Aras Kriauciunas

Getting Ready

Work brought me back to Iowa a few years ago, where I learned that the ride I had heard about was called the RAGBRAI^TM, and officially stood for Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. It has been around for a while, with 1999 being the 27^th annual event. During this time, it has grown in size as well. In 1973 there were approximately 250 people for the inaugural event. It grew fairly quickly. Although the exact numbers are not available, it is generally accepted that at the start of the ride this year there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 riders. The majority of these were officially registered with the Des Moines Register, but a large number were "riding independently".

It was strange to see the streets so quiet, knowing that tomorrow this town of 3,000 people would grow to around 20,000. Around 2:30 am our nervous energy began to wear off and we walked back to the tent for some sleep. The temperature was in the upper 70's. Although it seemed fairly warm at the time, it was going to be our coolest night for sleeping during the entire trip.

Saturday morning we woke up the sounds of people getting out of their tents (the high pitched whine of zippers being opened and a number of low level conversations). We finally caved in to the noises and got up around 8. After asking around, we decided to head over to the deli/cafe section of a local grocery store. We placed our order (Five numbered options, which mainly varied the number of eggs, pancakes or hashbrowns received with your meal). 50 minutes later, we were served. What makes this amazing is that the cafe area only had at most 15 tables. It seemed to me that there some lack of preparation here, given how much the town had put together in getting ready for this ride.

Once they were whole again, we talked to some friends about what to do for a warm-up ride. We noted that Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota intersected about 20 miles from where we were staying. It seemed unique and not something we were likely to due again, and so the decision was made to ride there. We left at around 1 PM, when the sun was really starting to heat things up.

Although we had ridden the minimum 500 miles, our daytime hours were spent in air-conditioned areas. As a result, we were not accustomed to the high temperatures. This was to prove a serious shortcoming in our training, as a heat wave settled in for the week.

The city pool was open when we returned, and we took advantage of the opportunity to cool down a bit.

It was now time for dinner, and we walked into town to see what was available. Our initial efforts involved going to a church buffet, but they were out of food. We got in line at another church (and met Chuck Offenburger, one of the founders of the ride) and waited for 20 minutes. As we got up to the door, a stream of people came pouring out announcing that someone had forgotten to put more food in the ovens and they were not going to have any more for 45 minutes. That was too long to wait, so we started walking towards Pizza Hut, about a mile away. The buffet there hit the spot.

Back in town, we looked at the shirts and mugs available for sale. New bike technology was being demonstrated (electronically controlled derailleurs). A live band was playing, and the beer tent was in full swing. The expected crowds had shown up, and the streets were filled with people.

Day 1 (Sun): Rock Rapids to Spencer (73 Miles)

The next morning people were up early - much earlier than we expected. We started hearing tent zippers around 4 am. Apparently people were getting an early start to beat the heat.

We got up and started moving around 6 is. This is a very early start for me. The approach during RAGBRAI is to ride to the first town for breakfast. Grabbing a cup of coffee and a muffin in Rock Rapids, we proceeded to head out of town.

It was impressive seeing the huge line of bikers. People I talked to said that there were 20,000+ riders that first morning. The local townsfolk were standing on the side of the road cheering us on. Although it seemed neat at the time, it was a lot more than when I realized that they had probably been standing there for several hours cheering on the riders. You don't see that kind of enthusiasm very often.

I had a flat tire 1 mile after starting. It turned out my rear rim had a problem and I didn't realize it until the start of the trip - a day earlier would have been nice. Although I had the equipment to fix it back at the campground, by now our bags were buried in the Ryder truck and I would have to make do with an on-the-spot repair. I did what I could and we continued our ride. It is worth noting that as we were by the side of the road for 15 minutes the stream of bikers never let up, and was fairly heavy the entire time. If these were the only riders on the ride I would still have been impressed.

Our first town that day was George. The number of bikers which had descended upon this small town was staggering. Two large tractors were at opposite ends of the main street, a cable stretched between them for bikes. More bikes were leaning up against fences, on any grassy area and stacked up on the street. Very good bikes ($2000-$3000) were commonplace, and none of them were locked up. It was strange to see a dozen Trek OCLV bikes ($2500 range) leaning up against a fence with no locks. There was no one standing nearby who looked like the owners.

