outashape

Gus, I saw you on the rainy, muddy day at Mr. Pork Chops. You were talking to two guys. One of them called you by name which is what caught my attention. It could have been TT. I was standing by the heat waiting for my lost husband. I was going to say hello, but didn't want to interrupt you with your friends. Figured I would run into you with OOS, but never did see you. Dennis, my husband is a slow rider, and pokey about everything. We were often on the road by 7-8 am and still out on the trail at 7-8 each night. That is a long, hot week of days. I was exhausted.

Gus Riley

Outashape, yes, they were two my riding mates. They wanted pork chops for breakfast and I didn't. I stopped in the town prior and had a breakfast burrito while they rode on to Mr. Pork Chop. While in that town I spun the wheel and won a flashlight...pretty cool.

Wished you would have moseyed over! You certainly would have been welcomed! I yelled your name a couple of times in the camp area, but after awhile I thought some people might have thought I was loony so I quit that. By the sounds of your late arrivals each night you weren't in anyway. You did have some long long days!!! Still I hope you and Dennis had a great ride.

We started out every morning around 6:30. Two of the six of us rocketed to the finish town every day and were in by 10:30 or 11:00, while the rest of us traveled quickly but stopped and enjoyed the sights along the way. We were usually in by noon or one.

We all took lots and lots of pictures (will post the good ones).

Next year should be a northern route...my wife's schedule includes RAGBRAI with our tandem.

Tree Trunk

Yeah, Gus caught me on the second dirt section. That was one nasty little spot! I was also still experiencing symptoms of euphoria from the Beekman's ice cream I had just consumed. Ahhhhh, ice cream and riding a bike. Lovely!!

Clinton was only a short 1.5 hour drive home for me. That was nice. I chose an extra day of rest today (Monday) and didn't ride to work. Anyone else ready to jump back on the bike? Those last three days were so easy, despite the rain, that I could have gone a few more days had my pocket book and stomach held out.

Tree Trunk

I enjoyed sharing a beer with Gus and his retired AF buddies at the beer garden in Lost Nation. Those guys are crazy. And it turned into a small world thing when I found out Gus knew this wild little blonde from the Chicago area -- he was hitting on her on the OOS bus across Iowa.

Anyway, it was funny watching the AF retirees torture the other AF guys by buying them beers. They seemed a little afraid to be drinking in public!!!

Gus Riley

You trying to get me on the bad side with the Mrs Gus?

Gus Riley

Hey, we offered them Shirley Temples! Wasn't our fault they opted for the MGDs!

chuckfox

Hey TT, I was looking for you (and am definitely goofy). Cait and I rode with some of your Silver Streak buddies somewhere between Ackly and Marshalltown. I know we were going south into a headwind that day, so it was nice to grab a wheel near the back of a draft line. They said you were surely way ahead!

We had a great RAGBRAI. Caitlin gave up the ride on day 5 in Van Horn. I think the lack of sleep finally got to her. The camping was a bit more caotic than we anticipated and we camped pretty close to the main festivities in Iowa Falls. Mom came and picked her up south of Van Horn and I went on single and caught up with the NAD boys in a bar in Palo. Switched for my single bike in Hiawatha and rode Friday and Saturday with the NAD gang. This was one of the best weeks I've spent--got in on a little of everything. I can't wait until next year.

Tree Trunk

LOL, the Silver Streakers told me you had asked about me. Yeah, I have a "bad" rep for riding ahead of everyone. I enjoy myself, but my team's normal pace is too slow for me to enjoy. Most days I ride ahead and then wait in the next town. This year I rode the entire ride in the big ring as I need to make some adjustments to my front derailleur. Gus enjoyed ribbing me about that!

I stopped in that bar in Palo. My buddies and I watched a few innings of the Cub game there. That place was doing a good business! When I was there a guy came in on his hand bike!

Good week overall. I can understand why your daughter got tired -- the rain that day wasn't fun. And I usually end up hitting the sack pretty early and get cranky if I'm in a "loud" area of the campground. This year's weather, even with the rain, was the best of any RAGBRAI I remember.

Let me know if NAD is looking for another member. I am thinking about trying a different group next year.

chuckfox

TT, we had a great time. I don't know what you would think of the NAD team. They are pretty fast guys, but are best known for publishing the bar map (see www.teamNAD.com). They spend a lot of time in the bars of each town. On Friday and Saturday we would spend 1 hour on the road going 25mph in a draft line, then 2hrs in a bar...fast draft line....bar....ect. until we arrived in the Overnight town fairly late. I think we spent about 4 hours on the road between Hiawatha and Maquoketa, but it took all day.

I did get to experience both sides of RAGBRAI one with Caitlin and the other with the NADs...boy, they were different. But both a lot of fun.

