Great Rides - RAGBRAI

Volumes have been written about RAGBRAI - the Register Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, so I'll omit most of the hyperbole about the event.  In short, it's an experience, not a ride.  There are only a couple of one day rides in the country (or the world for that matter) with anything approaching 10,000 riders on the road for 50mi/80k.  Doing this for 7 straight days? Only one place in the world - Iowa.  RAGBRAI is a week long series of one-day rides starting on the western border of Iowa (tradition is to dip your tire in the Missouri river) and finishes on the eastern border with a tire dip in the Mississippi.  In between, the ride passes through numerous small towns a day, overnighting at stops that typically are 40-70 miles apart.  Riding the road with that many people deserves another separate article, and I'll take that on in an upcoming post.

I often refer to RAGBRAI as going on a week-long ride with 15,000 of my closest personal friends.  Other phrases I've heard: "spring break for adults", "went to a party and a bike ride broke out", and lots of others.  RAGBRAI acquired a certain reputation for rowdy, drunken, naked partying in the early days, when beer and other enticements were plentiful, and the overnight campgrounds were something out of Woodstock.  Things have calmed down over time - probably partially due to some of the participants growing up, or growing into middle age.

I don't know that RAGBRAI could happen in any other state in America.  A large part of what makes the entire week work is that there is a town of some description every 5-10 miles on every route, every year.  This is the likely the only place in the country that has enough small towns and smaller highways to make it work.  A large part of the charm of the week is the ride through these small towns.

So what does a town of 250-500 people need to do to get ready for RAGBRAI?  Apparently quite a bit.  The organizers have meetings for the local government, the business people, volunteers, the church ladies, and particularly food and beverage people.  Even in Iowa there are rules about what 'homemade' means when you are serving 10-15,000.  In nearly every town, not only will smart local restaurants figure out something to bring out to the street for 'quick food', but the churches, civic clubs, scouts, choirs, 4H - just about anyone who can will sell pop, pie, burgers, breakfast, ice cream...  And in every town, the bars will have some kind of entertainment - and definitely a 'happy hour'.  Most RAGBRAI riders spend 50 bucks a day or more on food, drinks and entertainment, and while most of this is in the overnight towns, the waypoint towns do well too.

The overnight towns are nothing short of amazing. Take a town of 5,000 and add 20,000 overnight 'guests' into the city limits.  Figure out where to put up tent cities for 15,000 of these.  And find volunteers who are willing to let around 5,000 stay in their backyards and basements.  Organize the churches and VFWs to put on dinner for a few thousand, find a place for the traveling food circus (think state fair food vendors on wheels) to set up each day.  And make sure every establishment that serves food is prepared to be inundated.  The smart restaurants will create a RAGBRAI special menu serving a pasta buffet, sloppy joes, or something else that they can do in volume and keep the prices reasonable (and make a much better profit than on their average night).  Make sure they have extra staff on call, and maybe even use paper plates and plastic silverware instead of their normal china.  Pizza Ranch, a popular chain in Iowa, keeps their buffet line running full tilt. Local Subways bring in extra staff.  And for the true mom&pop places, they make a calculated decision to play or take the day off.  (Mostly they play).

We've had some great meals at RAGBRAI, and some epic waits.  Rule 1: Eat early.  If you can't eat early, leave town. The wait will be shorter in a town somewhere nearby.  The longest wait was the day we didn't head out to eat until nearly 5:00.  Bad move.  The lines were already long, and the best looking place was a Mexican joint that looked big enough to handle the traffic.  We_were_wrong...
5:00 - queue up in line
6:00 - finally make it to the point we could give our name for a table
7:00 - get table
7:15 - snag bus bucket and bar rag, bus our own table
7:30 - realize there are about 1/4 the number of staff needed to support.  Snag menus, figure out order, snag waiter. Promises he'll come get our order.
8:00 - Still no waiter. Grab 'Mom' - owner's somewhat older mother - who took our order.
8:45 - More wait/bus staff arrive.  Called in family from out of town who came to help after they finished their shift
9:15 - food arrives. Absolutely starving. Food was good.  Chips were good. Looking for anything left over.  Eat someone's leftover tortilla and more chips.
9:50 - Everyone is done, pay tab, leave good tip. head back to campsite.  Line is still out door. Mama looks happy but exhausted. Owner looks shell shocked.

