I won't be blogging most of next week because I'll be in Iowa, riding my bike most of the way across the state from the west to the east. This has become an annual trip for me (it's my third year) and I do it because: 1) it's fun with friends; 2) it gets me in shape; and 3) it gets me on my bike. I have a couple nice bikes, and I might not ever ride them if I didn't have to train for, and then ride,
RAGBRAI.
The route changes every year, so we get to taste different Iowa towns from year to year. The total distance of the 2008 route is 471 miles, and it's said to be hillier than recent years. RAGBRAI 2008 will be a challenge for me!
The ride goes for seven days straight, camping at night (mostly in school fields and private yards). Day 1 is tomorrow, Sunday, July 20. Here are maps of each day's ride, so you can follow along at home! (Click the image for a larger PDF.)
My team members, the Converters, have already arrived in Missouri Valley, set up camp, and have been drinking beer for a number of hours. I will be meeting up with them on Tuesday, July 22 in Ames. Sadly, my grandfather passed away yesterday and I will be staying home through Monday for funeral services, so I can say goodbye to the wonderful man I knew as "Papa". Papa will be the subject of another post for another day and should have come first, but the fact is that this post had the good fortune of having already been written earlier in the week, scheduled to appear tomorrow morning. But since I won't be starting the ride tomorrow morning, I thought it appropriate to edit the post and go ahead and send it on its way into the Great Internets.
The good thing about arriving on Day 3 is that I'll miss the Karras Loop decision on Day 2. Each year on one of the days of the ride, an optional loop called the Karras Loop is added, which brings that day's total distance to about 100 miles. In my two years' participation I've had yet to take part in the optional century, but I really wanted to do it this year (against my better judgment). Without the Karras Loop, Day 2 is already 83 miles, but trust me, there is a big difference between 83 and 100 miles. Something happens to most riders around mile 75, and pushing it to 100 takes its toll. Especially when it's only Day 2, and you have 5 more days of pedaling ahead of you. (Plus, there is no rider support on the Karras Loop, so you need to have a level of confidence that you can make it without guaranteed food, water, or bike maintenance. This is precisely the kind of thing I would definitely do early in the day, early in the week, if I were feeling good.)
Anyway, how about those maps? I wonder if the Tour de France riders get anything that snazzy! (
The Des Moines Register provided us with the maps, and I put them all together in the one-sheet printout for my team members. It folds up to become pocket-sized. I sent the maps along with the rest of the Chicago contingent, who drove out to Iowa this morning at 7am.)
Labels: biking, ragbrai, vacation
