RAGBRAI 2015

Another Year of RAGBRAI down! This year was more of a challenge than I originally thought. This year was a total of almost 500 miles, excluding the two loops. There was a lot more climb this year than last year, which was somewhat expected.

We packed the truck on Friday evening and it headed off to Sioux City. We hopped on the Trailways bus and departed around 6:30 on Saturday, stopping at the Iowa Machine Shed for breakfast. Arriving in Sioux City, we found the park in which we were to camp that night. All of our gear was already unloaded from the truck so we could start setting up camp. I decided to go with my new shelter setup which I was rather impressed with. I left it in porch mode for the night which allowed for a nice breeze to sweep through. The weather was fairly hot when we set up camp, so the porch mode worked well for shade. After setting up camp, we went to the expo where we acquired a few free things. Near the expo was a Hard Rock casino, so we decided to eat at the restaurant there, which was quite good. Huey Lewis and the News played this night, but I decided to turn in early to be well rested for the ride. The night stayed pretty warm, so the fan got some use.

The first day Was from Sioux City to Storm Lake, a total of 76.5 miles. We rode through Leeds, Kingsley, Washta, Quimby, and Hanover, ending in Storm Lake. It was almost 4,000 feet of climb this day, however, was a gradual climb which made it not so bad. We did have a couple good hills. I only had 150 miles in before RAGBRAI so it took a while to "find my legs". I have to say that this was probably the hardest day. The first day was somewhat hot, with occasional cloud cover. Breakfast and Lunch we got from local vendors. This year, we decided to try to support local organisations and churches, so ate mostly at these places. We did make an exception: Beekman's homemade ice cream. When we arrived at Storm Lake, we found our camp. We set up camp on a grassy stretch between the downtown sidewalk and the lake. Since we were on the lake, setting up camp was a challenge because of the wind. We were under some trees so we had plenty of shade. For dinner, we went to a local place for pasta. As we talked about showers, we figured that we would save money by taking a bath in the lake. Next to our camp was a small sand bank and a dip in the lake felt good after a hot day. Three of us jumped in with our clothes on to wash them as well and had a nice bath and cool-down. We used the extra paracord from my ridgeline I put up under my tarp to make a clothesline. For the rest of the week, we made a clothesline using my ridgeline. During the night, we had a some rain so I closed in the tarp. I was quite impressed with how well it held up to the wind and rain. In fact, the whole ground under my tarp was dry.

Day two started out a little cool. We had some dew on the tents which made it a pain to roll up my tarp. We rode through Newell, Fonda, Manson, and Clare before arriving at our overnight town Fort Dodge. This day's ride was 68.7 miles with 1300 feet of climb. This was a somewhat easy day. Monday was also the gravel loop day through Pomeroy. This year was the first where they had an extra loop of gravel road. Needless to say, with my road bike, I was not about to do this loop. Camp was at a school and it was probably one of the hotter days when we set up camp. The shade certainly felt good. Since it was Monday night, we had a our group get-together. This is where our club sits in a circle, passes around snacks, and introduces each other. We showered and ate at the school that night. We used my ridgline and strung it to the top of my buddy's tent to make a clothesline. I had to use my fan this night as well because the heat didn't really let up. In fact, I didn't even get my sleeping bag out.

Day three was to Eldora. Eldora was the only overnight town this year that I had never been to before. We had a long day of 72.9 miles through Duncombe, Webster City, Boondock, Williams, Alden, and Buckeyes. There was also the Karras loop through Radcliffe. I was satisfied with having rode it last year so I skipped it this year. I'm glad I did because this day felt long enough. We had a little bit a hang up finding our campsite which was in an industrial park area near a ball diamond. This day was hot as well setting up. As soon as I got in, I sat in the back of the truck and enjoyed a couple cans of Root Beer (which became a habit after the long rides). I found that most evenings, the wind came from the perfect direction that I could set up my tarp against the sun for optimum shade and the breeze would blow right into the porch or one of the ends. We spent a lot of time under the porch this night.

The fourth day was the shortest with 58.4 miles through Steamboat Rock, Cleves, Ackley, Austinville, Aplington, Parksburg, New Hartford, and ending in Cedar Falls. Some of the cities were quite small, especially Cleves. We rode through it without even realizing. We actually rode through some towns with only a quick stop to rest our legs. We napped each day to this point in the trip, but spent a little longer time napping on this day. Some of the towns were themed such as a barnyard theme and pirate theme. Along the way, we stopped at a church to refill our water and they had a Frozen theme where we got free cookies and bananas. We seemed to gotten a lot of free bananas, snacks, water, and popsicles. Camp was at a UNI campground. 

Our 70.9 ride to Hiawatha on day five was probably the easiest. Along the way, we went through Hudson, LePorte City, Mount Auburn, Vinton, Shellsburg, and Pallo. We had a tailwind most of the ride which made it easier. However, coming into Hiawatha was quite hilly. We were ready to be in. Our camp was in the main campground (an old trailer park). After dinner at Dairy Queen, I got my badly needed shoulder massage. Our campsite happened to have some good trees so I slept in a hammock that night. 

