Today I head to the western edge of Iowa to ride the RAGBRAI (Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa), RAGBRAI started 39 years ago by the Des Moines Register. It is a 7 day ride going from about 65-75 miles per day between overnight towns, starting in Glenwood, and finishing in Davenport. Most of the 10,000 plus riders camp and have their gear hauled by a truck or bus, and leave a car at the eastern edge. I am going to be riding in a 35 foot RV. All of my companions have done this ride before, Ron B, Ron G, and my friend John, and his Jr. High aged son Liam. Our official team name is Four and a Half Men. But at the last minute, young Liam decided he had better prospects for fun at home in Frankfort. So, I am considering our new name to be Three and a Half Cyclists. Ron, John, and Ron do a lot more bike riding than me (plus their names all rhyme!), so I volunteered to take on the bulk of the driving duties. I will probably ride one day, drive the next, maybe get a run in on those off days, to keep up my marathon training. So, if I double-back on the bike one day for half the course, I can consider that I did a Half-Ragbrai.
Right now in Chicago, the temperatures in Chicago are in the upper 90’s, with heat indexes well above 100. It looks like the temperature on the west side of Iowa where we start near Council Bluffs, will be in the mid-90’s on the first riding day on Sunday. After that, we get mid-high 80’s, which will seem cooler by comparison, but it is still hot.
Early Friday afternoon, we are going to rendezvous at the house with the RV and load up our gear and bikes. We will drive 3-5 hours and find a campground somewhere just across the border in Iowa. Then Saturday we will drive west across the bulk of Iowa and get registered, etc. We will wake up on Sunday and ride from Glenwood to Atlantic. One of us(probably me) will drive a more direct route to the first overnight town. On Sunday, we pack up and ride to Carrollton.
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