I’m starting this thread for the new RAGBRAI riders with some tips not in the Ride Right handbook we can offer them (and all of us) on staying safe this year. It seemed like there were more than the usual amount of crashes last year and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of bandages.
Here’s my first tips:
Watchout out for the center of the road cracks!! In many of the roads there’s a seam between the left and right side. Many times it’s large enough to catch your tire and flip you like a pancake. I’ve seen a lot of people messed up by this. Don’t cross these gradually, or at all if you’re not sure. They’ll fill these many times with tar, but in the hot sun the tar gets soft, so you get a false sense of security. Then you’re tire sinks in and you go flying. So watch out for those seams!
The other one (but less deadly in my opinion) are the rumblers. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s those rumble strips you run over on your car on rural roads as you approach stops. People will point at the ground to point these out or yell “rumblers” so you’ll know they’re coming. Just move to the side if there’s not another bike next to you, or slow down and go over them but with a firm grip on the handlebars. Most people will shift to the other side of the road to avoid them. Just watch for other bikers before doing so.
A pace line is a group of riders riding in line to help break the wind and generally move along faster. It’s okay, but generally a bad idea if a) you’ve never ridden in a pace line before, or b) you haven’t ridden with the people in this pace line before. Lots of wrecks happen in pace lines due to the closeness of the bikes (less time to stop or avoid), the fact that you generally ride faster or due to lack of communication. One major rule of pace line safety is DON’T CROSS TIRES! Meaning, don’t let your front tire get past the rear tire of the person in front of you. I saw this last year with a line I was in and backed off, and sure as h e c k a mile later the line piled up when wheels touched. RAGBRAI is not a good place to learn to ride a pace line.
Let’s be careful out there!! I’d love to see a lot more bored ambulance drivers this year.
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“Hold your line” When someone says that to you they mean stop weaving all over the road and ride in a straight line.
How true! That’s one of the biggest safety mistakes that I’ve noticed on RAGBRAI. Too bad more riders aren’t reading this stuff!!!!
2nd RAGBRAI, YEAH and I’m reading!! I am having my two daughter read it too. That is one of my hesitations of letting them ride, they are inexperienced (11 & 12) (the 12 year old rode it last year) and I would HATE for them to cause a serious crash. I think that is my advice…when you see young riders be more alert! They are so excited they have had trouble falling asleep for a week!
Keep the tips coming!
Consider it a promise!
To tfoster: It’s great that you’re bringing your young daughters to RAGRBAI. I’d coach them that they need to treat the road and the bikes as if they were like cars on the roads at home. That might help them appreciate the need to be as careful as when cars are on the road.
Smooth and Predictable
Apply this concept to all riding situations.
Smooth means riding in a straight line at a consistent pace. No swerving around to pass or suddenly changing your line of travel. No sudden braking. If you need to pass first look to see that it is clear behind you and that you have enough time to complete your pass based on others who may be coming up behind you.
Predictable means if you are going to be doing something other than riding in a straight line at a steady pace to let others know. Hand signals (pointing) and verbal cues too. Just because you indicate you are changing your lane of travel you still need to check that it is clear.
If you are a fast rider you may need to slow down every once in a while. If you are a slow rider stay to the right, don’t leave enough room for someone to pass you on the right, but don’t be weaving in an out either. Also if you are a fast rider always leave a little extra room on your left because there will be someone faster than you coming along.
Race training – find a racer in your local area and ask them to take you out for some bumping drills. Learn the skills that racers use to avoid asphalt surfing so that you can enjoy touring in a crowd. Just because another rider touchs you does not mean you have to crash, learn how to stay safe. Practice some bumping drills and learn how it feels when another rider leans into you. Practice some wheel rubs and learn to turn into the rear wheel of another rider if someone hooks your front wheel. Learn to bunny hop road hazards. When riding in a crowded situation keep your hands on your drops, this lowers your center of gravity and protects your bars from other riders.
If you find yourself in a paceline be aware of those in front of you as well as those behind you. Always think about how you will escape if there is a crash in front of you. Don’t do anything to cause a crash behind you. If the paceline is really long either stay near the front or leave and form a smaller, safer paceline. If you are tired or riding at your maximum effort leave that paceline, it is too fast for you and you wont be thinking clearly and may make a mistake.
–therein lies a significant part of the problem. Most of the day you are riding in a manner that encourages right side passing.
