shoota 

FIrst one didn't have a name.
SAGBRAI = Second Annual blah blah
RAGBRAI
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.
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RobbieTunes

Are there "set" days for the completion of stages? Reason I ask, is I'm considering riding the last stage, maybe meet some C&V folks and ride with them, but I've been told that some do it in fewer days and just go home, etc. I'd sure like to ride that last stage from a river city to a river city.

Get a feel for it, then chuck most other events for 2020 and do this. On my bucket list.

ThermionicScott 

Each day "officially" stops in its end town. On Saturday night before the ride starts, we'll be camping in Council Bluffs. On Sunday, the vast majority of people will ride the route and camp in Atlantic that night, and so on. But more and more people are riding it self-contained -- the ambitious ones ride out from home a few days early and then join up at the start, ride RAGBRAI, then ride back home from the final town. With many of the folks I know (Cedar Rapids/IC area), however, they might not make it all the way to the start town before they meet up with the RAGBRAI pack heading east, so they'll hop on from there and then ride the route until it gets close to home, then they'll depart from the pack again. They claim that it's a lot more enjoyable with less people around. There's a lot of right ways to do RAGBRAI.

jjhabbs 

Not sure. On such a long ride I have to go for ultimate comfort. So void of finding my holy grail trek720 probably not. I roll the hills and sometimes go for speed. I guess if we had a big group I may ride a classic. Check out my new thread showing my Jack Taylor I jsut purchased.


thanks

JJ

mstateglfr 

while no large cities, it does overnight 30min from the Des Moines moines metro in Winterset and 15mi from Des Moines in Indianola.
pretty close still and those days should draw a huge 1 day crowd.

TenGrainBread 

I did it last year with my partner. A little too crowded for me but it was worth doing at least once. Tons of C&V bikes to ogle the whole ride as I would say the majority of riders are in their 50s or 60s.

I would say the majority of bikes look to be late 90s/2000s skinny tire road bikes, which to me are the ugliest and least functional of any era of road bike.

The coolest bike I saw last year was a beautiful 75th Anniversary Paramount (built by Waterford in 2013) with Curtis Odom hubs. We were stopped at a rest town so I got to take a good look and talk to the owner.

Second runner up was a newer Jeff Bock rando.

mstateglfr 

if people ride the route in fewer days than a week, they are really missing the point of RAGBRAI as all the towns along the route plan activities, have food, etc on the best the ride passes thru town. And the designated overnight towns have music and events.
if people ride ahead, they are just riding across a state on their own and could do that anywhere at anytime.

Sprocket Turner

Well said!!! I was able to get a friend of mine to do RAGBRAI - we weren't going to necessarily ride together his first year. As a warm up - he rode RAIN (Ride Across Indiana) a 160 miler. .On Sunday night we talked on the phone and he was disappointed. He didn't get why there is all the fuss over RAGBRAI and it was too crowded.
On Tuesday, we again talked on the phone and he said "I GET IT" - it's not a race, it's a ride. You stop as appropriate in each town and see the festivities and you buy a piece of pie from the boy scouts or church and you go onto the next town.

I did the ride every year from 2006 thru 2011 and I am anxious to do the ride again. I'm no longer of the opinion that I have to do it every year, but, it is an awesome event and as professionally managed as it gets.

My guess is that I will be ready for it again for 2020 unless I can talk my better half into doing it this year which is unlikely as we are planning time off for the Coppi event.

DiabloScott

One of my fondest memories of RAGBRAI was a farmhouse in the middle of no-where that had a sign to stop in for refreshments and interview by Grandma. They had a big souvenir board for people to sign, lemonade and snacks, and grandma was in a rocking chair on the porch and she interviewed the riders one-by-one while one of her clan video taped it.

Well, where you from?
I was born in NW Iowa, moved to Iowa City in '72, and now I live in CA.
Oh, in't that sum'm. How did you git to CA?
In the Navy, I was on a submarine.
Well bless yer heart. Ride safe now.

natterberry 

ThermionicScott 

Yeah, RAGBRAI is all about the people. You get to meet people from all over the world, riding any kind of wheeled contraption imaginable, having fun. Well, not always having "fun", but any bike-related suffering is a communal experience.

To live

mstateglfr 

I've heard of a couple of these in Iowa- where is yours located?
bee wine? I really need to Google that and learn.

To live

teejaywhy

I first heard about this ride last night while surfing youtube, stumbled upon a
Ryan Van Duzer produced, ~5 minute video that seems to capture the essence of the event.

It is officially added to my bucket list.

TXsailor

3/4 of our Ragbrai Team on a tune up ride today.

76SLT 

I'm registered to do the last day only. @RobbieTunes was maybe going that last day too. We talked about getting a group to do it on their Ironmans.

TXsailor

The last day from Burlington to Keokuk might be the best day of the week. I think we will have our team jerseys on so maybe you can spot us. They say cell service is spotty at best but I can pm you my number if you want to try. We are supposed to stay at the First Church of the Nazarene in Burlington.

76SLT 

I'm sure I'll make contact with your team at some point. I'm looking forward to it.

merziac

That is just simply awesome.

Vefer

I'm returning for my 5th time. Every bike imaginable! I've always rode a vintage bike. Just a week long fun time. Especially if you like bikes, people and a rolling party with 20000 of your new best friends.

jayhawkpanic

Ragbrai is really an amazing event. It will restore your faith in humanity

Headed up for my 3rd one

trying to decide whether to go c&v or not

first year I rode my 1984 Bianchi San remo

last year I rode a brand new salsa warbird

thinking about the bianchi super corsa this year but would obv have to skip the gravel loop and perhaps be a bit less comfy. Also, there are usually some massive hills on the latter part of the route and it’s going to be very hot. Huge hills, hot rims, and old rim brakes make me a bit nervous.

jayhawkpanic

I ended up riding the warbird and I’m glad I did. It poured the first day and it pretty much ruined my brooks saddle. Would have hated to ruin the vintage brooks pro on the super corsa.

Ragbrai was a blast though. Tons of c&v rides mixed in with even more modern bikes obviously. Lots of food and beer too.

merziac

No rain cover, ziploc, plastic bag at all?

mstateglfr 

Yeah that first day wasnt the greatest- rain from 3am to 3pm is less than ideal.
But boy the following days were great!

65-85 degrees, mostly calm wind, and tons of riders of all ages from various backgrounds.
Cant even imagine how many fun but brief conversations I had on the ride- too many to count.

I'm continually amazed Iowa is able to bring people from all over the US and across the world to ride its roads. Corn on the left, beans on the right. Repeat. Repeat. Ooh, variety because the corn is now on the right and beans on the left!!!