RAGBRAI wrap up... the good, the bad and the ugly ;)

IOWA and its people

A little information about the great state of Iowa... 

The population is a little over 3 million. The capitol is Des Moines. It covers 56,273 square miles and is referred to as the Hawkeye state. Their motto is, "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." and their state tree is the oak. They became a state in 1846 and have hosted RAGBRAI since 1973. The state is predominantly Republican with the exception being German Catholic communities. I noticed a lot of Catholic and Lutheran churches.

Original occupants as far back as 13,000 years ago, were Native American tribes, after whom the state is named.  The first settler appears to have been Julien Dubuque, a French-Canadian man who arrived at the lead mines near modern-day Dubuque in 1787. More European settlers began arriving in the 1830s. Railroads appeared in the 1850s, and steamships transported goods from Iowa along the Mississippi. Iowa supported the Union in the Civil War. 75,000 served, and 8,000 died. In 1920, Iowa women gained the right to vote. Over the years, Iowa became home to people from Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and later eastern Europeans looking to work in coal mines. Mexicans came in the 1900s to work in food processing. Corn, soy beans and pork are major industries. While agriculture continues to be the state's dominant industry, Iowans also produce a wide variety of products including refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, farm implements, and food products that are shipped around the world.

That being said, the Iowans I met during my week in the corn were friendly, welcoming and proud of their farms, tractors, homes and towns, as well as their ethnic heritages. My 4 hosts invited me into their homes and lives as a total stranger, feeding and housing me, making yard signs to welcome me, and in one case, leaving the door unlocked and a note telling me which bedroom was mine for the night! They did their communities proud, and the lengths the towns people went to to celebrate RAGBRAI was nothing short of amazing. They created town logos and t-shirts, spirit dances and all sorts of activities to make us enjoy our long rides. They built PVC pipe water dispensers in every town to accommodate many riders with free water too:

When I stopped for ice cream at a local farm, the owner pointed out his tractors and farm equipment and introduced me to his toddler grandson. John Deere is king here. Many farmers pulled their green tractors and other machines down to the foot of their long driveways, either to welcome us or maybe as a status thing... hey, my tractor is bigger than my neighbor's! ;) It was amazing to see trucks parked at intersections of lonely county roads during the ride, or at the end of long farm roads/driveways. The residents and their kids would be set up in lawn chairs to watch us all day long as we poured past. They had coolers for themselves and often sold or gave away water, Gatorade, pickles, watermelon and more. They wait all year for this! Church groups, non-profits and 4H clubs make pies and spaghetti suppers to sell to riders and raise money for town projects or to pay for students to go to DC or elsewhere on field or mission trips. I was happy to be a part of this and contribute in any way I could. They earned it! 

They rang bells, waived flags, handed out mementos and made signs asking us to "shout out your town" as we rode past. It was truly heart warming. The smallest of children got involved, setting up lemonade stands and munchkin PB&J sandwich stands with rhubarb preserves. There were also local Iowa honey stands along the road. I ate the freshest, longest ear of corn I've ever seen!

The communities were very patriotic and almost every town has a Veteran's park or memorial, even the smallest ones. Fire truck cranes hoisted huge American flags up over the street at the entrance to every town. Iowans love their country, and it was refreshing. No protests here!

Another interesting thing was the "rumbles"... strips of bumps on the road, in sets of 3, leading up to almost every desolate stop sign. They can be a nightmare for cyclists if you don't see them coming... which brings me to my next topic...

Cyclist lingo 101:

My cyclist friends know all this stuff, but as someone who has ridden a lot but never in a group, this was all new to me! Cyclists yell out things to the group while they ride. Obvious ones are "car up"  (oncoming car) and "car back" (approaching from behind). "Rider on" is yelled when you're about to re-enter the pack from the shoulder, ie: food stop on RAGBRAI. "Rider off", "slowing", "stopping" all signal that you're about to pull out of the crowd and onto the shoulder. Problems arise when you say it AS you're doing said action and not before. As riders pass you, they say, "On your left.". It's pretty taboo to pass someone on the right but I saw it happen, along with assholes weaving in and out.. very dangerous! Suffice it to say, I heard "on your left" a LOT during the week. With 10,000+ riders was it really necessary to say it so much? I KNOW... you're on my left. Pretty much everyone here is on my left and passing me, all day long. Hellooooo... and thanks for rubbing it in!