Agreed braizdjg02, but therein lies part of the problem. I either swing right and then out to the middle at an average of 5 times per mile, or I do as others and I think is safer, and that is to hold a line that makes others easy to pass me on the left and not wonder if I’m swinging out all the way left. I am very very rarely passed on my right. I know this is a contradiction of always riding right, but last year it was way safer based on the number of riders to maintain this instead of constantly swinging in and out. With so many riders it’s as if we need 3 designated lanes, slow, medium and “get the h.e.l.l. out of my way”!
Giantron, I agree with you. I don’t believe your the problem. However, what about those slower riders who travel 2 or 3 abreast, chatting away, in the right lane? I’m not fast either but probably faster than some. We’re forced into the center of the road. Hopefully we can all get down the road, do it safely and be pleasant to each other at the same time! “On your left” should be a friendly warning, not a “get the HELLL out of my way” message!!!!!!!
I really wish vendors would not set up on the left side. Trying to get off and back on again on the left side (where all the fast guys are) is riskier than on the right (slow) side.
I think this year I will pass up everything on the left side. There is plenty of stuff to eat on the right side and in the pass-through towns.
I have seen lots of great advice so far on this thread. I hope people are reading it. The rumble strip thing is my pet peeve. People swerve at the last second cause they aren’t paying attention.
The most important safety tip is to be dilligent of other that dont follow the simplest curtsies.
We all know what needs to be done, but we all suffer from lapses in judgment.
So keep your head up and pay attention to your surroundings.
Road conditions
Road side vendors bottle neck traffic expect people to be on the road that arent riding or are entering the traffic lane. Also there are vendor on both sides of the road. I have seen left hand turns across two lane of traffic to get to a pork chop.
When entering the traffic lane, it has been my experience that if you walk down the shoulder a bit and get away from the crowd you can see the oncoming traffic better and its quite possible that they will see you as well. This work good when leaving the traffic flow as they will be less congestion on the shoulders.
Cracks have been mentioned so enough said, they be bad and they aren’t only in the center.
Gravel is another hazard to avoid. Look out were country (unpaved ) roads cross the RAGBRAI route.
If you are lucky enough to be riding with experienced riders listen and look for gestures that could be indication of hazards.
Changes in road surfaces
Rumble strips can wake you up when you are pickin cotton. these will not cause you to crash. If you ride into one just ride it out. Sudden changes in direction while enjoying a rumble can cause you to go down. Rumble are befor stop signs on the county roads here in Iowa so watch for those as a queue for rumble.
Slower Traffic
These are the one that you can sneak up on and get pinned into the dreaded “On your right’. There are lots of opportunities to encounter these. Old friends in a a deep conversation, trike, old fat slow guys like me. We are out there. Plan your moved to avoid these obstacles.
Know your limits
If you are like myself i ride RAGBRAI to enjoy a week outside in Iowa. I have seen some of the most incredible sunrises. I also know that i have a tendency to daydream when i ride. Not a good combination when ringing with the 20 thousand or so riders that are also looking at the same incredible site. If you need to take in the sites and dedicate your attention to it pull off the road and enjoy.
Most of the close encounters i have experienced on RaGBRAI were due in part to my lack of diligence. I put myself in the situation but simply not paying attention.
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Generally speaking most people have one good reason or another for not riding on the right and feel that staying to the right only applies to others. The net result is that when the roads get a little crowded most people are on the left side of the road which is an unsafe situation and the exact opposite of what is intended. As you ride along just watch and see. To quote Ride Right Safety Tip #4 “I know that everybody thinks they are in the fast lane, but you are not. Move back towards the right side as soon as you can”
Ref ( https://ragbrai.com/2011/06/16/ride-right-safety-tip-4-the-right-riding/ )
A couple more points. everyone seems to get bunched up on the hills. The idea of holding your line applies all the time, but the place where I see the biggest problem with that is on hills. Do not weave back and forth to try and climb a hill. Either shift down and continue in a straight line or move right and walk.
Everyone rides this ride at their own pace but we all need to make a conscious effort to stay right as much as possible.
One last item, I don’t recommend pacelines of any kind on ragbrai. There is a time and place for that, but ragbrai really isn’t one. One of the biggest problems I see out there is that you will get a group of fast riders coming by in a paceline that is way too fast for the conditions and then they will scream at everyone to get the heck out of their way. My point is just because you have a group of idiots riding in a fast paceline does not give you the right of way any more than anyone else has. We all need to try and be safe out there. And sometimes that means riding much slower than you would like.