The breakfast at George was very efficient. The Des Moines Register provides guidance to towns regarding what to expect and how to get ready for it. The cables stretched between the tractors are a good example of this. Bikers thrive on "all you can eat" pancake buffets, and George gave us what we wanted. We asked the ladies who were cooking how long they had been there, and they replied that they started setting up at 2am. The first bikers pulled in at 4 am. (We arrived at 9am.)

Later on that day, as we rode south the Hartley, we encountered some major headwinds. We had planned on completing the section quickly, since it was close to lunchtime and our legs were getting very tired. I remarked that I needed a break and the next big tent we saw on the side of the road was going to receive me as a visitor. Pam agreed, and soon enough one appeared.

As it turned out, the tent was part of the Steve Forbes campaign. I met the presidential candidate and enjoyed some of the free water they were passing out. No food, but the shade from the tent was very welcome.

As we were getting ready to leave, I asked an elderly lady (sitting on her porch) what she thought of all this? How did it compare to what they had expected the day before? Her reply was that she had walked around last night and thought the preparations were overkill, but it was clear today that they were not. Such is the reaction of 20,000 bikers riding into a town with a typical population of around 3,000.

On the way out I noticed that they had laid carpet down over the railroad tracks. This makes the crossing much safer, since it is very easy to have your bike tires catch in the grooves between the tracks. Even if the tracks are perpendicular, the possibility of getting a flat is still substantial. I was impressed at little things like this to make the ride more enjoyable.

Arriving into camp that night we saw that the driver of our Ryder truck had tried going under a bridge that was somewhat lower than the top of the truck. As a result, the truck top was peeled open like a sardine can. He went back for a replacement truck that evening.

The camping area was packed with tents, even more so than the campground in Rock Rapids. I suppose a lot of this depends on how much camping space is available. Trying to put 10,000+ people into tents is going to require a fair amount of space (and a lot of tents).

The ride to Dickens (first town out) was supposed to be 7.7 miles. What happened was that this town was not actually on the road, and so we never saw it. The first breakfast stop was 14 miles out. This is a lot to ride on an empty stomach! Most other people agreed, resulting in a huge line, since everyone else stopped there as well. The food was good, and the line moved along.

At lunch we stopped in Mallard. I was tired, and so I crashed out on the grass to take a nap. A siren went off during during my nap. Since I am conditioned to think a certain way, I woke up thinking that it was a tornado warning. Still groggy, I looked up and saw that it was a hot sunny day, and the sky was blue. I thought to myself, "Freak tornado is getting ready to rip through here! Good thing they have this civil alert system in place!!" Still something didn't seem right. I looked around and noticed that no one was running - people were just walking around as if nothing was going on. Fools! About this time I woke up completely and looked at my watch. Hmm. I guess that must the noon-time siren for the surrounding area.

Later that afternoon we passed through West Bend. Water sprinklers were set up to help cool the bikers down. I walked over and stood under one for a few minutes - it really helped. As we started to leave town we saw the famous West Bend Grotto. The local priest (at the time) had started building it out of stones and shells collected from around the world. I had heard about something similar to it in Wisconsin, but seeing this one was very impressive. One of the highlights of the trip. I would have stayed much longer, but the road called out and we had to be on our way.

That night we stayed at the fairgrounds in Algona. Pam was getting really tired. After setting up camp we walked into town. They had set up a street fair, complete with a laser show. At one end of the street they had an inflatable Titanic boat set up. The end was about 30 feet up, and it was listing at around 40 degrees. You could climb up to the top and slide down. Funny, but in a really warped kind of way. I will remember the town for having the best cherry pie I have ever tasted. Amazing stuff. Overall, I really liked the street fair type of ambiance.

Day 3 (Tue): Algona to Clear Lake (62 Miles)

As we rode into Titonka, we saw what a friend had been telling us about. For the past year this town had been saving old bikes, but did not want to reveal what they were going to do with them. The secret was out now - they had made sculptures of "bike people" holding signs welcoming us to their town. Very creative.

The lunch stop in Crystal Lake featured what was once much more common on RAGRAI - gratuitous nudity. There was a waterslide set up on a hillside, where several naked guys and some topless women chose to slide down. A large crowd cheered them on.

Traditionally, the town before the overnight town is where the big party can be found. The town today was Ventura, where the large Budweiser buses had created a beer garden complete with music and DJs. We stopped for a while to take in the atmosphere. No more nudity, although I kept a vigilent watch.