Another meal in a smaller town:
4:00 - queue up for dinner
4:30 - wait staff already looks fried
5:00 - realize they are not prepared for RAGBRAI.  Empty tables, not seating until they are clean, nobody to clean tables. Waiter taking orders, dishwasher coming out to clear tables. Owner cooking by himself.
6:00 - finally get table. Owner comes out to wipe half the menu off board (the best half, at that).  Too late to change plans.
6:30 - food comes out. Most orders wrong.  Decide to make do.
7:30 - finally get bill.  Owner is closing up. Out of food.  Bill is wrong. Sort out and leave.  Cheezy tip.  Feel bad for owner. Wish he'd planned better.

The difference - the Mexican place had planned for food, but understaffed.  They managed to regroup and ad-lib.  The 'family' spot didn't plan, didn't staff, and had obviously never seen their tables turn over with all tables full.  And ran out of food.  They'll probably go on a holiday if RAGBRAI ever returns there as an overnight.

And finally, all that food creates a sanitation issue.  Even if there were enough toilets available, 20,000 people added to a 5,000 person town would overwhelm even the most optimistically designed waste water treatment system.  So they bring in portable toilets.  I could do a whole article on branding these ubiquitous green, grey and olive boxes.  So every morning, approximately 1/2 of the hundreds of Kybos are emptied, loaded on flatbed semis, and moved to the next day's waypoints and overnight towns.  Note - semis.  Many semis.  Hundreds of kybos scattered around the campgrounds, near the food circus, near the stage area.  Hundreds of them.

Only in Iowa. Can't wait to do it again this year!

Favorite rides - NIMROD

This is the first of a series of my favorite rides.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures for most of the rides.  Most took place in the 1980s or 1990s, before the advent of digital photography - and I didn't pack a 35mm camera along for them.  The good news is that they all still exist, the pavement is still good, and the traffic light.  But - unless you are in the west, they do require a bit of driving.

At least in the 80s, Cascade Bike Club (I think) sponsored - and that may be overstating the case - a ride called RAMROD.  RAMROD stood for "Ride Around Mt Rainier One Day.  It's an epic ride, a true beat down covering roughly 195 miles and around 13,000 feet of climbing.  Only the truly dedicated will attempt this one, and not nearly everyone finishes.  Weather can be a real decider in this event, and the saving grace is that sundown in Seattle in June is nearly 10:00 pm.

And then there was my club.  Most of our members were more seasoned business type people - I was one of the young ones at 29 or thereabouts.  We decided to do the same route, but called it NIMROD (Not Interested...). The goal was to ride from Enumclaw to Paradise Lodge, overnight there and finish out the next day with the extra climb up to the Sunrise visitor's center and back to Enumclaw. (204 mi, 16,000 vertical)

Truly an epic trip.  We started around 7:00 AM, working our way south and east along the park roads. Light traffic, few log trucks on the weekend, and our ever so wonderful support driver in her station wagon with food and water every few miles.  The scenery through the Douglas Fir, hemlock and cedar trees is breathtaking. Beautiful glacial fed streams, and an occasional glimpse of the glaciers themselves.  It's interesting to note that once you get close to the mountain, you can't actually *see* the mountain.  At somewhere around 65 miles in, the group stopped for 'pie'.  Not being the brightest bulb on the string that day, I decided to grab a bar and press on up the road.  Which was beautiful, and the day was beautiful, and I was riding well and easy and, and well hello there, Mr. Bonk...   I've bonked before and since - it happens, but this was ugly.  I was 30 minutes or so in front of the group, and absolutely no food.  I polished off the last of my water, and continued to crawl up the road.  And about a mile later, a family was sitting at a roadside table enjoying a WATERMELON!!!  With absolutely no shame, I asked if I could possibly bum a slice of their melon.  And thankfully they realized I was harmless and not only gave me all the melon I wanted, but refilled my water bottle and sent me on my way.  Awesome people.  Tastiest watermelon I've ever eaten!

