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Ragbrai 2008

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Alright the truck is loaded, snacks are prepared, and the iPod is playing! I'm Eastbound and down, destination: Iowa for the 2008 Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI)!

I'll be posting pictures and stories from the ride here, hopefully everyday or darn near. Right now I'm posting from the cellular unit barreling down I-80 but I believe there's WiFi access on the route and we're travelling Big Winnie Style for the majority of the trip, so I'm bringing the laptop.

The plan is to make it to Des Moines tonight and stay with my friend Jenny's brother, the rally with the rest of our crew on the Eastern side of Iowa tommorrow morning. We'll drop vehicles there and ride in Winneb ago comfort back to the Missouri River side to start riding on Sunday.

500 miles, 7 hangovers and one Styx concert later iwe should arrive at Old Man River, tired and happy.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out!
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Will you spit on Council Bluffs for me?
Totally!

Sorry about the multi-post, I apparently suck at the mobile internets. I'll try and delete the other thread... D'oh!


Oh and one more thing: our 4th person just bailed on us so if you know anyone that wants to ride a bike across Iowa have them get in touch! We've got an extra wristband...
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Alright figured I oughtta test out posting a pic from my cell phone while I'm in the car. Folks, meet Jenny, one of the peeps I'll be riding with this week.



My other partner is Don, but he's coming from Indiana so no pictures yet. We're about an hour from Des Moines and so far we've killed about 3/4 lb of pasta salad and a package of Twizzlers. Oh yeah, eatin' good in the neighborhood!
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
I did that once a few years ago. That was a great tour of a whole lot of nothing.

It was no wonder everyone was drinking heavily every night.
 

pinkshirtphotos

site moron
Jul 5, 2006
4,827
521
Vernon, NJ
iowa drained? might want to bring a kayak just in case. all seriousness have fun that looks like a great ride. i have wanted to do it for 3 years now, but never have. maybe after your ride reports next year will be the year.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Iowa is drained, we should be all good there! So far, having a pretty good time and the ride hasn't even started yet. Actually we're stuck in a traffic ball up about 85 miles shy of Missouri Valley, but at least we're in an RV!

Speaking of, turns out the Mighty Dutch Star will not be making the journey with us, so camping style it is. This also means no laptop for the week either, so all posts will come via Blackberry. Anyone know of a good way to upload photos to the web from a phone? Picasa? Photobucket?

Alright I'm out for now, I'll drop a note in here when we get to the pre-ride festival thingy in a couple hours!
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
This place is friggin CRAZY... Tents as far as the eye can see and people on every kind of bike out there. Tomorrow is 59 miles, figure we'll be in the next town by noon or so. Look for a ride report tomorrow!
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Well the cell coverage has been as sparse as the internets coverage, so I haven't been able to post up dailies at ALL. We got to Ames tonight and we're staying on the Iowa state campus, very nice. I'll prolly have to just do a trip report with pics and stuff after this is all over, but lemme just say RAGBRAI lives up to the hype: it's a ton of fun. And don't be fooled, Iowa ain't flat either. Being born and raised in Indiana, I find something comforting about endless rolling hills, green trees, and miles of corn fields ;)

Anyhow, a few firsts for me this trip so far: first time using Chamois Butt'r, first time I've ridden a century (yesterday!), first time I've been evacuated out of a tent to a storm shelter at 2 a.m.

I've laid off the partying for the first few days, I really didn't want that century to suck anymore than it was gonna. Today was an easy rdie into Ames, our camp is set, and Styx is playing tonight so I think we're off to find some food and beers.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Slept inside last night and got laundry done at a friend of Jenny's - feeling strong and ready for Day 6! Today and tommorrow are short days relatively speaking: 68 and 53 miles or something like that. Weird how clicking off an 80 mile day is becoming routine for me. How people party balls and ride this thing is beyond me, I'm guessing they ride slower maybe? Although I don't know how you can go much slower than me!

Truthfully though, the majority of people really are here for the ride. It's been some long days for this downhill guy that's for sure!
 
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Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Last day of the ride, sky is still overcast but the tent is dry. Got a flat 53 miles to the Mississippi and then we're DONE!

This whole thing has been tons of fun, but this many miles in this many days are definitely wearing on my body. My hip joint and ankle (both old injuries) are starting to give me troubles. We'll be really close to 500 miles when we dip in the Mississippi this afternoon.
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Fixed yer link.

Edit: Awesome.

"In today's wireless age, a recurring issue for most RAGBRAI'ers is recharging batteries for a nearly endless number of electronic gadgets. The Mahoney's house was littered with chargers plugged into every available electrical outlet. During the evening, one of these devices, a cell phone, began ringing on the front porch. The phone belonged to a hog farmer named Jay, who was tagging along with Team Joyride for the first two days of riding and then heading back home to Northwest Iowa on Tuesday. The call was from the local fire/rescue service, who had sold Jay a raffle ticket for a new bicycle. When Jay learned his ticket was a winner, he hung up the phone and sprinted - to where, we didn't know. The only words we could make out were "I won a bike!" Thirty minutes later, a sweat-soaked Jay returned with a new Specialized road bike. Good night for Jay"

Edit again: That's an awesome read.
 
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Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
Every so often I'd turn my head and see someone directly behind me, using my draft for a free ride. I didn't particularly care for that kind of freeloading. Had they simply asked, I would have gladly let them draft for awhile and take turns leading. But if I sensed freeloading, I sprinted until I couldn't see them anymore. That there's roadie etiquette, Stichnoth style.
Amen to this. I "caught" quite a few inconsiderate jack***es drafting off me without saying anything, and like you it wouldn't be a big deal if they would have asked or said something. But if I looked back and saw someone there, I usually clicked down a couple gears and dropped them without hesitation. Roadie etiquette indeed, Full Trucker style. Fuggers.

One fella did catch a draft off me right at the beginning of a sizeable hill, and I clicked down and decided if the dude wants a pull, he better be able to keep the fully oxygenized turbo pace I came to enjoy being a full 5,000 feet lower in elevation. I pulled hard up that hill into a headwind, and when we got to the top I pulled off to wait for the two people I was riding with. The fella kept on going, but as he passed he had a BIGASS smile on his face and hollered "NICE pull! Thanks!"

Somehow that made it worth it!

Where are the pics of the blonde? :brows:
The little blonde girl (a.k.a. the Ladyfriend) did not go with on this trip. I have been riding with (behind) her the past couple of days though! :thumb:
 
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-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
customer of mine did RAGBRAI. found a crack in her fork 5 days before she was to leave. ended up with the wrong fork twice. finally, the day she was leaving, the correct fork was delivered. close one. shorter girl on an SWORKS Roubaix...rather cute.
 

Barbaton

Turbo Monkey
May 11, 2002
1,477
0
suburban hell
man, i'm sad i missed it this year. had to get married and go on honeymoon, etc. wife didn't think that camping in the corn was suitable. :) sounds like it was lots of fun, too