I went to my first RAGBRAI last week, along with Tim, Paul
& Jane, Bill & Nathan, Bill & Sharon, Lance & Janet and
other Zonies. It's incredible to be part of it. It's a
biking event like no other, with 10,000 bikes of every type
and riders from all over the world.

This year's route was 7 days and 490 miles between corn and
soybean fields from the "Big Muddy" at Onawa on the west,
all the way across Iowa to the "Mother of Waters" at
Clinton on the east. Most roads were low traffic and
paved, but we had a few miles of gravel and mud. Iowa is
full of big rolling hills. We struggled up the hills at
5mph and screamed down the other side at 40mph. We were
lucky with weather. It was like December in Phoenix, with
55° lows and 85° high temps. We had two rainy mornings
that cleared up in the afternoon.

RAGBRAI is a 7-day traveling party. Individual farmhouses
along the way sell lemonade, Gatorade, cookies and water.
Vendors like Mr. Pork Chop set up shop in farmer's front
yards between towns. Every village throws a party with
home-baked pies and food, beer gardens, "Kybos"
(porta-potties) and water stops. The lunch and overnight
towns are prettied up and provide campgrounds, hot showers,
bike expos, food courts, church dinners, beer gardens,
bands and other entertainment.

"Ride Right" is the safety motto, but "Ride Wrong" is the
practice. Riders constantly filled the oncoming traffic
lanes, even while going up hills or around blind turns.
With the constant dangerous riding, I’m surprised there was
only one fatality.

On the recommendation of Brison and Loren, we used the
Porkbelly Ventures charter service www.pkbelly.com. They
bus you and your bike to the start and back from the
finish, carry your bags, provide campsites, water, showers,
beer & sodas, a meal & parties, etc. Porkbelly's service
was very good, but 370 riders was too many.

I'll be delighted to go again, but probably not next year,
because there are too many other rides to try.

The Ride
Wednesday Tim started driving to Omaha. He has a
special bike trailer, and it was loaded with 5 bikes - Paul
and Jane's uprights, Bill & Sharon's upright tandem, and
two recumbent tandems, Bill & Nathan's Longbike and our
DoubleVision. Friday evening the rest of us flew to Omaha
where Tim met us in the lobby. As a team emblem, Bill
Meacham gave us each an Arty the Artichoke (from Scottsdale
Community College), so we zip-tied Arty to our helmets.

Saturday: Omaha – Onawa – Missouri River - Onawa, 23mi,
134’ climbing.
We had breakfast buffet at the motel, then checked in
with Porkbelly, loaded the bikes in trucks and people in
buses and drove to the start town, Onawa. It rained a
little on the way.
We arrived about 12 and set up camp. It was cool &
misting but it cleared up. We explored the bike expo for
lunch, where we watched Lance win the TdF time trial on
Alpe d’Huez. We ran into Loren and Brison there.
We did our own "prologue" ride to dip a wheel in the
Missouri. On the way back, we rode into town and had a Bud
in the beer garden, then bought a six-pack of Amber Bock
and rode back to camp.
This is where we found that Iowans drink "every kind of
beer you can think of - Bud & Bud Lite, Miller and Miller
Lite." We had dinner at the expo, then walked to DQ for
ice cream.

Sunday: Onawa - Lake View, 72mi, 2685’ climbing.
We struck our tents, packed and threw our duffles on the
truck, and were on the road at 6:50am. It was sunny but
cool. About 4 miles down the road we hit a bump and
dropped our rear light. When we pulled into the gravel
shoulder, we crashed and suffered slight road rash.
We stopped at Mapleton (21mi) around 8:30 for breakfast
of Chris Cakes pancakes. On the way to Schleswig, we
passed bad accident at the bottom of a big downhill. We
found out later that a tire-eating crack between the lanes
at that spot caused many accidents and killed one rider.
Brison yelled at us as we came into Schleswig for lunch,
where we also met Loren, Bill and Sharon, Jane and Paul.
Only 4 miles later, we had a problem. The timing chain
jammed between the chainring and the crank. Loren stopped
to help, but we couldn't unjam it. We ended up breaking
the chain with the chain tool, but we pushed the pins all
the way out and were unable to reattach the loose ends
together.
We were finally rescued by Roger. He pulled over to to
help, making a siren noise. He had a pair of small vice
grips that we used to unjam the short piece of chain. I
was impressed that for the full hour and a half we were
stuck on the shoulder, the stream of bikes stayed constant,
and when we got going again, we were still miles from being
last.
We arrived in Lakeview and missed the Porkbelly
direction signs, but eventually found the camp on the south
side of Blackhawk Lake at 4:45pm. Tim rode off alone on
the tandem to get the chain fixed, and then rode another 10
miles around lake, while I took a hot shower and stood in
line for dinner.