A few miles further along, I made it to the Paradise parking lot, and only a couple of minutes after that was joined by the lead riders in our group.  We had a total of about 30 riders along for the trip, so we continued to trickle in for a while.  While waiting, we had a chance to make friends with the world's best fed marmots who hang out around the parking lot cadging handouts from the tourists.  They aren't quite tame, but will definitely eat out of your hand.

Paradise Lodge is one of the wonderful National Park lodges built by the WPA in the 1930s, and it's held up pretty well.  Low on creature comforts, small bedrooms, shared baths (at least at the time) but well maintained.  And the dinner service was anything but ski resort fast food.  At this point, I couldn't even begin to tell you what I had, but it was certainly good.  Servers in traditional black pants, white shirts and ties.  Linen and china, wine poured at the table.  Special for a bunch of bikers in shorts and polo shirts, to be sure.

After a beer and a good night's sleep, we got up early enough to watch the sunrise, which is amazing, by the way.  A good breakfast (not a buffet) and it was time to put on arm warmers, tuck in a newspaper, say goodbye to Paradise Lodge and head down the mountain.

Descending off Paradise gives you a pretty good feeling for some of the tamer descents in the Alps.  Long straight roads at 8-12% grade, tight switchbacks, and really nice pavement. The road is closed all winter, so the normal freeze-thaw-beatdown cycle doesn't occur.  The road stays snow covered until it's warm enough to melt and stay melted, so the pavement is, well, pristine.  On a couple of stretches, I was able to glance down at the computer and see 60+, and later confirm 64 as a max speed.  Faster than I've ever gone on a bike, before or since.  The weather was beautiful for a second day in the row and after a very rapid descent, we had a long climb back up to Chinook Pass.

Chinook Pass is home to a group of the most agressive, gregarious and notorious Camp Robber Jays.  As we shared a snack, the birds would land on your hands, head, bike or anywhere that might enable them to steal a bite of your food.  Utterly fearless, and just so darn cute.

A quick descent of Chinook Pass, followed by another long (14mi, 3000' vertical) climb to the 6200' high point of the trip at Sunrise visitor's center for lunch.  About a mile from the summit, I heard that horrid phttt, phttt, phttt sound coming from my front wheel.  A flat... I changed the tire (sewup) and finished the climb.  I'll have to admit that on the way back, I really, really watched my speed and the corners on the descent back down!  Back on Highway 410, and a long hard ride for the last 40 back to Enumclaw and a much looked forward to dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

If you go, be prepared to bail if the weather doesn't look good.  There are lots of rides in Western Washington that can be done in the rain, but Paradise is not one to recommend.  Hypothermia is a real danger, and snow is not out of the question.  Plus, 100 miles in the rain is just plain miserable.
If you can, divert to Cle Elum or Yakima and ride on the 'dry side'.  I love the ride from Yakima up to Cle Elum via the Yakima River canyon.  Only 90 miles east of Seattle across the summit of the Cascades, and the weather is totally different on the 'dry side'.
Bring a light jacket or arm warmers (and maybe knee warmers) for early morning.  Any good road bike will do, but make sure your brakes and tires are in good shape.  You'll be at 40+ for extended periods of time regardless of route.  There are/were several small cafes along the route, but be sure to bring enough food to carry you 50+ miles if one is closed.  There  is really no support of any kind out there in the wild.
I rode this on a steel framed Trek 770 with a 42x25 as the low gear.

Summer Solstice Sunday ride - Around River Falls (a paved ride!)

Boy, I've been remiss in updating the blog for the past few weeks.  Summertime hits, and I tend to be busy with doing, rather than writing.

First, to the hardy souls who came out for the Miesville Gents ride, thanks! I had a ball, and we'll do that again sometime.  For those who missed it, well - you missed it.

This weekend is something a little different, a little social and probably a little lower key for some.  We're riding <gasp> on the road!

