About RAGBRAI 2007

This picture was taken at the start of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) XXXV on July 21, 2007 at Rock Rapids, IA. Here I'm dipping the bike's rear wheel in the Rock River. This symbolic action is mirrored at the end where the front wheel is dipped in the Mississippi River on the eastern Iowa border (see that picture below).



Thanks are in order to Carol who took the time to give me a ride up to Rock Rapids, very much appreciated. The ride itself was a great experience and a good workout. I carried all my equipment on the bicycle and it amounted to about 55 lbs. (including full water bottles). The only negative part about RAGBRAI (for me, at least) was the waiting in lines. With so many people, you have to be agile (and lucky) about where you go and when you go in order to avoid lines. I think I did pretty good, but it can get to be almost claustrophobic after awhile. Countering that, though, I met many, many nice and generous people along the way and the variety and types of bicycles you see is almost unbelievable.

This next picture is a view of the "dipping area" on the Mississippi at Bellevue, IA on July 28, 2007. At one time or another, as far as I know, all 10,000+ riders arrived at this spot to dip their front wheel in as the symbol of finishing the ride. You can see that it's a pretty busy place.



And here's a photo of me dipping the front wheel of my bicycle into the Mississippi at Bellevue. This is the only picture I have showing at least part of the load on the bike. From here, I took off riding on Highway 61 south and got about 3 miles out of town before my best friend Larry arrived to pick me up for the ride back to Cedar Rapids. I'll never forget that ... anymore than I'll ever forget the significance of today (April 23) in 2004.



So, will I ever ride in RAGBRAI again? Yes, there's little doubt that I will. For one thing, it may be something that my children want to do and I'd really enjoy riding it with them. I've signed up for this year's ride, but I'm not 100% sure I'm going to go. I'll decide about riding by early July, but I wanted to avoid the registration hassles, even if I change my mind about riding. This year's ride starts on my son's 30th birthday (July 19) at Missouri Valley, IA and finishes at LeClaire, IA on July 26, 2008. It will also be a much hillier ride than in 2007. For more information on the 2008 ride, go to www.ragbrai.org ...

During RAGBRAI, what worked best for me was to get going early and ride steadily. I eventually discovered that the odds are pretty good for a lone rider (that arrives fairly early in the day at the next host town) to get a place to sleep and shower at one of the host homes. Believe me, that is sooo much appreciated. And if you get a chance to be a host home for RAGBRAI, take it ... you'll enjoy it and you'll be doing something that the people who stay will you for that night will always appreciate ... and that will give you many smiles. Later ...