Mike Howe
- Active 2 hours, 59 minutes ago
Mike Howe replied to the topic Charter Q from first timer – Pork Belly Ventures vs. Central Iowa Charters in the forum Clubs, Teams & Charters 4 days, 3 hours ago
You dont have to eat the PBV food. PBV has a ton of showers that are included and they provide you a towel each day so thats one less thing you have to pack and worry about. The entertainment in town is much better than PBV. I eat the “free” meal with PBV then head downtown to eat more. Youll find that the downtown food vendors are mostly the…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Charter Q from first timer – Pork Belly Ventures vs. Central Iowa Charters in the forum Clubs, Teams & Charters 4 days, 9 hours ago
Ive used PBV the last 3 years and they have been great. Its probably the largest charter so theyre not always near downtown festivities but theres usually a shuttle that will take tou to and from downtown each evening. They provide a tent service that costs extra and its pretty organized. Three dinners are included with your revistration and tou…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Does anyone ride a decent high end road bike? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 week, 3 days ago
Theres old bikes and brand new $10k bikes. Everyone just lays their bike in the ditch, up against a post, a building, a fence, etc. You will see hundreds/thousands of bikes left unattended and not messed with. Its awesome. Ive never heard of anyone having their bike stolen on Ragbrai.
If youre worried, just bring some kind of lock. Doesnt…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Questions from a first time RAGBRAI rider… in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 weeks, 6 days ago
1. The Pork Belly Ventures charter offer several different options for shuttles. I don’t think you need to be a part of their charter to use their shuttle service, but there will be a fee. Lots of people camp Friday night.
2. I think almost everyone gets accepted into the lottery. If by chance you don’t you can get a refund. If you don’t…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Getting in touch with people when cell phones not working in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Ive always heard Verizon works the best. But there are some towns that it doesnt matter, you just wont get a signal whatsoever. In my experience youll discover pretty quickly once youre in town if youll be able to at least text or not. Putting your phone on airplane mode is a good tip. It saves your battery life while riding.
Mike Howe replied to the topic Biking coast-to-coast and RAGBRAI: advice wanted in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 3 weeks, 4 days ago
I know of a guy who ran coast to coast. He could probably provide you with some tips. Hes on his shrimp boat though right now or possibly playing in a ping pong tournament. 😁
Mike Howe replied to the topic Getting in touch with people when cell phones not working in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 3 weeks, 4 days ago
Theres no rhyme or reason to the cell phone signal. Ive been in bigger overnight towns expecting to have a strong signal but end up with no signal only to receive several texts at 1am that were sent earlier in the day. Ive been in very small pass through towns where Ive had a great signal and have been able to send/receive texts and make calls…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Texas Riders for RAGBRI 2020?? in the forum Gatherings & Meetings 3 weeks, 6 days ago
My brother in law is in Houston (im in AZ) and we rode last year. We checked into using Padres last year but the spots filled up fast and sold out. We used Pork Belly Ventures instead and were very happy with them.
Mike Howe replied to the topic Do you like the route in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month ago
I know this. If they already know the pass through towns then I wonder why they dont announce them until later? You could have 2 over night towns 15 miles apart but they could make the route between them an 80 miles if they wanted to. Thats why i was wondering how they already had the mileage calculated. Because you cant calculate it based on…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Do you like the route in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month ago
How is the total mileage calculated already if we dont know what the pass through towns are?
Mike Howe replied to the topic Charters back to the Starting Town?? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month ago
Im from AZ as well. I know pork belly ventures offers several charters to airports,the start town, and from the end town to the start town on the final day. Probably easiest though to leave your car in the end town and take one of their charters to the start town before the start of the ride.
Mike Howe replied to the topic RAIN! in the forum Miscellaneous 1 month, 2 weeks ago
It rained a lot the first day last year and it wasnt too bad. I didnt wear any kind of rain jacket (eventhough i had one). I made the mistake of wearing a white cycling jersey though and had a nice black dirt line on the back of it by the end of day from my back tire kicking up rain, dirt, etc on it. My advice is wear a dark colored jersey if…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Traveling to RAGBRAI via Airplane in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Yes there are several charters that offer shuttle buses to and from the des moines airports as well as other airports such as the airport in Omaha. Depending on what the start and end town is, there might be airports that are closer than the des moines airport or might have better selection of flights.
Mike Howe replied to the topic Iowa’s Ride FAQ Section in the forum Miscellaneous 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Odd, that was one of TJ’s reasons for leaving…. not being able to answer all the questions he was receiving. And now here he is not answering questions pertaining to his own ride. When he/they originally announced IR didnt they say they would announce the route in November? I know theres still a couple weeks left but makes me wonder whats…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic TIme to Make Peace and Come Back Together as 1 Ride in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Oh please, like it that hard to ask your boss for a different week. And the fact that IR is planned to go through Northern Iowa tells me its in spite. Everyone except Carson King has shown how imature and petty they are. If the two rides to reconcile then both rides will suffer and its going to get a whole lot worse. Its already turning into a…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Please fire Aaron Calvin in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 5 months ago
It relates because of the first letter in ragbrai…R. As in the register where the reporter works. It relates because people are so pissed off that they may decide to not do ragbrai because of this clown reporter and the fact the R in ragbrai decided to go with the story. If the R in Ragbrai is going to drum up this kind of bs and ruin a guys…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Easy vendor ID idea in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Good idea but i think its already easy to tell between a non local vendor and a school,church, local vendor, etc.
Mike Howe replied to the topic Observations about the ride in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Lets also realize the difference between complaining and just pointing something out. Someone saying the distances were off or the roads were bad may just be pointing out an observation. Not necessarily complaining about it. I do feel that some people have taken their own responsibility for planning and adapting to the situation and have…[Read more]
Mike Howe replied to the topic Observations about the ride in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 6 months, 4 weeks ago
Im thankful for those people with the walmart bluetooth speakers. Its good to hear people playing something other than AC/DC and Guns n Roses.