The ride is out of River Falls and takes in some of the prettiest pastoral scenery around.  We generally average seeing about a car/mile on these rides, and while not all the pavement is butter smooth, it's all better than your average Minnesota pavement.  A couple of good climbs, a screaming descent or two, and generally a nice group ride.  I'd guess my group will average around 14mph for the distance (including photo ops), and will not be a testosterone filled hammerfest!
(Your mileage may vary - I know some people can't ride that slow, and that's your privilege, too.)

Hoffman Park has a nice bathroom with flushies, and we generally wind up at the Dish&Spoon cafe for lunch after.

Rules:
1.  Be NICE
2.  Have fun
3.  Wear your helmet. If you don't want to wear one, please don't come on my rides.
4.  Enjoy the scenery

The route:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5081310 - 42 miles.  If you really need to extend, you could ride from the cities or Hudson!

Where:  Hoffman Park, River Falls, WI - Hwy 35 to Division St. (left exit, then right under the highway to the park)
When: Sunday, 22 June, 8:30 AM
Who: anybody with a bike who can ride 42 miles
Why: because it's going to be a lovely morning and close enough to the Solstice

Ping me if you have any questions or to let me know you are coming -- mnswamp@gmail.com

Compendium of errors

Watching water levels rise over much of the country this week, plus seeing a posting that the Snake River Canoe Race is going to require PFDs to be worn this year has me thinking about safety.  I started out planning to write about boating safety, but after watching the carnage at Trans Iowa, creek levels on the Almanzo course, and dodging storms driving back from Oklahoma last weekend, I'm going to broaden out a bit and write mostly about common sense.

Years ago, in another lifetime, I was a sailor.   I raced on Puget Sound in everything from 14' dinghies to 50' ocean racing yachts.  But most of the time, I was racing in 24' one design boats of one form or another.  And we raced in some truly idiotic conditions.  Usually, foul weather gear, wool pants and a wool sweater were enough to keep you pretty toasty, but with 48 degree water, 42 degree air, and often a little rain or spray - hypothermia could be a real danger.  And there's nothing like a 30knot breeze, too much sail, bad judgement and an abortive spinnaker run to put you in the water, further hampering your decision making processes.
  After a couple of instances like that, I took safety a little more seriously - in fact attending a symposium on rescue techniques and survival.  One of the presenters was a Coast Guard captain who talked about several incidents, and their chronology.  I've never forgotten the phrase "a compendium of errors" that he used to describe the chain of events leading up to the final disaster.  In most of the cases he cited, it wasn't one single event that caused the problem - it was a chain of manageable crises, any one of which could probably have been survived, but when coupled together spelled disaster. Wife unfamiliar with operating the diesel, husband knocked unconscious by the boom, poor grounding on the electrics affecting radio and instruments, no radar reflector and rapidly degrading weather.  Any one or even two of these could likely have been handled, but in the end...
A compendium of errors.

I've gotten home from springtime bike rides shaking so badly that I had a hard time opening the door and stood in the shower with my clothes on until the hot water was gone trying to warm up. A flat tire would've been more than I could've handled.  I've also done a quick strip on the side of the river to put on dry clothing after an untimely swim in mid-April, when staying wet would've likely been problematic - but dry and quickly warming up, I continued on for the rest of the 4 hour paddle.  And I've lost a good friend in a surfski accident on an inland lake due to that same compendium of errors.  Temperature and precipitation are not your friends in the spring and fall.

I haven't had a chance to talk to Trans Iowa riders yet, but I'd bet that the ones who survived and the ones who had to stop have some incredible war stories of cold, wind, rain, storms, mud and maybe a little glory.  Incredible effort this year.

OK, enough doom and gloom.  Whether riding, paddling, sailing or hiking in the spring (or any other time) be prepared for conditions.  "Check six" as pilots say - look behind you to see what the weather is doing.  If you are paddling, have a change of clothes and a warm hat.  Bring a rain jacket, fingered gloves, a vest, cape or whatever.  Bring a little extra food, and make sure you know the conditions.  Traveling in the spring often gives you a different perspective on the countryside, so enjoy it.  But be prepared for the conditions.