I heard the shout, "bottle" a few times when a rider's water bottle would fall from their bike and start to roll across the congested road... an accident waiting to happen. Usually someone would kick it to the curb like a soccer player, averting injury to someone behind them. When the rumble strips are coming up in the road, they shout "rumbles!" and waive their hand seat high, left or right side, like patting a dog on the head. I only had to hit those rough strips once to learn to pay attention! The crowds on this ride were crazy, especially early in the AM.

As the day progressed, it thinned out. The spandex crowd blew by and the costumed fun lovers replaced them. These were the people that glued things to their helmets, wore tutus, kilts, gold lame' skirts, tiaras. and carried stuffed animals, cocktail holders and boom boxes on their bikes. In some ways the music was great, but inevitably, I'd hear a great motivating song and the rider would speed past, leaving me wishing for more. Or worse, there would be a super loud boom box blaring AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and I just wanted them to disappear but no, they'd peddle right next to me for a while. At one point, on one of the hills on Day 6, a cyclist rode by playing the theme song from Rocky. Talk about motivating. I wish he could have ridden with me all day on Day 7! 

RAGBRAI was literally a moving picture show. In the 6-10 hour days I spent peddling, so many riders passed me, and I heard and saw little vignettes of their lives. T-shirts and jerseys reflected the riders' colleges, past races, hometowns, interests, favorite causes and more. The snippets of conversations I heard for hours of every day involved their jobs, kids, and lives in general. 

The Riders
There was such a wide array of people on this ride.... old, young, thin, fat, healthy, out of shape... you name it. There were couples, children, families, father/child teams, soccer moms towing a child in a rolling thingy behind their bike, even a girl with her little dog in a backpack for the whole ride! I saw a 91 year old man with a bike plate that said "91 and still having fun." Wow! I saw an older man with TWO prosthetic legs that appeared to be specialized for cycling.. steel rods with what looked like hockey pucks for "feet." There were doctors and hippies and everything in between. There definitely seemed to be more men than women, maybe 2 to 1? The average age is said to be 47.

The bicycles:
I saw every type imaginable. There were recumbents, arm driven recumbents, enclosed recumbents like little go-carts...

unicycles and even penny farthing bikes!

By far the strangest bikes I saw were similar to this, hybrids that had the saddle way above the normal height. I just want to know how you get on and off in a hurry:

I also saw a few people roller blading the 410 miles... nuts! Tandem bikes were fairly common too. There were fat tire bikes that sounded like a swarm of bees coming up from behind..

I also saw elliptical bikes on wheels, like the one below... very cool, like skiing across Iowa!

There were hundreds of high end bikes that costs thousands of dollars and had all sorts of mini handlebar "computers" to track speed, wind, mileage, elevation and more.... Cervelo, Trek, Pinarello, and so many more. The bike repair guy said he had seen some in the $11,000 range. The funny thing is that at roadside food stands, these same bikes would be lying in the grass by the hundreds, unattended with no locks.

 That my friends, is RAGBRAI! For the record, I rode my 410 miles on a $149 Walmart Schwinn, with a straw basket and bell, while wearing flip flops and my cleat cycling shoes remained in my duffel bag. Why not? ;)

The Teams

Many riders came with a team and they had support vehicles, RVs and buses with their team logos. Here is just one, but you get the idea. Bikes were transported on top...

