#1. Ditto Helen’s advice but alternatively… I always carry a small wallet (separate from my normal wallet) while riding. It has the cash I think I’ll need for the day, 1 credit card and a photo copy of my driver’s license and insurance card. I put that wallet in a small plastic bag (to protect it from sweat) and keep it in one of my jersey pockets. I’ve never been concerned about nor had it happen that someone pick-pocketed it from me. I also have a Road ID to which I’ve uploaded all my medical information (www.roadid.com).
#2. While many places accept credit cards (all “businesses” do) – especially at the Expo – the churches selling pies and desserts and the people selling water or food from their yards probably WON’T be accepting credit cards. I usually bring a couple of $20, some $5 and $10 in ones…maybe $100 to start the day. If I’m at a store, I try to use my credit card.
#3. This year, because I have so many, I’m bringing a different Jersey for every day but only 3 sets of bibs. I try to was the bibs as best I can each day and hope that in 2 days they’re dry enough to wear again (you definitely want your shorts/bibs to be DRY). You should be OK with 2 jerseys though, your thinking is sound.
#4. Kybo (port-a-potty) lines during the day can be long (especially the ones you first encounter in a town…I usually hunt for the next set!). Don’t know about the showers because I travel with a team and they have their own portable shower (Yay!) so rarely is there more than a 2 person wait.
#5 I think 20-30 minutes in the shower would be HIGHLY inappropriate. This is roughing it, not home! lol Not just because you want to be polite to all those waiting, but also to conserve water. My process is: strip in the shower, turn the water on and get me and everything wet, turn water off, soap up my kit (Jersey/shorts-bib) and then me, spend a couple of minutes hand washing your kit, turn on shower to rinse – first I thoroughly rinse my kit, which usually accomplishes rinsing me, too! Turn water off, squeeze the water out of kit, get dried and exit. This might take me all of 5 minutes. DON’T FORGET SOME SHOWER SHOES! All of this makes me relish the last long home/hotel shower BEFORE RAGBRAI and the first one AFTER RAGBRAI! Seriously, the people attending the showers can help you gauge how long you can/should take.
#6. I have done PBV when they supported Big BAM and they have a really nice charging setup. The team I ride with has a similar cubby-hole charging station setup. So, I can only speak to those experiences. I would suspect that you if you have a lot of different things to charge, you might have to rotate them through your charging “slot”. Again, it’s a matter of being polite to all the others who probably want to charge.
You didn’t ask, but lower your expectations about cell service during RAGBRAI. Cell towers aren’t really meant to handle 20K-30K people trying to use their mobiles all at once in the same location! Wi-Fi can be pretty sketchy so posting to Facebook can be an exercise in frustration. You’ll be less frustrated if you think of telling your story and posting your pix AFTER RAGBRAI.