Tree Trunk

I would like the riding, but I'm not much of a bar person. RAGBRAI is fun for me just because of the riding and relaxation (and the people, food, atmosphere). As people on my team will probably attest, I don't drink very well! But I'll kick yer butt on the bike!

chuckfox

That's kinda what I thought from you posts in the forum. I am also much more interested in the riding than the drinking.

My wife's folks are from the Chicago area. Maybe someday when we are headed to the inlaws, I could bring a bike and we could get out for a ride.

Tree Trunk

My wife and I don't keep alcohol in the house and I don't really drink that often. RAGBRAI is usually an exception for me, but I usually don't try to keep up with the "regular" drinkers on my team. A couple of beers and a shot or two, and I'm a stumbling drunk. The first night that I cracked my Jagermeister at RAGBRAI, I had three shots and got embarrassingly drunk that night. No sickness but I was acting pretty foolish. Funny thing is I was OK the next morning.

Definitely look me up when you make it to the Chicago area. I have some good road and off road routes. I live in the western burbs, so I hope it's close enough to your wife's folks for us to get a ride in. I'm a moderately fast rider but it sounds like you fit that category too.

Hey Gus, is there any kind of replacement warranty on your Spinergy wheels? A guy knocked three bikes over on top of my bike in Iowa Falls. The rear wheel was never right the rest of the week and I couldn't go flat out on any descents as the rear was getting squirrelly. When cleaning the RAGBRAI crud off of my bike two nights ago, I discovered the left side of the spokes on the rear wheel are cracked at the wheel hub. The wheel is trashed. My wheels were a gift to me, so I don't know anything about Spinergy's warranty (if one exists).

Gus Riley

That was an expensive hit TT! Sorry to hear about it and I think you're pretty lucky the wheel didn't come apart on you while on RAGBRAI. I think my spinergys had a one year warrenty...that's long gone now. TT to be sure you may have to get with Spinergy and get the no kidding answer on it. They may even be repairable through them at their factory?? Never hurts to ask, these Rev X wheels ain't cheap!!!

BruceBrown

We really enjoyed RAGRAI this year. Much more so than last year. My 11 year old son proved he's ready to graduate to the next step. After a week of tandem riding with me, he rode his solo bike the entire distance on Friday and Saturday. I didn't think he had it in him, but he managed. That opens up some opportunities for next year.

My only complaints about this year's ride (and I only have last year to compare it to) would be this: "Ride Right pretty much seemed to have gotten abandoned by the masses this year" as well as "Too many damn cars on the daily route - and too many of them driving at speeds that seemed like they were clueless and or oblivious to the fact that there were thousands and thousands of riders on one side of the road". One pickup truck came flying by with two wheels on the gravel shoulder and two wheels on the pavement going about sixty+ mph. Several of us motioned with our arms for him to slow down - especially since he was stirring up enough dust to suffocate all of us. All we got in return from him was the middle finger. I just wish more of that stuff would get policed and as the oncoming cars pass through the intersections where the highway patrolmen are working - couldn't they inform the cars and trucks to keep their speed down below 30 or so as they pass riders? Some of those semi-trucks going full tilt really send out a gust of air as well as pile of water on the rain days that nearly knock you off the bike.

It seemed to get progressively worse as we made our way east. By the end of the week, I felt at times I was simply out for a ride during rush hour by myself and not on an event such as RAGBRAI. How difficult would it be to coordinate an alternate route for vehicles on that one day of the year when 10,000+ cyclists are passing through a particular stretch of road?

Maybe that wasn't a problem for those of you that arrive in the overnight town by noon or 1 PM, but those of us with families riding at a family pace pretty much came in contact with "Iowa rush hours" both in the morning as well as the late afternoon. It was enough to make me nervous and I thought I would mention it.

BB

Tree Trunk

I complained about the vehicles on the route, too. The guy that leads our team is a RAGBRAI original and has some pull with the RAGBRAI organizers. Huck was planning on mentioning it and asked me what I thought about the subject as early as Wednesday. I'm pretty sure the RAGBRAI organizers have gotten an earful about vehicles on the route. I noticed it the most as we came out of Marshalltown, but it got worse as we went east. I got tired of having to pull back to the right because of cars coming at me.

