PBV is a great group to take care of you on your virgin ride (or any ride). Tammy and Pete and the team are so helpful. They answered (too many?) e-mail questions before that first Ragbrai for me. We got to know our tent neighbors and chatted every night. If you have any questions during the week, all the answers are there, just ask anyone.
As many others have said: “You are never alone on Ragbrai.”
Along the route, sit down at a picnic table with your food and beverage and meet other riders. Ragbrai is not about riding a bike, it is about disconnecting from that other stuff we do to “make” a living, and just living for one week in the corn.
Enjoy and Ride On!
I rode on ’13 alone, but made friends daily, the last three days with the same group of two gents and one lady, all of us from different areas. Milwaukee, Chicago, Lower IL somewhere and me from KC. Great times.
This year will be my fifth ragbrai, one year I rode alone for a couple days before my sister joined me. It was actually Better than I expected, because you talk with and meet more people riding alone versus with another person or group. You are never alone on ragbrai.
I will be doing RAGBRAI alone and am using PBV. I figure by the end of the bus ride to the start town I should no longer be alone. There is always people your speed and if like me and you love to talk there are friends to be made everywhere.
I rode RAGBRAI alone 5 times ’02-’06! It was tons of fun. I met so many people. You are never alone and there are a lot of return people….so you really do get to know people. Brancel Charters is a great bunch of people…gets to be like a family reunion every year. From ’07- present I did/do RAGBRAI with my husband…we LOVE it! 🙂 Enjoy!
I rode alone my first year in 2012, and between the heat, headwinds, and tornado warnings, I swore I would never venture back to Iowa from PA! This will be my fifth Ragbrai this year, and will be looking forward to meeting up with the friends I made in 2012 from Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Texas, and Illinois! It’s simple…Ride up beside another rider and say Hi, I’m (insert name)…Done!
You can show up to RAGBRAI by yourself, but there is no “alone” once the event begins. I did the ride in 2014, and the person seated next to me on the plane gave me a ride to a campground. The next day, someone at the campground gave me a ride to the start town. In the day or two before the ride, I had already made several friends. During the event, I made a dozen more. If I ever had a problem, there were RAGBRAI staff to help, Airforce guys to help me with my bike, and just the tremendous goodwill of the people of Iowa.
I had not quite realized just how much like a family the RAGBRAI community was until after the event ended, and I set out on my bike actually “alone”. What a completely different feeling!
23 Replies
Gthomp- This is my third RAGBRAI, my second alone. I’ll see you in Pork Camp and we can share a brew. Pork Belly’s always has good micro brew on tap.
PBV is a great group to take care of you on your virgin ride (or any ride). Tammy and Pete and the team are so helpful. They answered (too many?) e-mail questions before that first Ragbrai for me. We got to know our tent neighbors and chatted every night. If you have any questions during the week, all the answers are there, just ask anyone.
As many others have said: “You are never alone on Ragbrai.”
Along the route, sit down at a picnic table with your food and beverage and meet other riders. Ragbrai is not about riding a bike, it is about disconnecting from that other stuff we do to “make” a living, and just living for one week in the corn.
Enjoy and Ride On!
I rode on ’13 alone, but made friends daily, the last three days with the same group of two gents and one lady, all of us from different areas. Milwaukee, Chicago, Lower IL somewhere and me from KC. Great times.
This year will be my fifth ragbrai, one year I rode alone for a couple days before my sister joined me. It was actually Better than I expected, because you talk with and meet more people riding alone versus with another person or group. You are never alone on ragbrai.
I will be doing RAGBRAI alone and am using PBV. I figure by the end of the bus ride to the start town I should no longer be alone. There is always people your speed and if like me and you love to talk there are friends to be made everywhere.
I rode RAGBRAI alone 5 times ’02-’06! It was tons of fun. I met so many people. You are never alone and there are a lot of return people….so you really do get to know people. Brancel Charters is a great bunch of people…gets to be like a family reunion every year. From ’07- present I did/do RAGBRAI with my husband…we LOVE it! 🙂 Enjoy!
I rode alone my first year in 2012, and between the heat, headwinds, and tornado warnings, I swore I would never venture back to Iowa from PA! This will be my fifth Ragbrai this year, and will be looking forward to meeting up with the friends I made in 2012 from Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Texas, and Illinois! It’s simple…Ride up beside another rider and say Hi, I’m (insert name)…Done!
You can show up to RAGBRAI by yourself, but there is no “alone” once the event begins. I did the ride in 2014, and the person seated next to me on the plane gave me a ride to a campground. The next day, someone at the campground gave me a ride to the start town. In the day or two before the ride, I had already made several friends. During the event, I made a dozen more. If I ever had a problem, there were RAGBRAI staff to help, Airforce guys to help me with my bike, and just the tremendous goodwill of the people of Iowa.
I had not quite realized just how much like a family the RAGBRAI community was until after the event ended, and I set out on my bike actually “alone”. What a completely different feeling!