RAGBRAI LI Route Announced on Jan. 27!

Looking for California Riders to join "A California Peloton" Group

California Riders from all over the state. Start ride by 7:45am, after breakfast. Ride fairly fast, allowing stronger riders to pull everyone else. Try to finish ride by noon to enjoy being the first ones to lunch and party at host town. Stopping for beer, ice cream, or anything that looks good along the way.

28 Replies

T. Gap Woo, December 3, 2016 at 7:23 pm

vijay israni: Well said Dr. Woo

Thanks for the “promotion” to Dr. Although I have a BS (Bulls…) and MS (More S…), I haven’t yet attained the exalted status of PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper)!

Look for my TGAPWOO license plate and listen for my OOGA horn along the I-O-Way in July.

#1187007

vijay israni, December 4, 2016 at 12:15 am

(not quite) Dr. Woo,

I’m looking forward to hearing your OOOOOOOGGAAA horn!

Can’t wait!

thx,

Vijay

#1187051

T. Gap Woo, December 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

vijay israni: I’m looking forward to hearing your OOOOOOOGGAAA horn!

You can’t miss it! The horn’s been known to scare away deer and black bears from rail trails in the forest, geese, squirrels and sundry little critters along canal towpath trails, and snarling dogs from city bike lanes. It is also effective in alerting motorists of my presence. The sound carries about a half mile before it fades away. All in all, it was a good investment.

See you along the I-O-Way in July.

#1187198

LawnchairMan, December 4, 2016 at 7:42 pm

Hi Vjay,

Let me add another caution about riding in a paceline on Ragbrai. This past Ragbrai I encountered a paceline on the hundred mile day. I think it was between New York and Confidence. I was already on the wrong side of the yellow line when I saw the leader in my mirror. I moved rightwards to let him pass and saw that it was a line of about nine guys. I briefly considered jumping on, but decided not to. I went back just to the right of the yellow line and thought I was fine. This path opened up for me and leveled off, so I was able to get back to my cruising speed. (19+ mph) I was now going faster than the paceline on my left, and was passing riders one by one until I was about even with the middle of their line. At this point I saw the leader come across the yellow ahead of me and then the second in line followed. There were riders to my right, so I could see I was going to be squeezed if they each followed the rider in front of them. I had to yell “ON YOUR RIGHT” over and over. Fortunately there was no accident, but it could have been ugly. It did break up their whole line, though.
If you are pacelining, you have to watch your lane changes for the whole group, and you can’t assume that just because the rider ahead of you can change lanes that you can. Don’t assume you are faster than other riders just because you are in a paceline.

I too am one who loves to get out early, ride fast and get to the overnight town quickly. I try to start at 0530 to avoid the crowd. I think the biggest pack is at 0630, so I am confused about your 0730 start. I suppose the main pack would dissipate by the time you catch them, but I would think there would still be a healthy group. I am amazed at the number of riders out even at 0530. It’s a long line of flashing red taillights.

But, as they say, its your Ragbrai to enjoy as you want. Hope you have a fun and safe Ragbrai in 2017!

#1187250

trknight, December 6, 2016 at 6:13 pm

I do some but a very limited amount of paceline riding on RAGBRAI as I prefer the more casual perspective of a relaxed ride, taking in the sights and sounds instead of focusing on the backside of the person in front of me. Most paceline groups are quite respectful of the rest of the riders and appear to put the safety of all first. There are those, however, that seem to feel they own the road and have the right to blow off everybody in their way, that it is they who have the right of way just because they’re going faster. They are also the ones that don’t seem to know there are rules/laws that apply to motor vehicle drivers and cyclists, just the same. If someone in front of you in your “path” is passing others, remember they, in all likelihood, have the legal right of way and it is your responsibility to yield (slow down until safe to pass) and, if you did not and an accident were to occur, you could be at fault and liable for damages. The last I knew, Iowa is not a “no fault” state, like California.

#1187834

vijay israni, December 6, 2016 at 7:19 pm

Hello Trknight, Yup, totally agree with everything you’ve outlined. Safety first, yeilding to people enjoying the sights! Some days it can take a while to get ahead of the pack before we can start riding fast. Some days, some of us go real slow and stop everywhere, finishing after dark!

thx

Vijay

#1187841

vijay israni, December 7, 2016 at 2:41 am

Hello Lawnchairman,

thx for your feedback, yes you are correct, you have to get going @ or before 6:30 to get ahead of the pack. At 7:30-8:00 you have to ride slow (pretty much zero paceline for the first 60-90 minutes until you are ahead of the pack), otherwise too dangerous. Yes, you are correct about the pack dissapating when we catch them.