As I write this I realize this probably sounds funny coming from a guy who rides his bike in Chicago suburban traffic!

outashape

I have to agree with both of you. Lots of cars this year. This is the only ride where you only have about 5-10 cars per day going in the same direction as you and perhaps only 20-30 cars of oncoming traffic per day. With that many riders on the road, you really need the whole road. I rode much later this year and assumed the traffic was because of the start and end times of riding. The last couple of years, traffic was almost non-existent. I would really like to see more KYBOS at the overnight sights. You have to set an alarm to get up at 4:00 am so you don't have to wait for over 1/2 hour after sleeping all night on a full bladder. I don't mind waiting any other time, but it sure is hard first thing in the morning.

chuckfox

We noticed the traffic as well, most drivers were courteous and careful. However, one 18 wheeler met us going very fast for all the bike traffic on the road. It amazes me whenever drivers put other's lives in jeopardy so carelessly. I'm sure some aggressive motorists regretted getting caught in the RAGBRAI bike traffic and were angry, but that was a tragic situtation waiting to happen. I hope some changes are made, although I'm sure its difficult to ban traffic from public roads all day.

TT my wife's folks live in Maywood so we come into the Chicago area on I88--to the Eisenhower. I don't know when we'll be coming in next, but I'll keep you posted when we have something planned.

BruceBrown

We all ride or have ridden in suburban big city traffic. Although it sounds funny for any of us to complain about it, the special event of RAGBRAI out on the open road is a unique event that requires unique protocol. Masses of humanity on cycles filling up an entire lane from the right shoulder all the way to the center line facing oncoming vehicle traffic driving the full speed limit is ripe with potential danger.

Perhaps it was because this year had more people riding than last year, but I felt that about 80% of the time when I was out on the route this year irregardless of what time of day it was - there did not seem to be enough room on the right lane to accomodate the number of riders. The left lane had to be used to pass all day long by many people. And even if you came up behind a single or even two riders riding abreast in the center of the lane and said to them "on your left" - it was a rare event that anyone moved over to the right or gave you room to pass in the same lane. Again - this meant you were passing on the center line or left of center. And if you happened to have been riding 3 or 4 abreast in the right lane and some pace line or rider was attempting to pass on the left and had to move into the right lane due to an oncoming vehicle - there simply was no where to go and no margin for error by all the cyclists. Too stressful of a riding situation and it was like that most of the time on this years ride. Not ideal as the "ride right" philosophy - although well advertised in all of the RAGBRAI information and on signs every single day of the ride - simply was not being adhered to by the majority this year.

Add in the dangerous mix of oncoming traffic driving at or near - or even over - posted speed limits and I was preoccupied with more nervous fear this year than last because of the reality of all the oncoming traffic and their rate of speed. One would like to think that experienced drivers can "sense" a potentially dangerous road interface situation, but it seemed time and time again that the oncoming traffic simply felt we were a nuisance on the other side of the road and their right to travel at 55 mph+ was not going to be compromised.

More highway department signs of the type that read "Caution" or "Reduce Speed Ahead" or "Slow" along the route might be beneficial as well as the law enforcement presence encouraging reduced speed. The route is public information for months and months before the one single day we actually ride along the route through their area, so one would certainly think that local papers, radio stations, television that cover the ride (and most of them do) - could simply encourage traffic that is planning trips on the route to redirect themselves around it all on that one particular day RAGBRAI is coming through due to the obvious safety concerns.

I saw a lot of weird stuff like cars passing us going in the same direction moved all the way over to the left shoulder to pass us and then when they met oncoming traffic - they would stay on the shoulder driving in the opposite direction of oncoming traffic and the oncoming traffic would get a little confused and decide to pass in their lane between the car on the shoulder going the wrong direction and the riders in the other lane. It reminded me of walking in a crowded mall where there is potential for many people to be walking at different directions and bumping into each other. Of course out on the highway, this type of behavior has the potential for some dangerous scenarios.

Obviously it's not a perfect system. I'm sure the RAGBRAI authorities have toiled with the issues for years. And we know the road is open to the public for travel, but I would just like to see the traffic's speed held better in check to a safe level for thousands of cyclists as well as some sort of enforcement or better understanding of the ride right rule by the masses. I faced too many oncoming vehicles this year that were driving at what I felt were unsafe speeds as an oncoming vehicle for the mass of humanity that were across the center line from them. RAGBRAI made all of the SAG Wagon drivers attend a safety meeting (which I attended with our driver out of curiosity's sake) - why not make all of the riders attend a safety briefing as well?

Anyway, I did submit my concerns with the oncoming traffic on the RAGBRAI survey as it did stick out this year compared to last year.

BB

Gus Riley

So for our annual picture, here's the two Goombas enjoying a cool one at Lost Nation.

Tree Trunk

Geez, I look like I drank a six pack. I only had two, I swear!!

Gus Riley

I thought I saw you downing a few more than that! But then again the smoothies we're enjoying below in Lost Nation, were far more than smoothies!!! With a bit (a bunch actually) of Wadka, these smoothies were really nice!

Tree Trunk

I didn't have any of those smoothies, but that sounds even better than the beer!

Gus Riley

Had a great week at RAGBRAI this year. The wifey and I are planning for next year's RAGBRAI on our tandem. Hope to see you all there again!!!