Teams wore matching jerseys, and some were hilarious. There was a large group of men in their 70s and 80s who have been riding for years. They call themselves "the Donner Party.. we only eat the slow ones". I asked one of them how many were on his team. He corrected me and said they were not a team but a PARTY! ha ha. There were female teams with names including the word "beaver", the Road Kill team that rode the route "decorating" animal carcasses with beads etc. Oddly, there was some roadkill... skunks, birds, moles and rodents, possums etc. I was never sure if a car had run them over the night before or a cyclist on the ride had done it! Other names included Mega-sore-ass, Iwanna (know whose idea this was), Cleats and cleavage... you get the picture!

I also saw teams from various military branches, wearing cool jerseys. Marines, Army and Air Force. The Air Force team, with their unmistakable winged logo, was very visible on the course and acted as sentries, helping people fix flats etc.

They seemed to appear out of nowhere anytime someone needed help, yelling, "Are you OK?" Apparently one of their riders went down and was sent home with broken ribs, patella and collarbone! They also scooped up a deaf white cat from the road and found its owner, saving it from certain demise! They did their country proud. At the end of the ride, approaching Lansing, they paired up in 2 lines of riders and finished the race in formation. I borrowed this shot from their Facebook page.

Monkey Butt
On my last night in camp I heard a guy say he had monkey butt. His friend asked him what that was, and he said it was basically like diaper rash. At the AAA tent in one of the towns, they were giving out all sorts of cycling swag, and I opted for this stuff. Probably too much information, but the idea is to use it all around seam and crease areas on your "under carriage". It was a godsend. No monkey butt for this girl. Chamois Butt'r... get it? Ha ha.

Crashes
They were a daily occurrence and inevitable in a crowd this size. I saw the aftermath of a few, and it wasn't pretty. Mid week, just outside the campground gate, a man had gone down and was being loaded onto a stretcher. Not a good start to his day! Another day, I was peddling and saw a log jam ahead. As I got closer, I saw a cyclist on the ground. As always, the Air Force team was front and center to help. They and other riders created a human and bike shield to protect the downed rider from the onslaught of riders. They shouted, "Go left or right. Heads up. Keep moving!" repeating it over and over to prevent another crash from rubber necking riders. Amazing to watch. There were 4 ambulances stationed along the course each day. More than once, I saw one pull onto the road and take off, sirens wailing. This was a ride, not a race, but every bit as dangerous as the Tour de France. With inexperienced riders, thick crowds and people drinking, anything could happen. I bought trip insurance just in case, but luckily made it back unscathed! ;)

Conditions
Past years rides have included 100 mile days, hail storms, lightening, tornadoes, deluges, 90+ degree heat and worse. This year's course was a northern route and the 3rd "easiest" in the 43 year history of RAGBRAI at only 411 miles. Some years top 500! The week before, Iowa temperatures soared into the 90s, and the Friday before the ride started, there were torrential rains and even flooding across some of the route. I had the most amazing conditions imaginable. Temperatures hovered around 80/60, and there was just one overcast day with light showers mid-week. Camping in the rain would have been a nightmare too. Aside from having headwinds some of the week instead of westerly tailwinds to push us, my ride was perfect! What a blessing ;)

Food 
As I've mentioned, I first read about RAGBRAI a decade or so ago in the food magazine Saveur. I think maybe I envisioned the food being more gourmet than it was, but I loved every minute of what I ate. Fresh, huge corn, cold watermelon, lemonade slushes, thick perfectly cooked pork chops, delicious cheese curds, pickles and pickle juice (great for muscle cramps), hand-churned ice cream, local honey, BBQ, ribs, pasta, fire department pancake breakfasts, Czech, Polish, Irish and Norwegian specialties, spaghetti and roast beef church suppers, Iowa craft beers and most of all homemade pies of every variety! It wasn't very fancy, but during the week-long, exhausting days, inevitably just the right food would appear at a farm stand or vendor truck when I needed it. I ate what I craved when my body asked for it and as often and as much as I wanted with no repercussions. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a hot, fresh corn dog so much!

Final thoughts... 
Last summer after I worked on a WY dude ranch, I was asked by lots of people if I was going back this summer. It was a definite maybe, but I hate to do things twice. I considered maybe going to a different ranch just for a fresh experience, but eventually chose not to. Last summer's experience was one of the best summers of my life by the way!

