The 2012 RAGBRAI XL overnight towns have been announced. While the detailed course will be announced a little later, this gives enough of an idea on the difficulty of the course for this year’s ride.
Only 185 days until RAGBRAI XL! The route announcement party is January 28 where we will find out how long (or short) and how hilly (or flat) this year’s course will be. It's not too early to start preparing (RAGBRAI speak for training) for the ride.
We just wanted to thank Coach David Ertl for writing the RAGBRAI Training Blogs this year. Coach gave some great tips to help you prepare so you can enjoy RAGBRAI.
Okay, your preparation is just about done and all that is left for you to do is to travel to western Iowa and begin your great bicycle ride across Iowa. Here are some final thoughts for you to allow you to have the most enjoyable ride possible.
The 2011 version of RAGBRAI is almost here. Are you ready? Read this article to make sure. Here are some last minute tips for preparing your bike and your body for the ride.
The most common mistake I see new riders make is to use too large of a gear and pedal too slowly. This may feel like the right thing to do, but pedaling faster can make you faster and make you less tired.
You may take your cycling shoes and pedals for granted. After all, you just step and stand on them while riding. But these are vitally important components for cycling and deserve a mention here.
If you’ve read my earlier article on the amount of climbing on this year’s RAGBRAI, or if you've looked at the profile, you will realize there aren’t long, long climbs, but there is a lot of overall climbing. That climbing comes a quarter or a half mile at a time. The hills in Iowa are short but they can be frequent especially on the first couple of days. These can cause challenges for riders both going up and coming down.
I received a question from a ‘mature’ rider asking if I could give some advice addressing riding and training for the older cyclist. So this is the subject of this blog.
OK RAGBRAI riders, here it is again this year, back by popular demand: The 15 week training plan for RAGBRAI. I have put this plan together to give you an idea of how to build up your riding in a very methodical and gradual manner to ensure you have the ability to ride RAGBRAI comfortably and to be able to finish it successfully.
Monday, January 30, 2012
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