>10,000 bicyclists
~1,000 training miles ridden
469.1 miles biked across Iowa
It's not easy to find words that adequately describe our summer adventure of 2019, which was taking part in the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). While it's certainly a ride - look at those mileage numbers - it's also a rolling party between food/beer stops and gigantic group campgrounds where we pitched our tents among the masses every night.
What might be even crazier than the concept is the mind-boggling number of people that do it. The numbers vary throughout the week with some people only joining for a portion of the ride. This year, the shortest day clocked in around 45 miles and happened to be just outside of Des Moines. The increase in daily riders was palpable, with sections of two-lane country roads full of cyclists from shoulder to shoulder. That evening, I overheard someone say there were upwards of 20,000 people out riding bikes that day!
But even on a "normal" day, you were never alone. There were lines for almost everything: showers, water stations, beer, food, and porta-potties. One quickly learned to get in line early, before it became an emergency or the previous beer had been drained. At the beer stops, it wasn't unusual to finish a beer in line for the bathroom before rejoining the beer line for the next one.
10 nights spent in a tent
7 days of consecutive riding
Several pieces of pie
3 pork chops served in paper towels
Preparing for and riding RAGBRAI required a lot of time, perseverance, and calories. There was no shortage of food and drink along the route, with homemade pie and ice cream and Mr. Pork Chop's pork chops (handed to you wrapped in a paper towel) holding the title for most memorable snacks. Mr. Pork Chop could be identified from a few miles out by the plumes of smoke and closer in by the old school bus that had been repainted to look like a pig.
While the numerous towns we passed through began to run together before the end of the first day, the hospitality we received at every stop along the way will not be forgotten. Some towns were more committed to their chosen themes than others (Donnellson stands out for having people wearing pickle costumes lining the streets and multiple pickle-themed snacks), but they were all gracious hosts.
2 river dips
0 days without hills
It's RAGBRAI tradition to dip your rear bike tire in the Missouri River before the ride and front bike tire into the Mississippi River when you reach the end. We did both and conquered many, many hills in between. Many conversations before RAGBRAI went something like this:
"Why are you going to Iowa?"
"To do RAGBRAI. It's an annual bike ride across the entire state."
"Well, at least it's flat there."
Not sure how that rumor got started, but Iowa is NOT flat. Certainly some parts were flatter than others, but the first day was all hills and the last day ended with a gigantic hill coming into the last town. I am perhaps more proud of myself for not walking my bike up a single one than I am for completing the entire ride. I learned a lot about gears and the basics of physics as I triumphantly muscled my way past larger men on the uphill portion only to have them bomb past me as soon as we reached the top. Same story on the next hill...and the next one after that.
In addition to hills, Iowa has a lot of wind and a dearth of shade (hence my spot in the wheel of that tractor above). It felt like we only had a tailwind for about 10 minutes all week, with the last day being nothing but headwind for most of the route. The lack of shade was also challenging, particularly on the hotter days. Out of the entire week, there were two days I found particularly tough: the first really hot day, which happened to follow the longest day of riding; and the last day, when the total sum of miles and early mornings really caught up to me. The excitement of finishing got somewhat lost in the mix of exhaustion, sun exposure, sweat, and grime.
The end also marked the beginning of the post-ride blues. Returning to city life had its perks (no more lines for the bathroom or shower! Clean clothes!) but in general felt unbelievably dull. Biking all day everyday for a week releases a crazy amount of endorphins and coming down off of that high has been an adjustment. I don't think we'll be joining the RAGBRAI diehards that go every year, but I definitely want to do it again.
I'd like to dedicate this post to my "Best of the 80's" teammates: Mauricio, who proposed the crazy idea in the first place; Scott, who's love of adventure convinced us that driving to/from Iowa and camping extra nights on either end was a good idea (check out his take here); and Keizo for being overly prepared with snacks at all times and assembling our tent McMansion every night.
