indyfabz

But how many of those cyclists did you wait in line behind for a shower or a meal or a porta-pottie? How many of them did you have to sleep 4' from because the camping area one night was relatively small? It's not the umber of riders on the road that is the real issue. It's the camp logistics. One important lesson I learned is to do things like eat and shower at off hours to avoid waits. For example, get in line for breakfast 10 min. before they start serving. If you wait another 20 min. you may end up with hundreds more in front of you. Start early and try to get done early and you are more likely to get a prime camping spot and a fast shower.

CO does offer what's called tent and porter service. For extra $$ you are provided with a tent and camp chair for the event. The service has your tent set up each day and retrieves your luggage from the luggage area. It sells out incredibly fast. AKAIK, RAGBRAI offers nothing like that. One of the worst things that can happen is to end up tenting next to a really loud snorer. Tents provide zero sound insulation. When I crossed the country with a group of 12 others we discovered on the first night that we had four loud snorers. From then on they had to segregate themselves from the rest of the group.

Re: the number of riders, a guy I met who did RAGBRAI told me a funny story. His was in the thick of the crowd one day and stopped to relieve himself in a cornfield on the right. He told me it took him several minutes for a large enough gap in riders to open so he could start riding again. That taught him a valuable lesson: Use the cornfields abutting the opposite side of the road.