Realistically, when with the big pack of riders going slow, we have to yield to them. We only ride fast on the open road. On shorter days (45 miles), we typically don’t worry about riding fast if starting late. On these days, we ride very very slow, enjoying ALL the stops!! :-)

Join our group!! We ride hard on days that we can and on some days, finish as late as 10pm.

thx,

Vijay

#1187860

KenH, December 7, 2016 at 8:10 am

We’ve all had bad experiences with pacelines that feel like they own the road. I know of at least one case where a member of a paceline cut his passing margin too close and clipped a very experienced and rather fast rider, sending them both to the tarmac and ending the week for at least one of them. I don’t know what fraction of all pacelines feel this way but the official RAGBRAI prohibition against pacelines is undoubtedly due to the behavior of those that do. If you are going to break the rule and paceline anyway then you MUST ride responsibly and slow down rather than bully your way through, as many do. Your lawyer and your bank account will thank you….

We really need to treat the long suffering Iowa drivers better too. The roads are not closed to them and while everyone who can, with few exceptions, chooses other routes the day we pass through their area, some live on the route and have to share it with us. We, and I mean all of us not just pacelines, don’t share the road very well. I remember one time last year when I looked way up the road past at least one hill to see a car trying to make a left turn across our route. I climbed the intervening hill(s) only to see that car still there at the top of the next hill. Well, just before I got to the top the riders in front of me decided the poor driver deserved a break and called for a stop. I was rather glad they did because I felt we ought to stop for this car after all that time but I lacked the courage to try to halt the train.

But boy, a woman just behind me nearly went into hysterics! She screamed at the people who stopped us (on a hill, oh the humanity!) until we started again. And then for another couple of minutes she shouted encouragement to her group, telling them to “shake it off” and assuring them “we’ll get through this”. Yeah, we did a good deed for a fellow human being, I think we can “get through” that experience! We really ought to do that more often. I’m never sure if the people of Iowa are really as nice as they seem, or if they are just all on their very best behavior the day we pass by. Either way, we would show ourselves in a better light if we would be on our best behavior for the week!

#1187870

LawnchairMan, December 10, 2016 at 6:52 pm

Vjay,

Thanks for the invite. It’s tempting, but it’s awkward riding my recumbent with diamond framers. If I ride the same average speed as a diamond framer, we end up leap frogging, since I go slower on the climbs, but faster on the descents. Pacelining with guys I know, I am usually in the front or rear. It’s a bummer for the guy behind me since I only provide about half a draft. So I try to stay longer in front and have the second in line break off when he has pulled his turn. When I am at the back I let the guy retiring from the front drift between me and the guy ahead of me. That way he can recover with a full draft. All of this adds more to worry about, so I don’t think Ragbrai is the place to do it. Still, I appreciate the offer. Say hi if you see me on a dark carbon ‘bent with Zipp wheels and yellow tail bag.

#1188770

bob1, December 22, 2016 at 12:10 pm

we did it for the first time last year and if I would have listen to these people I would have ridden a tricycle we left everyday around 6- 6:30 rode really hard stopped where we wanted almost always in finish town before the masses and had a great time it is a party with a bike ride but WE decided to make it a bike ride with a party after I am sure we missed a lot but it was the way we wanted to do it as far as pacelining we did a fair amount at high rates of speed and had NO issues probably because the crowds were thinner after the first town do not let the old dudes slow you down we are one and done

#1191671

Michrider !!!, December 22, 2016 at 4:14 pm

T. Gap Woo: Please allow me to repeat a common thought from threads of prior years. As long as you RIDE RIGHT, there is no correct way to ride Ragbrai. It’s YOUR Ragbrai, so ride it however you want.
BTW, as the Sage of Rabbit Hash says, “Ragbrai don’t care!”
See you along the I-O-Way in July.

Best comment on this forum in years!!!

However, RAGBRAI don’t care!!!

#1191717

vijay israni, December 29, 2016 at 2:47 am

Hello Bob1,

thanks for the info, we’ve found what you are saying to be very true. Most of our group either finishes before the masses, but on some days, some of our group will stop for everything and finish after dark. Just depends on what looks good. I plan on riding hard on 4 or 5 days and plan on finishing after the masses on the other days, riding REAL slow…. :-)

thx,

Vijay

#1193439

vijay israni, January 8, 2017 at 9:31 pm

Here is a video for everyone who doesn’t like pulling riders.

https://www.facebook.com/JukinVideo/videos/1252799041475030/

#1196089

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