I didn’t see much of Davenport as our team left early, but I liked the part I saw.  I thought the route in was pretty and the volunteers at the dip site were friendly and helpful.  I did think it was weird to put the food vendors out in a grass field away from everything, but other than that I thought the endpoint was set up well.  Our team loaded at the Isle of Capri casino in Bettendorf and I really enjoyed riding along the trail to get there.

Our support vehicle ended up in Moline and it turned out to be a blessing.   Plenty of uncrowded parking and a nice place to sit in the shade by the river while we waited for our riders.  The only complaint they had was that the route over to Moline was not very well marked.  Leaving Moline was a breeze with very little traffic.

i thought davenport did a great job.  alot better than dubuque last year, that was a mess. 

we were told to go to Isle if caprt  for loading only when our truck got there they wouldn’t let him in. Ended up 4-5 blocks away. Don’t know how it could have worked without cell phones, the first driver having to call Patti and her having to call the bus company to contact the drivers about the change, and getting ahold of the other truck driver and trying to get word to all 120 people that morning during the ride. Somehow everyone made it but not without a lot getting lost first. Bettendorf looked great, Davenport,  crappy sticky road, worn down warehouses and industrial sites.

I’m hoping next year they make me bike 15 miles from the dip site to my charter, not just the 10 I had to do this year. LOL. Yes, Davenport sucked.

I thought Davenport was horrible.  The road they brought us in on, oil spots seeping to the top, tacky surface…thought I had a flat when I hit it.  Then having to bike another 10 miles to get loaded up (wasn’t marked the best).  I loved the fact that the people were running their sprinklers on the oily surface to make it even more daunting….luckily it wasn’t overly crowded, could have been messy.

I rode the extra miles to the charter too, only to find out that Davenport was running shuttles to all of them. Whoops on me for not asking. 

Davenport … HORRIBLE choice as an end town, in my book.

Davenport worked fine for our group.  One mile ride up the bike path from the dip site, and our bus was waiting by the Rec Center that had nice, almost empty showers, no line.  Wahoo!

Pick 100 riders from 100 groups and you will have 100 different experiences.  This is true year after year.

RIDE RIGHT

The ride away from Davenport didn’t bother me as much as the road they chose to bring us in on.  Poor choice, and felt like the second class citizens vs Bix. I hit one patch of oil and thought I was going down for sure.  I didn’t and was cautious from that point on. I’ve done the last 5 RAGBRAIs and this was my least favorite.  I really enjoyed last year and hope we go north again next year.

Having Bix and Ragbrai in town at the same time may have been overly ambitious.

Liked Davenport just fine.  Great garage for parking downtown.  Fastest wheel dip of 5 rides I’ve done.  Community welcome was awesome.  Was able to drive to my charter and grab my bags and out of town in a breeze.

With the river as high as it was, there were miles of dipping opportunities.

At first I was very concerned about the plan for Davenport. I ended up driving into town that day and parking in Moline. With all the events going on I was fairly surprised at how well it flowed without major traffic issues. But here are things they could have done better: