We are a group of 12 friends coming from Colorado; all first time riders in RAGBRAI. We are pondering renting a 12 passenger van and a U-Haul trailer to transport bikes/luggage to Iowa, and then taking turns with 1 person SAGing each day with the van/trailer. Questions:
– Will it be a nightmare to get a 12 passenger van with a trailer into each overnight town? (we have visions of trailer hell)
– On the Saturday night before the ride starts, would it be practical to spend the night in Bellevue, Nebraska (20 miles away) in a motel – and then have the SAG van/trailer just drop everyone off in Glenwood to start the ride Sunday AM?
Any other insights?
Many thanks!
23 Replies
Iceman, we used your system for backup last year. Must be some type of Texas logic, thinking alike.
For those who unfamiliar with each night’s town, you can analyze aerial photographs to determine a meeting place close to camping or the evening’s activities. Well known landmarks like Casey’s or Hy-Vee work well ss back up meeting places. We actually used a CVS Pharmacy parking lot in Coralville as our meeting point because we needed to be shuttled to our housing several miles east. As an added benefit of meeting at a well known business, locals know how to give directions to places like those.
There is no CVS pharmacy in Coralville. So remember when you plan on meeting at a business or park etc, make sure you not only have the name of the business (Caseys, CVS, etc) but the name of the town correct too.
Hi,
Any suggestions for a first time solo rider-transportation to and from the airport as well as home stays?
As a veteran of 6 RAGBRAI’s, here are two additional suggestions to add to those already mentioned above.
#1: When texting, include in your text message the time you are attempting to send the text. We found that fairly often a text was delayed in actually being sent and/or received and therefore took on a different meaning, i.e. the text may read “Just arrived in xyz town.” If the text was attempted to be sent at 10:00 a.m., but was not really delivered until 12:00, it takes on a whole new meaning because the driver and/or riders may be elsewhere by then and an updated message may or may not have been sent and/or received! Another thing that happened is that some texts that were sent at an earlier time were received after texts that were sent and received later, again, because of delays. Just realize it is not an exact science and is all part of the adventure.
#2: This may or may not be urban legend; however, I have heard that if one wants to rent a vehicle, i.e. your 12-passenger van and trailer, that it is recommended that you reserve it very early because of the very high demand due to others having the exact same idea that you have.
Enjoy the ride!
As a veteran of six RAGBRAI’s, I have two additional suggestions to add to those mentioned above.
#1: When texting, include in your message the time you are sending the text. There are occasional delays in actual sending and/or receiving texts which can result in a whole new meaning for the messages, i.e. if someone texts at 10:00 a.m. “Now in xyz town.” and it is not received until 12:00, the driver and/or riders may very well be elsewhere by time the message is received so the information is outdated. Future updated messages may or may not have been sent and/or received. Also, several times for us we would receive messages that were sent earlier well after messages that were sent later. Just remember it is not an exact science and is all part of the adventure!
#2: This may or may not be urban myth; however, I have heard that reservations for rental vans, trailers, etc., should be made as early as possible due to the fact that many people across the U.S. are considering doing the exact same thing you are and some rental facilities may run out of available inventory.
ENJOY the ride!
rjjensenia
There is no CVS pharmacy in Coralville. So remember when you plan on meeting at a business or park etc, make sure you not only have the name of the business (Caseys, CVS, etc) but the name of the town correct too.
My Bad. I didn’t double check my notes, so I have inadvertently given misleading information to anyone wishing to visit a CVS in Coralville. The actual meeting place for our team was at a Walgreen’s Pharmacy located just south of the entertainment area.
Welcome to RAGBRAI. Where in Colorado are you coming from? I have a small team of Colorado Road Pirates that do RAGBRAI every year. We’d love to ride with you sometime. Our training rides typically consist of 35-45 miles with a beer break in the middle somewhere. Gotta train those livers for this one. ;-) We are out of the Boulder Area (Erie/Ward) and ride North Boulder/Longmont/Lyons/Loveland frequently.
BTW – I agree with everyone above. Your plan is sound although it sounds pretty cramped. 12 people, 12 bikes, 12 sets of baggage/tents/gear might fill that trailer AND the van pretty quickly.
During the day I find it is easier to send and receive texts halfway between towns where it seems I can pick up a cell tower in the middle of nowhere away from a town of 500-1,000 people with 3,000 cyclists sending texts, emails and posting to social media. And yes, always include in your text the time you are attempting to send a text.