Monday: Lake View - Fort Dodge, 72mi, 757’ climbing.
We were on the bike at 6:45 for another sunny day. We
stopped about 13 mi out for pancakes next to a Lutheran
Church along the way.
We were stuck in line for about an hour, so we killed
time by counting wedgies between recumbents as the stream
of riders passed us by. I expected 100 to 1, but the
sample we took was more like 20 to 1.
They ran out of pancakes when we got within 20 of the
food, but emergency supplies soon arrived and we got our
breakfast. We had lunch at Rockwell City, and arrived in
Fort Dodge at 3:30, where we camped at the High School.
We had spaghetti dinner at the High School, and wouldn't
you know it, they ran out as I was about to be served, but
they soon had more and we ate our fill. My sun shower was
scalding hot, so those things really work! Some local kids
tried to disturb our sleep with lots of noise in the early
morning, but I slept with earplugs and didn't hear a thing.

Tuesday: Fort Dodge - Iowa Falls, 70mi, 1057’ climbing.
On the DV at 6:40, we pedaled 10 miles to breakfast of a
breakfast pita at Badger. After Eagle Grove, I voted no on
the Century option, and we headed straight to a lunch stop
at Dows.
We rode all the way through Iowa Falls before we arrived
2:30 at the rugby field campsite. We couldn't camp on the
field so tents were set up in an O all around it. To
support the rugby team, I stood in line for a $2 cold
shower, the first of many.
We took a bus into town where we had Methodist chicken
dinner, the best meal we had on the trip. After dinner we
listened to the HS drum band and watched a juggler who said
"his daughter threatened to run away and join a family". I
got back too late for free Margaritas and to watch the
rugby match.

Wednesday: Iowa Falls - Marshalltown, 65mi, 1535’ climbing.

On the road at 6:43, and passed an accident at RR tracks
just leaving town. Some riders don't realize you have to
cross tracks at a right angle. The crowded road makes it
hard to do, but it's required for safety.
The wind was from the South, right on the nose, but I'm
sitting in Tim's wind shadow, so what do I care?
At 19 miles, just before Cleves, we were 50 yards behind
Bill & Nathan when their front tire blew. We heard the
bang, and then saw the crash. They went down and had a
little road rash. We stopped to help with a little first
aid, then continued on. A little later an upright tandem
stopped there and dropped off a tired daughter with Bill.
Nathan jumped on her seat and was stoker the rest of the
way. Bill sagged to Steamboat Rock and bought a 60psi BMX
tire for $9, then rode the rest of the route sans stoker.
The girl sagged all the way in.
Misting rain started after Steamboat Rock, but it wasn't
cold. After I got soaked, I learned to carry my rain
jacket within easy reach. We stopped to eat at the famous
Mr. Pork Chop as the weather cleared up on the way to
Union. Then we had several dangerous and slow miles on a
gravel road that bypassed the last town, so we had a final
stretch of 26 miles before Marshalltown.
We stopped at a watermelon stand in town, and yelled at
Nathan when we saw him ride by on the back of an upright
tandem. We arrived 3:15 at the Riverview Park campground.
My shower bag had lost it’s end and my fresh laundry was
lost, so I wasn’t having my best day. The laundry was
found, but the showerhead wasn’t, so that meant cold
showers for me.
We biked downtown for dinner, where they ran out of
ribeyes as I was about to order one. I ate vegetarian
lasagna but should have had the ribs. On the way back, I
spotted Roger and he came over for a chat. He told us he
had gotten to town at 4, but it took him 3 hours to make
his way through all the free beer and food he found on his
way to the campground.

