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Anyone have any experience bringing a laptop on RAGBRAI? I’m wondering about how to pack it among all the other camping gear and how gently (or not) bags are treated as they are loaded and off-loaded from the trucks. Yup, it’s February and I’m already into nit picking details like this, don’t judge me for being Type A 
Hi mustride,
I am a software developer in a one man shop. I take my laptop every year just in case a client has a real problem that my backup support cannot handle.
Do not expect a laptop to survive the baggage handlers. I go with a charter and one of the drivers has always taken the laptop in the cab with him. I’ve only needed it once in three years.
The other problem you will have is connectivity to the internet although that has improved each year with wi-fi becoming more and more available.
I pack my DSLR camera but it is packed into a fairly-dense, foam camera container. So-far-so-good. Our charter unloads the bags each day fairly carefully. They have to… otherwise tent poles get dented or bent… a very undesirable characteristic to have in your al-u-mineum tent poles!
If your laptop has a standard hard drive with spinning disks there is no amount of padding that will protect it from luggage gorillas. You can protect the case from damage but the high G forces that occur during rapid deceleration will still be felt by the internal mechanical parts of the hard disk. Those would be the heads. The rapid deceleration happens when you bag is tossed off the truck and hits the ground.
If you have an ipad or a hi end laptop that has a solid state disk then it is largely imune to the gorillas, as long as you pad it well. I still wouldn’t do it.
hum…. Since my plan is to journal the ride on CrazyGuyOnABike, I think I have to come up with a plan for my net-book. I’m thinking that sticking one pannier on the bike will work, Net-book goes in foam carrybag, bag goes in heavy plastic zippered freezer bag. I’ve carried it a lot of miles that way, including some very wet days, never had a problem.
If it were to entrust it to the gentle mercies of a baggage team, (and I’m using BBC), i would think the best way would be to roll it inside the center of your sleeping bag, and put the sleeping bag in the middle of the duffel bag.
Maybe I can make money carrying laptops for people in my saddlebags?
Steve
OK, I’m a geek and make my living being a geek. NO WAY IN HELL I’m bringing a laptop. Just a bad idea.
“Bicycle Bill”: Mike, has anybody ever explained to you the phenomenon of ‘beer goggles’?
Beebs, been there, done that, LOL!!!!!!
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