RAGBRAI

Pat said:

I would like to ride in next year's RAGBRAI. Does anyone have any hard-earned tips you can give me
to help with the planning and the ride itself?

Here's a hard-earned tip: GOOGLE.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

Pat said:

x-no-archive:yes

I would like to ride in next year's RAGBRAI. Does anyone have any hard-earned tips you can give me
to help with the planning and the ride itself?

thanks,

Pat in TX

Pat,

Start at ragbrai.org. THen look for some teams that do the ride. Find some local folks who go and
connect with them.

Where in Texas are you? Some of Team RADPAN reside in Texas.

It's a great time and worth doing.

Tom from Massachusetts.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

x-no-archive:yes

I would like to ride in next year's RAGBRAI. Does anyone have any hard-earned tips you can give
me to help with the planning and the ride itself?

thanks,

Pat in TX

Pat,

Start at ragbrai.org. THen look for some teams that do the ride. Find some local folks who go and
connect with them.

Where in Texas are you? Some of Team RADPAN reside in Texas.

It's a great time and worth doing.

Tom from Massachusetts.

I went to their site, but it is pretty much concerned with official stuff. I was looking for
insider tips, I guess. The real news on what it is like to camp out during the RAGBRAI or something
like that.

I am in the Dallas area. I didn't know I had to have a team. I thought maybe a friend and I could do
it. I know two guys who went up there and rode 2 days (without registering or paying anything). They
jumped in the middle of the event and jumped out after two days. Hell, I didn't even know it was
some kind of "drawing" to be selected to ride. I guess it is good that I am starting early...

Pat in TX

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

x-no-archive:yes

I would like to ride in next year's RAGBRAI. Does anyone have any hard-earned tips you can give
me to help with the planning and the ride itself?

thanks,

Pat in TX

Pat,

Start at ragbrai.org. THen look for some teams that do the ride. Find some local folks who go and
connect with them.

Where in Texas are you? Some of Team RADPAN reside in Texas.

It's a great time and worth doing.

Tom from Massachusetts.

I went to their site, but it is pretty much concerned with official stuff. I was looking for
insider tips, I guess. The real news on what it is like to camp out during the RAGBRAI or
something like that.

I am in the Dallas area. I didn't know I had to have a team. I thought maybe a friend and I could
do it. I know two guys who went up there and rode 2 days (without registering or paying anything).
They jumped in the middle of the event and jumped out after two days. Hell, I didn't even know it
was some kind of "drawing" to be selected to ride. I guess it is good that I am starting early...

Pat in TX

PAt,

Teams are not necessary but they make life easier. They carry your gear from town to town, get a
camping spot, and give you other folks to help along the way.

Lots of folks jump in and out and are not "official" riders. These are public roads and anyone can
ride them. The advantage of being registered is that you have insurance, can ride the sag wagons for
free, get discounts at some shops and (most importantly) support the Register and encourage the
continuation of RAGBRAI. The Register says that all "profits" are donated to Iowa charities. Sounds
like a good cause to me.

Check out teams and see if there are any in the Dallas area (some of the RADPAN riders are from that
area so there must be other tams as well). Talk to folks who have ridden RAGBRAI for advice.

Tom

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I went to their site, but it is pretty much concerned with official stuff.

I

Quoted message said:

was looking for insider tips, I guess. The real news on what it is like to camp out during the
RAGBRAI or something like that.

I am in the Dallas area. I didn't know I had to have a team. I thought maybe a friend and I could
do it. I know two guys who went up there and rode 2 days (without registering or paying anything).
They jumped in the middle of the event and jumped out after two days. Hell, I didn't even

know

Quoted message said:

it was some kind of "drawing" to be selected to ride. I guess it is good that I am starting
early...

Hi Pat,

I am a veteran of five RAGBRAIs. First - You DON'T HAVE to be on a "team", that is a popular myth.
All teams are is a group that organizes together to supply their own support for the ride whether it
be a team bus, organized in-home stays, or whatever. Thousands and thousands of people ride it
without being on an organized "team". They ride as a small or large group of friends or family
members, or solo even.