Regarding RAGBRAI, with all the pain, physical and mental exertion, long drive to get there and back, cost, etc., I would say the following. I have NO regrets about going whatsoever. I'm so glad I did it, and it was worth everything I invested to train and go. Would I ever do it again? HELL no! It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, especially at age 52. Once was enough. It was a bucket list item and now it's checked off.

During the week, I heard people already planning for next year and the teams they were putting together... I was amazed that people come back year after year for this. Don't get me wrong, it's fun but for me was sheer torture! I was so exhausted at day's end, I could barely set up my tent, let alone wait in line for a shuttle into town to drink and listen to bands. I don't think additional training would have made it any easier. I was solid in my 30 mile rides. At RAGBRAI, I was never winded or out of breath. My muscles and sitz bones weren't sore because I had ridden regularly leading up to the event, including hills. My issues were just "other" pain while riding....7-10 hours a day of it. My wrists screamed, my neck and back ached, and my tail bone and groin area were just screaming all day long. I would spend the hours just moving from one area to the next, focusing on changing position to stop the pain. After a minute, I would move on the the next area, reversing my wrist position, hanging my head, lifting my butt off the saddle in a never ending quest for relief. I was like a human calculator, ticking off the miles and towns, recalculating my arrival time in the overnight town based on wind, stops and more. I prayed to every deity I'd ever heard of, hoping that if one didn't get me through the day, maybe anther one would. About every 10 miles, I'd find a patch of trees in front of a farm, usually already clogged with weary cyclists, and just lie flat on my back in the shade, looking at the sky for 5 or 10 minutes. What a relief.. then I'd get back on and start peddling again.

The worst part was finishing the day (marathon) and instead of relief, there was no finish line, just dread that it would start all over again the next morning. Day 7 would have been a blissful ride across the actual finish, but I was anxious about the hills all day long until the last one was conquered, just 3 miles outside of Lansing. I feel like I attended Navy Seal boot camp as a civilian and somehow squeaked through it. ha ha. Any questions? I think I packed properly and brought the right things. I had cycling shoes with cleats but opted for flip flops and they felt great! My helmet was outdated, dorky and probably not safe. I saw some at cycling gear tents for well over $150. I had spandex shorts at one time for my spin classes but opted for nylon gym shorts and a gel bike saddle. I suppose I could have invested in a pair of gel seat spandex cycling shorts for about 60-$70 to look cooler ( or weird?) but I don't think it would have added to my comfort.

My chamois butt'r prevented the chafing other cyclists seemed to be complaining of. For convenience, I just used my straw bike basket to tote water, sunscreen etc. It wasn't a race after all and wind resistance and speed weren't a factor. I got a lot of comments from passing cyclists during the week... "Love your basket." "Where's Toto?" I think I only saw 2 other baskets the whole week. What can I say? I'm an original... ;)

So that my friends is my RAGBRAI wrap up. It was the experience of a lifetime. One final photo I'll call "things you'd never see at the Tour de France"... a plastic tarp slip 'n slide, held in place with a tractor tire! The farm family would spray it down with soap and hose it off as riders dove onto it and slid. It became a muddy mess.

I still hope to do the Bourbon Country Burn in late September. Base camp in Lexington, KY is only 4 hours from home. Camping is at the upscale KY Horse park with new, permanent shower and bath facilities. We can park near our tents and bring more stuff (air mattress, pillows etc). With only one tent setup on day 1, I could enjoy the tastings by distillers that come to camp each night. Breakfast, lunch/snack tents along the route and nightly food trucks and entertainment are included. Daily routes are varied going off in different directions with short, medium and long ride options. I plan to do the medium routes, around 35 miles a day round trip! Easy peezy ;) Check it out:
https://www.bourboncountryburn.com/about/

For my 2018 bucket list item, I want to go to the Kentucky Derby. I've never been. Planning is in the works! Thanks for following along on my RAGBRAI blog!