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Karras Loop 2012

  • 10 July, 2012

Two weeks from today, you will have the option to ride the Karras Loop, a 23.3 mile add-on Tuesday’s route from Lake View to Webster City. The Karras Loop will take you through the City of Stratford, where you will be welcomed with a luau party. This “Oasis” on the Loop will feature luau-themed music, food, beverages, games and dancing.

Touted as the “hardest Loop ever,” riders will descend into, and climb out of, the Des Moines River valley, not once but twice.  To give everyone a visual perspective of the Karras Loop, Wes Hall, Assistant RAGBRAI Director, filmed the loop using a Midland XTC-300 with a handlebar mount during the RAGBRAI Pre-Ride on June 5, 2012. You can check-out the Midland XTC 300 at the Midland booth during the RAGBRAI Expo in Sioux Center.

For those who do ride the Karras Loop, Loop patches will be handed out to registered riders on the Loop from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. in Stratford at the corner of Shakespeare Ave. and Goldsmith Street.

Enjoy.

Karras Loop Video

Video Notes:

  • The video was shot with a Midland XTC-300 in 1080p HD, however, the video quality was decreased during the video compression in an effort to decrease buffering while viewing the video online.
  • Those who are prone to motion sickness should use caution when viewing the video. The motion in the video, caused by wind, expansion joints, and the natural movement of the bike is magnified during the time-lapse process.
  • Video editing provided by Rich Ketcham of Geobike.com.
  • Final mileage may vary based on your starting point in lake View and your ending point in Webster City
  • A big thanks and congratulations to Joe Connolly of Council Bluffs and Kent Harfst of Webster City who rode and completed the Loop with Wes.

13 Comments

  1. Charlie Robinson
    Charlie Robinson on July 10, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    I cannot view the video.

    I just get a blank white page when I click on the link.

    Ideas about what the problem is?

    Thanks.

    Charlie

  2. Matt
    Matt on July 10, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    Yeah, doesn’t work for me either.

  3. Chopper
    Chopper on July 10, 2012 at 5:15 pm

    Worked for me. 9+ minutes. I got motion sickness. Where are the hills? ; ) Nice video!

  4. John Melville
    John Melville on July 10, 2012 at 6:48 pm

    Nice video – and congratulations on your first century, Wes! Looks like a fun loop but that last climb looks like a long one!

  5. Dan
    Dan on July 10, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Looks like a fun little addition, I may have to try it! For anyone unable to watch the video, search the internet for “VLC media player” it’s free to download and then use it and you will be able to watch the video! See you all in less than two weeks!!

  6. Geu from Siedutch
    Geu from Siedutch on July 11, 2012 at 4:00 am

    this helps to get me even more excited about the rides! Especially the comment on the pie eating landed good in Zeist/the Netherlands… Cannot wait to ship my bike and pick my flight to Chicago on next Sunday..!!

  7. Gary
    Gary on July 11, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Since I first saw the map with the loop I thought it went counter-clockwise starting in Dayton. Seems I was wrong. That day is my birthday and I would like to ride the loop, will have to see how I feel when I get there.

  8. Dewey
    Dewey on July 11, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    I can’t watch it either with Microsoft or VLC Media Players. Is it possible to youtube it?

  9. Brian
    Brian on July 11, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    I don’t know why this wasn’t put on Youtube instead of the raw video linked. I got it to work and just watched it…

    It looks like a mostly boring loop. For the most part it looks completely flat until you cross the river, two times. Once before Stratford and once after. Those hills look like you get some good speeds going down them but a very long way back up. Once at the top it seems flat again.

    Hope this helps anyone who couldn’t watch the video. Thanks for posting this though, I want to make this year my first Karras loop year!

  10. Dewey
    Dewey on July 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    I was finally able to watch the video today. Lets hope it’s that overcast when we do the loop. See you in Stratford

  11. Trisha Wisdom
    Trisha Wisdom on July 12, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    Come see me at Stratford. I will be there serving the coldest drinks in the county!

  12. Bill Chamberlin
    Bill Chamberlin on July 12, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    Great video….I enjoyed it…and now know what to look forward to. I will not enjoy the ascents, but look forward to the descents. The reference to the pie coma brought a smile. Thanks for taking the video and posting it here.

  13. Kirk Magill
    Kirk Magill on July 13, 2012 at 8:23 am

    Thanks for the video.You may need a quicktime plugin to watch the video.

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