Ragbrai 2009, skate across Iowa

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Biking across Iowa was added to the to-do list during my limping year, and I’ve been lazy to deal with logistics. A team spot came up for Ragbrai 2009 (ragbrai.com) through a co-worker. All I had to do was showing up with bike and sleeping bag; I jumped at the chance.

Minimum research suggested the event could be 100-mm-wheel-friendly; I decided to skate instead. I would SAG the unskateable sections and drink beers when needing a recovery day. I wasn’t sure how my body would handle multi-day efforts.

2009 route
Mileage: 52.6 miles Climb: 3,684 feet
Mileage: 72.6 miles Climb: 5,096 feet
Mileage: 77.1 miles Climb: 4,470 feet
Mileage: 44.4 miles Climb: 2,182 feet
Mileage: 76.9 miles Climb: 3,388 feet + 27 optional miles to make a century day
Mileage: 75.5 miles Climb: 2,841 feet
Mileage: 43.2 miles Climb: 1,145 feet


_Alternative vehicles
Most of the 10000 participants were on upright road bike.
There was large number of recumbents.


The youngest solo cyclists I saw was a 4-year–old who had no problem climbing.


Saw 2 unicycles. Watching these guys going down the hills was humbling.


I saw 1 guy running on day 3 at 8:30 pace at mile 50. Watching him made me want to run on next wet day.
Rumor had it a girl was running the entire route. Her sighting was not reported after day 4.


_Closet skaters and other encounters
I was disappointed that I didn’t see other skaters.
Many cyclists came up to me and shared their skate stories. Some were former roller speed skaters that quit the sport before 100 mm wheels.

One of the RV mates was Jack Sutton, who owned 3 skating rinks and had stories.

Talked Star Trek with a dancer on scholarship who found dancing career too rocky and decided to go to med school instead.

An Olympic training center resident came to me and requested double push. I hope to see him in Vancouver 2010.

Drafted behind the founder of Tour de Donut. He had to eat only 15 to win his age group.


_”Iowa is flat as pancake”
Not this year.





This hill was a female dog at end of 77.1-mile day.


_Nutrition
Speed was non-critical. I tested how random diets affect my performance. Sure enough, legs didn’t respond well after pork chops.

Daily intake included Clif bar, Clif Shot, Accelerade, Craisins, dehydrated fruits, vitamin pills.

Fast food was hard to come by on the routes. Wendy’s at end of the 104-mile was a rare treat—big calorie count for $10 + unlimited usage of flushing toilets.

Ate fried food when available. I tried to ingest 3000 calories/day for 9 days. Lost about 1 lb over all.


_Pace
Plan: take first 2 days easy to gauge how the body reacts; keep HR under 80% max.

The weather and surface were gorgeous on day 1, I went nuts chasing pace lines before a bike racer from Netherlands volunteered to tow me. We passed everybody. It was glorious.
My legs were fried after chasing Dutch; I was unable to bring HR over 85% for next 6 days.


_FAQ from cyclists
How many sets of wheels do you go through a day? (same wheels for all 7 days)
How do you go down the hills? (stay in bike’s draft)
How do you go up the hills? (I’ll race you up next one; you’ll see)
How do you stop? (grind the wheels if I can’t find a bike to help me)
Are you doing the whole thing? (so far so good)
Are you crazy? (isn’t it great?)
How much are your skates? (a lot cheaper than bikes, I paid $200 for the rec skates)
Where’s your bike? (Lance borrowed it for the tour. where are your skates?)
Isn’t that really hard? (easier than bike: no gear, no flat, no sore butt)


_Camping life of a skater
Each morning:
down a Clif bar
apply sunblock
roll the sleeping bag and thermo pad
get in queue for washroom
pack things into the big bag to put in RV
take down the wet tent.
The process always takes longer than it should.

When cell tower in sight, we often stopped to make phone calls.

Most days I made a point to spend time visiting the towns. I rarely checked the clock but tried to finish the skate at decent hour to dry the tent. On wet days, I needed to prepare bearings for next day.

