foundation. RAGBRAI doesn't need advertising. The ride turns thousands of applicants away each year. This ride is HUGE 10000 registered riders and about 2-3000 non paying scabs. It is 500 miles and very party intensive. IT is the oldest largest ride of its type in the world. RI ders from all types complete this ride at their own pace. For some it takes a few hours to get the day done for others it takes all day and for some (serious cyclists who are also serious fun seekers) the days ride ends well into the night. It is the biggest even of my year..WARNING though there is so much food on this ride you will gain weight. Every little town, hamlet, and bump in the road has food stands everywhere. All at midwest pricing (50 cent pieces of pie 5 dollar spaghetti dinners etc. etc. etc and lots and lots of beer tents)

timmyquest

My buddy and his dad do this every year, i was thinking about doing it this year with him (especially now that i attend The University of Iowa). I may have to more seriously consider it.

Saluki

Lance ends up finishing in about 2 hours and spends 20 minutes fixing a flat and jacking EPO into his rear.

timmyquest

Ok....

Snuffleupagus

Neat!

I'm doing it this year on my fixie with some family/friends, wasn't expecting any big pros to show up or anything...mostly expecting beer and pie

Bizurke

I'm going to guess that he's going to show up on a day or two of the ride. And then every Fred with a discovery jersey is going to bombard him until he doesn't want to ever come back. I do hope to maybe see him this year though. It's a great way for him to get *more* word out about Livestrong and that's a good thing IMHO.

markwebb

My guess is that this is all just a big rumor with no foundation in fact - I can't imagine Lance just deciding to do a ride or part of ride across Iowa. This sounds more made up or a joke.

Lots of recent Lance sightings - hey it must be TdF time whatdayathink !

C-R700

I don't believe it is a joke. The Des Moines Register is verifying these facts in today's edition.

bridgestone60

When did he say he hated racing the last few years? I don't think that's true at all.

CyLowe97

Lance mentioned going to Iowa in July being part of the reason he doesn't plan on being in France (unless Disco is winning in the last week, that is).

The trip to Iowa sounded political in nature, as in getting a jump on the 2008 caucuses to help make cancer research a top political priority. No, he's not running for office, but looking to wield his advocacy power to influence politicians.

Here's the streaming from Tuesday's show.... link

By the way, RAGBRAI was a friggin' blast when I tagged along w/ my brother back in 1992. Anybody who rides it like it's a race misses ALL the fun.

FixdGearHead

It's mentioned on his Paceline site as well (www.theplaceline.com); he admitted the fact that it's a good move for his Cancer awareness - there's no real hidden agenda there, he's putting it out there. Not only has the ride across Iowa peaked his interest...he also see's a political advantage to doing it to increase awareness of the LAF.

markwebb

Ya got the url wrong - it's thepaceline.com

Secondly, you need a log in to read the release about Lance and the ride.

I'll believe it when I see it - Lance/Iowa/corn something tells me he ain't gonna waste his time on such a ride. He does not even do all of the LAF Cancer rides, so why would he do a totaly unrelated ride amongst the cornfields? Does not make sense.

If there is some other proof other than rumor and heresay and third person friend of a cousin info then post it. How about a link to the articles in the Des Moines paper? How about some other link that is not password protected?

This just sounds like a made-up story/hoax to me. I ain't buying any of it. Urban legends.

Sporkinum

https://www.ragbrai.org/

paednoch

Mark...You are a tool......A total tool....RAGBRAI is a great ride and part of the reason it is so great is because of pretentious tools like you don't go on it. Have you ever been to Iowa?... I moved to Iowa From NYC several years ago..mostly to get away from a$$wipes like you. I can't believe that a very large Newspaper wouldn't have Lance Plastered all over their headlines Yesterday if it were merely a Rumor. One thing I am certain of 12,000 cyclists riding across a pretty scenic state will not miss know it all likes whom I categorize as you.

ahem as for the rest of you...... Lances Publicist was on the Local D.M. radio confirming that he will be here on the ride for a day or two and possibly three. He also mentioned that Lance is happy that people like mark are not going to be in company Lance is not a fan of "tools" either.

turbominnow

The ms down here is capped at 13k and a few thousand scabs and volunteers. The HH100 has about 10k. I would love to do Ragbrai. How does the hotel/camping thing work out? I hate to drink and leave a mess for the town folks to clean up.

Sporkinum

The difference is that RAGBRAI goes on for a week and crosses the state. It's a rolling carnival. People do it on old 40's balloon bikes, 'bents of every size, shape, and description, 1 freak that does it on a unicycle, converted 16in kiddy bikes, not to mention $10k lightspeeds and $100 xmart bikes. Hotels are right out unless you booked them months in advance. As far as camping, it's an experiance not soon forgotten, but well worth the hassles involved. I don't know about the aftermath, cause I have never been to an overnight town after the mob has rolled through. The other towns really aren't trashed though. They generally will block off large portions of the downtown for the beer and entertainment.

paednoch

You wont leave a mess...each overnight town is given around 100,000 in "procedes for the ride" AND the Register (organzier) has a professional cleanup team handle the mess left behind. Its actually quite amazing to see the aftermath of a town of 4-5 thousand host 15,000 bikers and crew. Towns here in Iowa fight and scream to get the ride to come through. The town I lived in hosted it a few years ago and people were walking on cloud nine for the months leading up to the ride. The town got trashed but 48 hours later you would have never known the event happened. There is a significant amount of partying.. Lots of live music at each little hamlet on the route along with a beer tent at each little stop as well. Bloody Marys are big in the AM. It has to be one of the most unique week long tours out there. Remember serious riders in the front...then the family crowd....then the fun lovers...then the animal house crowd..The ride is so stretched out over the day that people are arriving in the overnight town when some people are just leaving the previous town. BIkers take over the route 3-4 abreast for 50 miles and NO CARS..anyone who is stupid enough to attempt to drive their car on the route would find out that it would take hours just to go a few miles. 20,000 riders are expect on the thursday of this years ride. Mostly because of the proximity to the ride and Des Moines (our largest city) and it is the flattest portion of the week.

Grasschopper

Maybe Ullrich and Basso can fly over and they can all race across the state.