Good job. This will be my first try at RAGBRAI. I started riding again last year after 35 years of wishing. I’m only at 400 here with 14,000 feet of climb. Got a late start but should be on track to get 1,000 in by then. My goal is to get through each day of RAGBRAI have a couple beers and not feel like a truck hit me.
Pretty jealous, not going to lie… I finally have 25 miles in… the past 6 years I have rode however I did not train at all.. I am hoping to hit 300 miles before the ride starts, but pretty tough to do when work is calling every weekend..
I’m currently at 539 after a spell when life and weather put me off my normal schedule. I will likely be at 1000 to 1200 by the last week of July, not that RAGBRAI cares or anything. I think I’ve done right around 1000 every year so far and that has always been sufficient. “They” used to recommend doing at least the length of the ride beforehand. I’ve heard of people completing the ride after doing as little as 30 miles beforehand, discounting Ryan above who surely has done some pre-RAGBRAI riding the last six years?? But that also discounts 85 year old Clarence Pickard who did the very first RAGBRAI on a bike that is usually described as a ladies Schwinn after training by riding for “a few blocks”. Apparently he figured if he could still remember how to ride a bike at all he could ride one across Iowa. And he was right. Perhaps more to the point if you are determined (as he was) and you butt can take it, then most likely your legs can take it too.
Good luck everyone, keep up the training, and see you in Iowa!
Been (roughly) following Dave Ertl’s training plan from the Ragbrai blog. 750 miles since February, but spring yard work is putting a crimp in my mileage lately.
Yes, the past 6 years I literally rode 0 miles before RAGBRAI (but i had been actively training to run marathons)… This year is the first year that I am actually riding to prepare, mainly because the gf doesnt want to ride alone when she trains.
47 Replies
Keep it up, RAGBRAI serves as a goal for many of us to get in great riding shape!
Impressive and only wish I could say the same. I’m at just half that total and with work demands, will be lucky to see 1k by July.
This is my first RAGBRAI and I’m hoping that’s enough to get me through what is essentially a metric century repeated six days in a row.
Good job. This will be my first try at RAGBRAI. I started riding again last year after 35 years of wishing. I’m only at 400 here with 14,000 feet of climb. Got a late start but should be on track to get 1,000 in by then. My goal is to get through each day of RAGBRAI have a couple beers and not feel like a truck hit me.
I am at 488. Will break 500 this weekend. I will get past 1000 in June. See you guys there, at Beekman’s!
The weather has been killing me. My only weekend off and it’s 47 degrees with 100% rain both days…
Pretty jealous, not going to lie… I finally have 25 miles in… the past 6 years I have rode however I did not train at all.. I am hoping to hit 300 miles before the ride starts, but pretty tough to do when work is calling every weekend..
BTW, RAGBRAI don’t care!!!
I’m currently at 539 after a spell when life and weather put me off my normal schedule. I will likely be at 1000 to 1200 by the last week of July, not that RAGBRAI cares or anything. I think I’ve done right around 1000 every year so far and that has always been sufficient. “They” used to recommend doing at least the length of the ride beforehand. I’ve heard of people completing the ride after doing as little as 30 miles beforehand, discounting Ryan above who surely has done some pre-RAGBRAI riding the last six years?? But that also discounts 85 year old Clarence Pickard who did the very first RAGBRAI on a bike that is usually described as a ladies Schwinn after training by riding for “a few blocks”. Apparently he figured if he could still remember how to ride a bike at all he could ride one across Iowa. And he was right. Perhaps more to the point if you are determined (as he was) and you butt can take it, then most likely your legs can take it too.
Good luck everyone, keep up the training, and see you in Iowa!
Been (roughly) following Dave Ertl’s training plan from the Ragbrai blog. 750 miles since February, but spring yard work is putting a crimp in my mileage lately.
Following recommended training plan + a few…

Here’s a blank one if you want to play along:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_2SHpQauyeMM3ZFdWNzZUt2dDQ/view?usp=sharing
Yes, the past 6 years I literally rode 0 miles before RAGBRAI (but i had been actively training to run marathons)… This year is the first year that I am actually riding to prepare, mainly because the gf doesnt want to ride alone when she trains.
Training?!
We don’t need no stinkin’ training!
Cheers,
~ Kevin
Only at 140 miles. Blame it on work and weather. Looking to do a little better.
No training? Your asses are gonna hurt.
807 Miles as of this morning, running behind the last three years. 125 miles this week.