R A G B R A I

[Pain Freak]

Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa

I'll ad pix later, as I've got to much stuff left to do today..


Here's a a part of my RR.

This is a 6 day ride, yes, that's right 6 days of riding. The ride starts on the west side of Iowa and then meanders thru various towns to the other side. We went thru towns with populations of 83, up to 34,000 (Cedar Falls). The people along the way that live there are some of the nicest folks you'll ever meet and it's not just because you'll be spending money buying their cookies, pies, hotdogs, etc, etc, these people are just very nice.
As you start you will get a card with directions that will give you the route, although it's not needed as you will be traveling with 20,000 others bicyclists, yes, 20,000. You think STR has some big group rides? You've never seen anything like this unless you've done it yourselves. It takes over 8 hours for them to cycle thru a town, the line is that long.
A typical day starts off in the dark, around 5 am (3 am CA time) and as you get up you notice your clothes and everything else around you is wet. The humidity is off the scale and the dew is thick to say the least. But it's of no concern as you'll be on the bike soon and it's warm anyways. As you get on the road with everyone else you can decide what to eat. There are vendors along the entire route. Selling most everything you'd like to eat. Prices are reasonable and the food is good. We stayed with waffles, scrambled eggs and sausage for the most part. As you reach a town they are all decked out for you, with a band, some kind of theme going on, shows, local highschool cheerleaders cheering the riders on, and various stuff to see and check out all over these dinky little towns, which the locals are so very proud of. There is no ghetto along the entire route. Everything, and I mean everything is trimmed mowed and just down right beautiful. As you leave the town you will be surrounded by corn and soy beans, miles upon miles of it, but there is still some gorgeous scenery, Don't fret though as there are always good natured people to talk to along the way.
A typical route for the day is somewhere between 65 to 80 miles, but it never really seemed that far. A few of our group liked to knock it out quick and then get back early and set up camp. I went with them one day and found this to be very enjoyable, but I missed riding with Lance when I did that. So our days were spent meeting and talking to people from all over the USA, and taking our time getting in, which put us back at camp around 1 or 2 pm. The last day I hammered it out and didn't wait for anyone. I got there before the truck did with our camping gear. But again, I had to miss some of the towns, but it all was worth it. This was one of the best adventures of my entire life. I will be back in 2 years.

The other highlight was riding with Lance Armstrong. This guy is genuine, he is a guy that at one time in his life was a total jerk ( by his own admition), but as he told us, the cancer set him straight. He talked a lot about helping kids and adults with cancer and how politics were getting in the way. He really, seriously believes with enough funding we could cure cancer. He had some very good stories about racing, and we even talked about the drug scandels. No not everyone does them and he swears he never did and never would. I believe him.

[PacMan]

Sweet RR so far Mike. I look forward to pics and a little more. Good to have you back.

[BrewMaster]

Sounds like a cool event. I look forward to hearing more about it.

Was this event raising money for any kind of charity? What did it cost to participate?

[S54MCoupe]

You forgot to mention the part about all the babes you've met.

[Pain Freak]

I'm not sure if the DesMoines Regsiter does anything charitable with the money, but with the bikers traveling thru the cities, literally millions of dollars are spent and there are church,school, and others looking for donations along the entire ride.They're selling there cakes,cookies,water,gatorade and so on. Almost all the vendors are working for a charitable reason.

Jess it would blow your mind...all those pretty young women on bikes.My wife gets upset when I bring home a card full of pretty young things, so I don't have much in the way of that, but there was plenty to see.

[Rob]

That sounds awesome! Can't wait to see some pics.

How much climbing was involved?

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by Rob

That sounds awesome! Can't wait to see some pics.

How much climbing was involved?

Having been to Iowa a few times, I can't imagine there was much climbing. The whole place was flat as far as I could see.

[genusmtbkr5]

Very nice RR Mike, especially the part about all the girls on bikes. I can only imagine. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing the pix.

[Pain Freak]

<My PC was overhauled and they screwed it up. I'm having a hell of a time resizing.

[Burner]

mmmm corn fed

[Pain Freak]

and hand spanked!

My friend bought a T-shirt that says exactly that....

Corn fed and hand spanked

[gurp13]

Nice. To all of the above.

I hate you, Pain Freak. You ride too much. Get a hobby, would you?

[CC]

That sounds like an awsome ride, absolutely great RR. I would have been a little in awh riding with Lance.

Does being feed corn dogs and and whipped with a switch have the same affect?

[Dino Brown]

Mr. Freak- Glad you had a great time! Hurry up with the pics already.

What's my quota on ride questions? 20? 30? 50? I will have them ready in time for the Fully ride!

[maxwell]

Nicee RR Pain!

Call me naive, but I've always thought of Lance as a straight up competitor. I think fighting through cancer, would do wonders for a person's willpower!

[Pain Freak]

Here's few more pix

A bridge of old bikes when you enter the fairgrounds




Me and some of my posse;



Here's a little bike we found on the side of the road




These clowns...er cowa were fast on this tandem



Our home away from home...We would move every morning. Fold up the tent and then throw it in the truck and they'd drive it to the next stop.




The Mighty Mississippi



Second to the last night our sleeping arraingments didn't quite work out and there wasn't enough room for us at the place they set aside for us, so our group moved on to the state mental health facility. Yep, in the nut house for the night. It worked out well, though as it rained and we were able to find cover in a picnic area and didn't get a drop of rain on us.