YouTube ramblings - ten videos that have almost nothing to do with anything

You know. You do it too.  Everyone does it. And it feels good...
Start with one simple "I remember when [insert band] did 'x'", find it on YouTube, and then let free association (plus YouTube suggestions) steer you around until you've wasted a whole cold, rainy evening.  And unless you were supposed to be finishing a project or studying for exams, you are usually better off than if you'd spent the evening with your face glued to the TV.

So let's begin:

• The Weight - now it's without question that The Band did *the* best version in the film The Last Waltz, but a sidebar search finds Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show doing a great cover.
• Loretta - an old Townes Van Zandt song covered by Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Norah Jones
• For a dancer - the Jackson Browne hit covered by James Dupre
• E3 Harelbeke - no, it's not a song.  It's one of the spring classics bike races, another opportunity for the hard men to shine.
• Road Bike Party 2 - Martyn Ashton (and friends) incredible stunt riding on a _road bike_
• Red Bull Planica 400m - What do you do with a ski jump hill in the summertime?  Race *up* it. What else?
• And over the mountains
• Down the gentle river at the Adidas Sickline
• And on flatwater with the Hungarian K4 at the London Olympics
• And what tour would be complete without Guilty Dogs???

Saturday Ride 4-12

As mentioned earlier, we're doing a River Falls ride on Saturday morning.  Looks like the weather may be moderately cooperative, but if it's awful, I don't feel obligated to ride.  I'll post a quick entry on the blog if I'm going to cancel.

The route will head south out of River Falls, cut back over the Diamond Bluff spine and back into town for about 30 miles.  (should have the wind at our backs coming home!) 30ish miles, easy pace on the hills, periodic regroups. A no-drop ride (unless you are so slow you tell us to leave you for the buzzards).

If you are interested in riding, please drop me a note or comment so I can get an idea of who to look for.

When:  10:00 Saturday 4-12
Where: Hoffman Park, River Falls
Why: Because we can
Who: Three guys from Acton

GPX, TCX  files are here.  I don't normally print turn lists, but you can go print one from here:
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/BRTWebUI/Course/646868

Around River Falls Rides

Sunday Rides

Several years ago, I started a Sunday ride program out of River Falls, WI.  There were several reasons for doing this, oddly enough they all revolve around cows.  Dairy cows to be specific.  Dairy cows are sort of a sacred animal in Wisconsin.  They produce lots of milk, which dairy farmers use to produce lots of cheese (or supply their cheesemakers to produce lots of cheese).  In either case, the base requirements for successful dairy farm are:
really good graze
a fair amount of land
well maintained roads so milk trucks can get to the farms easily

And those things all add together to make for a good place to ride.  I've not seen too many successful dairy farms on dead flat terrain except for river valleys.  Don't know why, I'm not a farmer/agronomist, but there it is.  And big farms not intensively cultivated means land prices need to be reasonable, which means people aren't clamoring to live there en masse, which means not too many cars, and good roads, well...

So we ride out of River Falls on pretty good paved roads, with average car encounters at about 1/mile, with lots of rolling hills, some pretty good climbs, and great scenery.  In general, people wave with more than one finger, and it's pretty rare to find a dog that feels a need to chase. Except for that one pug. And the basset hound...

The group I lead is mostly fit people of a certain age, mostly masters skiers, who ride reasonably well but aren't real interested in racing, 5 hour centuries, or riding in ultra tight double pacelines.  Average pace is around 12-13 mph most of the time, and distances range from 35-65 miles.  We tend to smell the roses, and have been known to stop for a photo op.  Women are more than welcome (my wife really likes to have fit women to ride with).  Helmets are sorta required.  I really don't get not wearing one, and prefer not to ride with people who don't.

If you are interested in joining us, drop me a note or add a comment.  I'll add you to the mailing list or you can check back here for rides.
(hint - the first one is this coming Saturday - to be posted later tonight, because Sunday is the Miesville Grinder).