My midday breaks were getting longer, and today I stopped at Greene. The first order of business was sleep, which lasted around 45 minutes. Looking around, several other bikers were sprawled out in the shade. This was starting to become an issue of survival, since our average daytime temps were in the 115 (heat index) range.

It was neat to see that some of the teams were sticking together and riding in groups. The two more notable groups were the "Killer Bees" and "Team TP".

The Killer Bees were identified by their bee-like appearance. They had been riding together for quite a few years, and this was to be their last year as a group. Although there were many "teams", the Killer Bees made a particularly strong impression with me since they always met up and rode as a group. Most of the other "teams" were scattered throughout the countryside.

Team TP (for toilet-paper) members usually had a roll of toilet paper nearby - typically on their helmet. One member of this team provided a crucial service to Pam as she was heading into the corn fields one day. After a polite offer of some paper (a full roll of which was attached to his helmet) from the team member, I remarked that, "It's not just a saying, it's a philosophy!". He replied that, "We feel no one should go without." Great things have come from such simple foundations.

I arrived in Waverly around 5 PM. Pam was starting to feel rather poorly, and looked exhausted. We walked down to the fairgrounds for dinner. On the way we bumped into a local, who was full of questions about RAGRAI. I was tired, but did my best to be positive and answer his questions. Food helped.

As I lay there, I thought about my current state of sleep deprivation. Four hours of sleep per day was getting to me. I was sleeping at lunch for an hour or so to take the edge off the exhaustion. Ride in the cool morning air, sleep in the heat of the day. Even with that, coffee is key the pushing on when morning comes. Three more days, and my body is not fully recovering from each day, meaning that I start each day more and more tired.

Day 5 (Thu): Waverly to Decorah (89 Miles)

We got up earlier than usual, and were out of the tent by 4:45. We returned to the cafeteria for breakfast, and hit the road after 6. There was a damper on the trip at this point (although we didn't realize it until later). While we were at breakfast, someone went through our bags and stole the extra cash we were carrying. So, although there was a feeling of safety for our bicycles, precautions are still needed for personal belongings.

Day 6 (Fri): Decorah to Manchester (83 Miles)

This was the hottest day of the week. Heat indices were reported to be at 122. Heat warnings - stay inside and use your air conditioning! Nothing about being outside in the heat of the day riding your bike up a steep hill...

We got an early start, and hit severe hills within town. They looked like a wall one should attack with a climbing team, not try to ride a bike up. After a few steep and long hills, we settled into the rolling hills of the countryside.

Most adventures have a definitive moment, something which will be remembered for a long time. This can be very good or very bad. For RAGBRAI XXVII, it was the hills on Friday afternoon. We had stopped in Elgin for lunch and a nap. It was hot, and we really didn't want to leave the shape. Plus, people we had talked to said the worst hill of the day was going to be when we left Elgin.

There was in fact, a large steep hill leading out of town. For some reason, someone decided to tar over the cracks in this road about a week earlier. Because of the heat, it never had a chance to set correctly. The angle of the hillside made it a very effective solar reflector, which melted the tar. As the bikers rode over the tar, it splashed and sprayed and stuck to our tires. The sound was like riding on a wet road. Rain would have been better, since it is not sticky. The tar which stuck to our tires made our tires stick to the road, which increased the rolling resistance tremendously. It was like having the brakes stuck.

By the time we got to the top of hill, my energy reserves were exhausted. The rest of the afternoon we rode maybe 7 miles at a time limping to Manchester.

Leaving Cascade we started going up and down fairly large hills. I was coasting at 45+ mph (and using the brakes to control my speed). Finally, we hit the river plain of Bellevue, and the end of the ride. Ironic that on this last day the temperatures had fallen enough to make the ride enjoyable (and increased our riding speed by several mph).

RAGBRAI ends with an obligatory dip of the front wheels in the Mississippi River. There was a huge line of teams at the "official dip point". We opted to skip it, since river water is river water. After the photographs were taken, we headed into town to find the bus.

We found it alright, but our bike boxes were nowhere to be seen. Seeing how everything was set up, we decided to call Mrs. Turns and ask for a ride to Waterloo. She was willing to help us out and showed up a short time later with Mr. Turnis. The drive gave us a chance to visit, and negated the need for taking the bikes apart.

Finishing and Recovering