But, if you want to ride without a team I would highly recommend that you and your friend(s) go to
the RAGBRAI web page and find the link to "Official RAGBRAI Charters" - or close to that name - on
the left side of the home page. There you will find a list of bike clubs or commercial operations
that provide charter service for people just like yourself who want to do the ride but don't belong
to a team with their own support. These charters provide varying degrees of support from bare-bones
to full-service transportation and support. The full-service charters will pick you up a central
location, transport you, your bike and luggage across the state all week and then return you to a
central location. Some also provide showers, laundry service, tent set-up service. Most provide
snacks and drinks for free or token charge in the campsite each day.

The two I would most recommend are Lake Country Cyclists (LCC) out of Ankeny, IA (Ankeny is a Des
Moines suburb), or Pork Belly Ventures (PBV) out of Omaha, NE. PBV is a commercial venture that has
been around for many years and has a good following. LCC is a bike club based in Ankeny that
provides a full-service charter service that also has a large following from year to year. I've done
all five of my RAGBRAIs on the LCC charter.

They have bus service from the Des Moines/Ankeny area to the starting town. During the week they
transport your luggage and tents from town to town. Tent set-up service is available. At the end
of the week they provide bus service for you and all your "stuff" back to the Des Moines/Ankeny
area. LCC also has portable solar showers in their campsite each night which means WARM showers
each day!!!!

Yes, there is a "lottery" for week-long tags but something like 90 + % of applicants get picked. For
those who don't there are always tags available from people that aren't able to use the ones they've
got for one reason or another. There are also an unlimited supply of one-day passes available for
people that aren't riding the entire week. So, there is no reason to have to ride unregistered if
you don't want to.

Tips? You are doing the right thing by picking the brains of veterans. I suggest that you go back to
the RAGBRAI website and follow the links into their chat rooms. You can post questions there and get
more complete answers. You will really have the time of your life if you decide to do the ride.

Regards, Gary

"Gary Mishler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:2Pidb.602070$o%2.280696@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

The two I would most recommend are Lake Country Cyclists (LCC) out of Ankeny, IA (Ankeny is a Des
Moines suburb), or Pork Belly Ventures (PBV)

out

Quoted message said:

of Omaha, NE. PBV is a commercial venture that has been around for many years and has a good
following. LCC is a bike club based in Ankeny that provides a full-service charter service that
also has a large following

from

Quoted message said:

year to year. I've done all five of my RAGBRAIs on the LCC charter.

Ooops, I failed to mention Bike World out of Des Moines, they are also an excellent charter service
although I'm not sure what the "shower situation" is on their charter.

Also, the link on the RAGBRAI Page is "Charter Services": ragbrai.orgcharter2003list.htmOpen ↗

Also, the LCC I spoke of in my previous post is actually listed as Ankeny Lake Country Cyclists on
the above web page. Their website with a link to RAGBRAI charter information is
lakecountrycyclists.comlakecountrycyclists.comOpen ↗ Click on the "RAGBRAI" link on the left of the homepage and then
"Get the RAGBRAI Application Here" link to get to their charter info.

I think the folks at Pork Belly (PBV) would be slightly upset at being described as being from
Omaha, NE. They are from Council Bluffs, IOWA (OK, they use the Omaha airport, and are just across
the river). This is a mattter of major local pride, for no real reason on either side of the river.

I did 3 rides with PBV when I lived in Omaha. Good group, as are the others mentioned.

Realize that RAGBRAI riders are in lots of categories. Starting time is a good discriminator:

- Some folks start at 5 AM to beat the heat. They also miss the local town entertainment
- 6-8 AM. Majority of the folks. Families and regular folks.
- 9-11AM. Back of the Park Partiers (BOPPERs). In the bars until 2 AM, so a late start.
Younger crowd.

Also, if you are into the party scene, the big party is often in the town before the stop for the
night. But I hear the parties are getting less wild.

I always enjoyed the ethnic/religious differences between the Iowa towns. A Czech Catholic town
doesn't talk to the next town, German Lutheran, 15 miles away. And no one talks to the Dutch Reform!
(but they pity them)

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

x-no-archive:yes

I would like to ride in next year's RAGBRAI. Does anyone have any hard-earned tips you can give me
to help with the planning and the ride itself?

Check out this URL

ragbrai.orgresults2003.htmOpen ↗