Nightly ritual:
Look for team vehicles based on bulletin board direction.
Pitch tent.
Find shower.
Try to dry stuff.
Find food.
BS with some of my 10000 best friends over drinks.
Learn next day’s road and weather.
Make mostly futile attempt to talk on cell phone.
Charge electronics as opportunities arise: phone, GPS, iPod, camera
Organize nutrition and equipment for next day.
Place a Clif bar next to the pillow.


_Unpredictables
Weather:
I got wet 3 of the days and lost some bearings. Climbing up some of wet surfaces was a little challenging. I experienced doubt when having to stop at bottom of a hill in rain and considered butt stop; fortunately T stop was sufficient.

Road surface:
Decent by north Texas standard. I was rolling at 10+ mph even on the rougher sections.
Day 7 was particularly nice: a lot of black ice. With tail wind, I averaged 20+ mph with very low HR.

Draft/pacer:
Vast majority of cyclists were eager to provide draft. I went down lots of hills at 30+ mph in slipstreams. Only 1 cyclist randomly braked and left a tire mark on my right shin.
I was in the draft usually behind 1 steady bike. During a particular harsh head wind section on day 6, I hid inside of a peloton.

Rumble strips:
These things are the width of almost the entire lane. I didn’t think they’re skateable but survived rolling over them twice at 13 and 18 mph. Short legs have their advantages.


_Crashes
The first crash happened 10’ in front of the RV during a failed spin stop carrying too many things. My team was very understanding ‘til they realized I spilled the beer.

The other crash happened while racing a bike up Snake Alley (think San Francisco’s Lombard Street but with gaps between bricks). I lost that race.


Both crashes happened at < 5 mph.


_Support
A participant sacrifices a riding day to drive each team truck/bus/van to the next town with everyone’s tents and bags. Each team is allowed up to 3 motor vehicles. Many teams had buses.





_Moving cash cow
Assuming each participant spends $25 / day on food + liquid, that’s $250000 daily. The event travels through many towns with residents less than the participants. I felt like a locust moving with the swarm.


Vendors were set up at each town and between stops. Many traveled with the event through out the week.


A bottle of water went between $0.50 and $2.50, based on weather and location.


There were always lines for pork chops and smoked turkey legs.




Strategically placed ice cream trucks on a hot days were popular.
Mechanics at portable bike shops never seemed to stop working. Many cyclists bought smaller chain rings after day 1 no longer believing Iowa was flat.


The official vendors included a group of masseuse and a chiropractor.


_Missed photo ops
The tradition is to dip the rear wheel in Missouri River and front wheel in Mississippi.
To simplify the departing process, the organizer pumped Missouri water to the road on day 1.
6 days later, I handed my camera to a blond volunteer for a picture of my dipping skate wheels in Mississippi.


_#’s
Blisters: 3; 1 from rec skates, 2 from custom Simmons
Injury inducing crashes: 0
$ for food and drink: $200
Daily shower cost: $5 + $1 towel rental
Wet tents mornings: 6
Wet bearing days: 3
Bearings killed by rain: 13
Amount of time in draft: > 60%
Max speed: 42 mph
Distance skated: 470 miles

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obligatory tourist shot




bike allegedly ridden by Lance




Saw a few of these on the route




Corn in the Garden




Finish line of day 1




This is how I found team vehicle.




This boy categorically denied of any girl-liking activities.




2 cyclists inquired about the bulls in question





Farming machinery for parking




Police vehicle not seen in NYC




I wasn't the only camping idiot. Dr. Jeff had to move his tent to slightly higher ground at 3am.





Random water hole at mile 30 of the easy day.




event parking




Of course.




They wouldn't let me get on it with skates.





The cyclist was a bit overwhelmed by the attention and the traffic jam she created.




View from my tent. Monday.

spectators




Smelled lots of them, but these are the only ones visible from the road.

Modern art.

Amish store

Mississippi

a cyclist modeled for my post-event recovery tenderloin

boat ramp full of dippers

end of a great week.