KenH
- Active 4 days, 9 hours ago
KenH replied to the topic Total Descent over the Course in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 4 days, 9 hours ago
OK, if I hadn’t done RAGBRAI before these stories would have me scared too! I’ve never had any trouble keeping my speed under 40 or under 30 when traffic ahead demanded it. I rolled down a hill into Gutenberg once where I was boxed in behind traffic that hit their brakes but my teammate ahead of me went into a tuck and disappeared from sight. He…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Total Descent over the Course in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 week, 1 day ago
We lose just about 500 feet of elevation between Sioux City and Davenport so for practical purposes the descent equals the ascent. On a typical year you can expect many unbraked descents in a tuck that top out in the 30s and maybe a few in the 40s, mph that is. Descents are mostly straight to gently curved with long runouts before any sharp…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Pass through towns? in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 week, 1 day ago
I was going to guess Dakota Ave instead of R38, didn’t know Google had R38 wrong. Google does that. On day 1 RAGBRAI says we ride east on D18 until it intersects with 140. The road Google calls D18 doesn’t intersect with 140. So either Google has that one wrong too, or RAGBRAI does.
In the last 10 RAGBRAIs I can only recall one gravel stretch on…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic The Clarence Pickard Challenge in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 month, 2 weeks ago
No, I am not keeping the original shifters, I am putting them back! The previous owner had removed them and the breaker bars on the brake levers. So I have put those back. The original crankset had been modernized in a way I might not be able to reverse even if I wanted to so I am keeping that and attempting to run it as a 1×10. That would make…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Day 4 – 100,000 Riders – Really??? in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 month, 2 weeks ago
He’s been saying it for a while, to be sure. Notice the word COULD. He’s not claiming that he is trying to hit that number. Some of the context of that quote is missing so I’m not sure what he said he will smash. If it were the previous RAGBRAI peaks or the Italian record then 55k to 60k are sufficient to smash those numbers and I believe that he…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Day 4 – 100,000 Riders – Really??? in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 month, 2 weeks ago
I don’t believe RAGBRAI has said they are trying to get 100k riders, only that they hope to break a 48k record set in Italy. I have ridden 36k and 40k days at RAGBRAI and there were no problems with that.
Phippen has said the obvious. There is a lot of interest in the 50th anniversary ride and since RAGBRAI has no authority to control how many…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic The Clarence Pickard Challenge in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 month, 2 weeks ago
I’m making progress on my Schwinn. The brakes are refurbished. I have put a modern wheelset on it and a new drive train is about 75% done. Hopefully I can get it done in time for a test ride next week when a sput of warm weather is coming to NE Illinois!
I even managed to get registered with PBV for the week! No one expected the registration…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic The Clarence Pickard Challenge in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I don’t have much of a plan at the moment other than I am refurbishing the bike right now. Don’t even know how I will do RAGBRAI this year: charter, team, RAGBRAI semi. Most of my usual team has bailed out this year. Glad to see another vintage bike on the ride! I got a Raleigh ten speed a few years after…[Read more]
KenH started the topic The Clarence Pickard Challenge in the forum RAGBRAI L – 2023 2 months ago
Some of you may know that Clarence Pickard was an 83 year old man who showed up at the start of the Great Six Day Bicycle Ride as what we now call RAGBRAI I was known then. He had bought a used 1970-ish Schwinn ladies Super Sport a couple of weeks before and had gone on a massive crash pre-ride training regime which consisted of riding around the…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic COVID this year? in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Hey Joe, I’ve noticed over the years that about 1/3 of men do not wash their hands after using a public bathroom. That rises to about 2/3 in bathrooms without paper towels, only electric hand dryers! Men are pigs.
So, I left RAGBRAI Thursday morning because of covid. I didn’t get it, my wife back home did. I left to care for her. She tested…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Running a RV Generator in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 11 months ago
It all comes down to doing what is appropriate in the situation each night presents you. Be mindful of the needs and desires of others in situations where we are all forced to share the same space.
There have been years when we only ran the genny to charge things and had nice cool nights to sleep with the windows open. Then there was last…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Running a RV Generator in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 11 months ago
If you park only in the RV designated campground then it is common practice to run generators all night because usually they are isolated from other official campgrounds. People may choose tent camp on or near those campgrounds and those people presumably are ok with the noise. Sometimes the RV campground is right adjacent to official tent…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Advice for our SAG driver? in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 11 months, 1 week ago
As others have said support vehicle maps will come out eventually. Stick to the suggested route as best you can. If you do not you could end up in a situation where you have to cross the bike route and that will be a nightmare!
Meeting towns are the place where your support driver can meet you riders. My team has no driver, we all have to take…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Map Errors? in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Life is good again, the gravel route is out now!
KenH replied to the topic Map Errors? in the forum RAGBRAI XLIX – 2022 11 months, 2 weeks ago
All minor details. Day 3 is missing the gravel route entirely! There has been so little official discussion of it that one begins to wonder if there really is one this year.
KenH replied to the topic Keeping Meds Cool in the forum Miscellaneous 1 year ago
If you cannot come up with anything else make friends with a family or team that has a motorhome. Exchange phone numbers so you can stay in contact. Almost all motorhomes have refrigerators….
KenH replied to the topic Century Day in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2021 1 year, 1 month ago
During the first RAGBRAI an 85 year old man showed up riding a ladies Schwinn bike. He claimed to have ridden around the block a couple of times as training. He did not know how to shift the gears on his bike until John Karras showed him the procedure partway through the ride. Before that he had been riding in the biggest gear. He rode the century…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Announcement Party in the forum Miscellaneous 1 year, 1 month ago
I took it to mean all week but I don’t work for RAGBRAI and I don’t get any insider information so I could be wrong! If they were to offer this prize package to livestream attendees for a $20 donation to IBC I would be all over that!!
KenH replied to the topic What is the issue around town shut down times? in the forum Miscellaneous 1 year, 2 months ago
RAGBRAI is a vacation for most riders. Some rise and finish early (that is my preference) others party late, rise late, and finish late. I don’t know if they are a minority or not. There is a balancing act between the needs of the riders, the towns, and the police that requires that compromises be made. Those who feel that the current compromise…[Read more]
KenH replied to the topic Announcement Party in the forum Miscellaneous 1 year, 2 months ago
It has always been free in the past. Last year some of us were willing to pay in order to help IBC through the Covid crisis. This year I would think that they have gotten a lot of complaints about paying for the livestream. They are now offering prizes for registering and paying however. There will be a lottery for paid registrants and one of the…[Read more]
