RAGBRAI LI Route Announced on Jan. 27!

Introducing a new cycling advice column — "Ask Beebs"!

Dear Beebs:
I’ve seen pictures of the International Nude Bicycle Ride events and have always wanted to take part in them, but I am just too shy to strip down to my birthday suit and pedal around in public wearing nothing more than some body paint.  Do you have any suggestions for me?
(signed) “Bashful Biker”

Dear Bashful:
No problemo!  Just outfit yourself with the latest cycling kit as worn by the Colombian Women’s Cycling Team and you’ll blend right in!!

Tailwinds to ya!!

-“BB”- 

5 Replies

Sexton, October 1, 2014 at 4:19 pm

Ahh, What?

#1001826

tomthebike, October 4, 2014 at 1:24 pm

Ahhh Hello
Its called Camel Toe

#1004480

“Bicycle Bill”, October 5, 2014 at 3:43 am

Dear Beebs:
I have always heard that RAGBRAI is America’s biggest party ride; a virtual Woodstock on wheels.  And like the original Woodstock, it’s more about how much you can drink or what sort of recreational narcotic you can provide (especially to the females — who are reportedly to be of negotiable virtue).  You mean to tell me that the Des Moines Register signed off on this originally?
(signed) Johnnie-come-lately

Dear Johnnie:
No, RAGBRAI did not start out this way.  It was originally intended to be a way to showcase small-town Iowa for the benefit of Iowans and non-Iowans alike, as most people at that time thought of Iowa (if they even thought of it at all) as nothing more than the Hawkeyes, hog farms, and cornfields — “fly-over country”, in other words.  And it stayed that way for at least the first seven or eight years; at last until the national press got their hands on it.  *THEY* were the ones who turned it into a hedonistic festival of grass, alcohol, and sexual hanky-panky … and this attracted people who then turned it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For example, I was in Elkader in 1980 when the last-night party turned into a rather ugly scene … and this was after the Register’s editor at the time, one Michael Gartner, wrote an editorial/article entitled “The After-Dark Side of RAGBRAI”) purporting that RAGBRAI was a G-rated family event during the day but became an orgy of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.  Funny thing is; the riders still had one more day of riding (in this case, from Elkader to Guttenberg) and most of the riders were back in their campground and in their bedrolls before midnight; it was the locals and the hangers-on who made downtown Elkader look more like Sturgis during the Harley Rally.

So is it still as innocent and pure — from a cycling standpoint — as it was originally?  Of course not.  I remember stories about riders who would step in at restaurants to aid the overwhelmed staff (and I could tell a helluva story about my experiences at a bar in Schleswig back on Soggy Monday).  But anything that has been going on for over 40 years is going to change with the times or it will die on the vine.  I’ve seen the ride change from people hauling their own gear (or letting the Register tote their stuff in a 50-foot semi) and setting up their own campsite, to where people come with their own entourage including chefs (Team Gourmet)or approach this from a cruise-ship mentality where everything is done for them — including providing and setting up their tents (Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers; Pork Belly Ventures) … and every possible level in between.

So I suppose what I’m saying here is that there’s dambed near 20K people on RAGBRAI, and like any community of that size, if you come looking for something you’re likely going to find it.  Just remember that your own unique experience, while a *PART* of RAGBRAI, does not define RAGBRAI.

Tailwinds to ya!

-“BB”-

#1004799

Sandaltan ., October 5, 2014 at 5:37 pm

“Cruise ship mentality”….I like that phrase Beebs!! Ahhh, but the good stories are those of hardship, Soggy Monday, Saggy Thursday and Windy Wednesday.

RIDE RIGHT

#1005453

“Bicycle Bill”, January 6, 2015 at 11:21 am

Dear Beebs:
I want to ride on RAGBRAI but feel that the Register is ripping me off.  A hundred and sixty bucks??  For what??  Just to put my name on some dambed list and get a geeky wristband??  I’ve still gotta pay through the nose for everything I eat, drink, or smoke.  And besides, my taxes helped pay for these roads.  I shouldn’t have to pay again to ride them.

I understand that in the past there have been people who refuse to pay and just ride anyway.  So what would happen if I just showed up, got on my bike, and hooked up with the crowd?
(signed) Jolly Roger

Dear Roger:
You’ve got an appropriate name for yourself, as what you are espousing is known to some people as “pirating” the ride — others may refer to it as riding it as a “bandit”.  Either way, the concept behind these terms is that you are taking and making use of something that somebody else had to pay for in some way or another.

Let’s dissect that $160 fee that the Register charges.  You ask just what you get for that?  Well, for starters, there’s a route picked out for you to ride for a seven day period in Iowa.  This route has been researched, and the towns along the way are (more or less) ready for the onslaught of riders.  The overnight towns were picked out to be a reasonable distance apart, and provisions were made to allow camping in places where this would not normally be allowed to occur.  I remember setting up my tent alongside the runway at the Mapleton airport one year; another year my tent was on the front lawn of the State Capitol in Des Moines.  Try that on your own sometime and see what happens!

Then there’s the arrangements with law enforcement and medical providers.  RAGBRAI has several members of the ISP (Iowa State Patrol) with them for the whole week providing traffic control at major intersections; and there are several ambulance and paramedic teams spotted along the route and able to be called in should the need arise rather than trying to get one from the county seat.  And then there’s the support provided by the on-route bike support crews.  I grant you that they charge for their services in many cases, but remember that these are professional bike shops who have in some cases closed down their brick-and-mortar locations for the week to send their people out onto the road to work long hours in less-than-favorable conditions.

Then there’s the creature comforts.  When you come into a town, it’s nice to find something to eat, water to refill your bottle, and someplace to empty your bladder.  Well, I guar-an-dam-tee you that those port-a-potties didn’t just get there by themselves, and they certainly don’t empty themselves; and the same goes for the sometimes creative ways to get your water bottle filled rather than standing 48th in line at someone’s garden hose.  And good luck to you if you pedal into someplace like Cooper or Rippey and want something to eat other than a bag of outdated Fritos from the gas station!  But because your $160 (and everybody else’s $160) was used to get this organized and set up, you would have an embarrassment of options from which to choose when riding RAGBRAI.

As to what would happen if you showed up and pirated the ride?  Well, I don’t think anybody is going to slash your tires, hip-check you into a cornfield or oncoming traffic, or make you walk the plank for not having a wristband, but you may be looked down upon by many of your fellow riders and scorned for riding as a “bandit”.  And if you can put up with that and still feel good about yourself, then anything else I would have to say is just a waste of time and effort.

But if you’ve got the time and money to come to Iowa to ride RAGBRAI in the first place, you should be able to scrape up the cost of admission.  And that’s the way I feel about it.

Either way, tailwinds to ya!

-“BB”-

#1048596

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