Day 1 is in the books. Pancakes, beer, corn, beer, steak, beer…you get the idea. And hills, wind and…wait for it…gobs of traffic. This first day was the hottest day of the week. Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove. 53-plus miles. Started at 6:30am and got off the course at 2:00pm. Ended up camping on the […]
RAGBRAI Day 1: Getting Rolling Read More »
Practice, practice, practice. While I’m not looking to get to Carnegie Hall, being ready for RAGBRAI will suffice. And doing a bit of planning and preparation before the ride is a good idea. My hiking-and-camping friend, Jody, suggested that I rehearse setting up my tent and gear before I got to Iowa. This actually was
RAGBRAI: Rehearsal Read More »
Maybe it was when I started making the Thursday training laps a drag race. I got carried away with the speed and competition between riders. Then I remembered: this is supposed to be fun. Somewhere along the way of piling up the weekly miles (nearly 200 per week) and climbing hills and attending rallies, it
RAGBRAI: Remember, this is supposed to be fun Read More »
Tires and chains and pedals, oh my! With only 14 days until the RAGBRAI start, it is time to ensure that these touch points get some attention paid to them. The tires touch the ground and need to be in condition to survive the long miles each day. My current tires had at least 2,000
RAGBRAI: Tires, Chains and Pedals Read More »
Another weekend training ride to rack up the miles. Or was it to help us learn to cope with the heat? We’ve been going out early (leaving our starting point at 6:00 am) to do anywhere from 40 to 70 miles. Today we did just around 50. We had originally aimed for 60, but the
RAGBRAI: Miles and Heat or Heat and Miles? Read More »
Logistics can be overwhelming. Particularly for someone embarking on a new adventure that combines multiple interests and activities. In my case it is cycling and camping (which I probably haven’t done seriously since about 1990). Let the games begin! Ok, seriously, in preparing for RAGBRAI one of the challenges is preparing a bag and a
RAGBRAI: Packing and Preparing Read More »
Just about the time you think you can handle a bicycle, along comes a challenge that requires a bit more preparation than the typical weekend bike rally. Like a 7-day 500-mile ride across one of those rectangular states in the middle of the country. In this case, Iowa. Sure, you could probably do this ride
Lots of things motivate us and drive us. Sometimes in real time and sometimes as a memory. I’ve had a little bit of both of that happening to me this past half year or so. Let me lay the groundwork here a bit. Back in my sophomore year of high school, my physical education (phys
Sophomore Phys Ed Class Read More »
The cycling community is both open and closed. Closed, in that you gotta ride to be close to the conversations. Open, in that once you’re in you hear about all kinds of things. My first serious bike ride in years (I was newly single and in my late 40s) was the MS150 in Minnesota in
RAGBRAI 2022: The Beginning Read More »
It started quite by accident. What began as a way to track and share statistics from recreational activities became a way to tell stories. Not long ones, mind you, but at least a fun title, a few words and some pictures. Most of the runners, walkers and cyclists I know and spend time with use
Strava Storytelling Read More »