Thursday: Marshalltown - Hiawatha, 86mi, 1962’ climbing.
On the road at 6:35 on a misty, rainy morning. We
followed the route signs for a mile off the main route to
Clutier, pop 216, which had nothing but a near miss with a
kid on a bmx bike who shot out from behind a parked car
into our path. We missed the turn off to Elberon, but were
rewarded at Keystone with pie & coffee for $1.
After taking a break in Van Horne, we found Dad's
waffles just outside of town as the rain started in
earnest. An hour of waiting in line and eating waffles
saved us from riding in the rain. When we came out, two
girls came up to have their pictures taken with the Arty’s
on our helmets. By Palo the skies were clearing, and we
could see the steam plume from Iowa's only Nuke in the
distance.
We had a big town greeting at Hiawatha, with fake palm
trees lining the street for the Hawaiian theme, and people
handing out goody bags. We camped on a hillside at a park
and took another cold shower. It was Porkbelly grill
night, so Tim & Nathan rode to Super Walmart to shop for
steak & Guinness. Steak didn’t sound good to me, so I had
African peanut chicken stew on rice. We got a little rain
at night.

Friday: Hiawatha - Maquoketa, 80mi, 2357’ climbing.
On the bike at 6:55 in overcast, fog and occasional
mist. We turned onto Lead Mine Road and had 5 miles of mud
which got into the brakes and shifter cables and ruined
shifting. Two 'bents – a BikeE and an EZ 1 - crashed in
the mud and were taken to hospital.
We washed off the bike in Olin, but didn’t eat. I think
we stopped for a beer in Elwood, and got into Maquoketa at
5:45. Had a hot shower in the High School Gym, and came
back for a Porkbelly margarita.
We rode downtown to party central w/Jane & Paul for
dinner. It was very crowded and we didn't have much time
before dark, so we ate fast. I tried a ribeye sandwich.
When we got back we stopped at the bike expo to get the
shifting and brakes worked on.

Saturday: Maquoketa - Clinton - Omaha, 55mi, 1632’
climbing.
Got an early start at 6:35 for the last day of the ride.
Had breakfast burritos in Preston. At the meeting town of
Charlotte, we had pictures taken by and with the Mayor.
As we approached Clinton, I was disappointed to see two
bikes upside down only 9 miles from the finish – a gal had
crashed and was hospitalized. On the outskirts of town we
stopped for a free beer. Roger came pedaling along a few
minutes later so we flagged him down to join us.
After that it was all fast downhill into town in a
single lane restricted by traffic cones. We almost crashed
in when a rider wouldn’t move right as Tim tried to pass.
We hit traffic cones and Tim lost his Recumbent Central
water bottle.
We arrived right at 12:00 noon and dipped our front
wheel into the Mississippi. We had our picture taken by
guy who rode the whole 500 mile route with no seat on his
bike!
We found the Porkbelly trucks, dried out our camping
gear, took showers at the local pool, and changed into
civvies for the bus ride. We loaded the bikes on the truck
and our bags on the bus, and grabbed a quick pork chop
sandwich & watermelon for lunch.
The bus to Omaha left at 3:30, stopped in Des Moines at
6:30 for dinner at Burger King, and arrived at the Omaha
Airport Ramada 10pm, and the ride was over except for the
flight home on Sunday morning.

We did a total of 540 miles (50 extra) because we added 23
miles for Missouri River wheel dip, had several trips into
town, and Tim did an extra 10mi loop around Blackhawk Lake.

The Bikes
You'll see every kind of bike on RAGBRAI. Most are
uprights, but we saw a large number of tandems, trikes and
recumbents – about 1 in 10. Here’s what I remember seeing.
Many upright tandems. Saw 1 triple, heard of a quad.
Many Trail-a-bikes and Burley 2-wheel trailers and a few
BOBs.
Many Vision R-40 short wheelbase types, Tour Easy/GRRs, and
Rans models.
Seven Double Visions and several Screamers.
Several EZ1s, EZ Sports and BikeEs.
A few Bacchettas, both Giro & Strada types.
A few Trice, Greenspeed, Cattrike, other tadpole trikes.
Two Leitra velomobiles, one all the way from Denmark.
Two Vision Sabers and 2 Volaes.
Two Bilenky tandems with a recumbent front stoker, upright
rear captain.
Two handcycles and 2 single speed cruisers with "Gears are
for Whimps" signs.
One or two EZ tandems, a BikeE-2, and a cyclo with a
paralyzed front rider.
One ActionBent, a Barcroft Virginia, and an EZ Trike.
One medium-wheelbase Vision R-40 and an R-30 “wiggler”.
A few home-mades, including Tour Easy clones, a high racer
with 700c wheels, an erector set trike, and an R-40 clone.
Saw one "Boneshaker" penny-farthing going the other
direction.

tom adams







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