The ride to Coralville was 65.6 miles and seemed not too bad of ride. It actually seemed to be one of the easiest rides. We rode through Whittier, Springville, Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Sutliff Cider, Solon, over the Coralville Dam, and into Coralville. Mount Vernon was, I thought, the coolest town we rode through. It just had a cool atmosphere with lots of entertainment and things to do. We even saw bagpipers. Actually, there was quite a few bagpipers on this trip. I also stopped in Solon as well for a short break. After eating lunch, it started to rain so I decided to go in one of the churches for pie and a nap until the storm was over. After the storm, we still had a headwind, but I continued on. It wasn't too bad of a ride until we reached the Coralville Dam. That was the hilliest part of day and quite a few people ended up walking the hills. As I came into Coralville, I easily found our camp which was near an athletic facility where we took showers. Cheap Trick was playing this night but I decided to head to bed early instead to be well rested for the next day. It was supposed to rain overnight so I camped in my bivy under the truck.

The last day seemed to have the worst hills as we rode into Davenport. The last ride was 68.5 miles through Iowa City, West Liberty, Atalissa, Moscow, Wilton, Durant, and Walcott. We had planned to reach the truck by 2:30, so we tried to rush to get there, though, we did make some stops. We made a last stop at Beekman's and in Wilton. We took a nap almost every day but tried not to take one on the last day. It wasn't too hard to find the truck where we cooled down before loading our bikes and baggage.

It was a fun trip and I continue to learn as I go. My biggest focus on this trip was my shelter and ways to set it up. I would say it was a success. I pretty well mastered the shelter system of which I will do a tutorial on. This was also my first RAGBRAI on an upright bike and learned the differences between upright and recumbent on long rides (i.e. needing Butt Glide). I hope to ride next year with the goal of self-containing.

Hiking, biking, or canoeing

Backpacking is an unlimited sport with unlimited possibilities. From gear, to location, to even method of travel. Many people such as myself enjoy a good, long hike. Others enjoy a nice, easy bike ride and some enjoy an adventure down a river in a canoe. But is there a method of travel that is better than the other? I don't believe so. 

Everyone enjoys things differently and my philosophy on backpacking is that it's all relative and based on preference. There are many advantages to each mode of getting around and there are also drawbacks to each one. Let's look at hiking. Hiking is a great way to stay in shape. When you go out on a long day hike or thru hike, you expend lots of energy and work muscles you never knew that you had. You can really lose that weight or gain that stamina, but that is also the drawback to hiking. Hiking uses lots of energy making you more tired and requiring a great deal of conditioning as with any other sport. You have to continuously drink fluids and consume calories to keep up with the energy that is burned which is why hiking is a great way to lose weight. 

Hiking allows you to enjoy nature on a more intimate scale. You experience things physically and can touch that which is around you. You can hike through a trail or along a road or near a cliff and experience things first hand. Hiking also allows to to explore places that are unexplored or gain access to a place that you would not be able to with biking or canoeing. On the flip side, hiking is rather slow and the distance travelled is much less than biking or canoeing. Your trip may not be as long and there is a possibility of not reaching your destination before nightfall. But there is a mode that does gain speed and can bring you to your destination quicker. 

Biking is a very popular sport and is growing. I am personally not very experienced with biking, but do know the benefits of it as well as the downfalls. I have a buddy who is well experienced in biking who may post some entries later about biking. Unlike hiking though, biking is quite a bit faster and allows you the option to cover more ground. You can now travel at say 20 mph rather than 3. Your cross country trip is now 3 weeks rather than 7. However, you don't have the experience of hiking, the feel of nature and the trails. Most biking trips are along roads and steady surface. You won't go into trails and difficult terrain as you would hiking. Granted, you can park the bike and follow trails on foot, but that is called hiking. 

Biking does have many advantages though. When hiking, you carry all your gear on your shoulders and hips. Depending on the weight, this can really take a toll on your body and wear you out faster. When biking or canoeing, you can carry your gear on racks, in the bottom of the canoe, or even in a trailer, and even though you still need to condition yourself, you don't have to acclimate to the weight as much except for climbing hills. 

Although, biking does offer the situation of failing parts. When on a long trip, you have the added weight of a tool kit and spare parts. You may carry repair kits while hiking, but it won't add up to the weight of a bike repair kit. If you want a trip with minimal spare parts or repair kits, go with canoeing. 

Canoeing has so many advantages. Every young boy dreams of a canoe trip. Why? Because of the adventure! Theres just something about canoeing that adds that spark. It really takes you on an adventure. And like biking, you don't have to worry about carrying your gear on your back. You just sit it in the bottom of the canoe and off you go! But like biking and hiking, there is a degree of conditioning required. Not so such in your legs, but in your arms and back. You may have the difficulty of paddling upstream or fighting rapids. On the other side, you may floats downstream and only use paddles to keep yourself in the channel. You can add speed by paddling vigorously downstream and cut your travel time greatly. 

However, canoeing does have its limitations. You obviously are limited to water: lakes, streams, rivers, etc. And that reduces your experience that you have with hiking. But you do gain the experience of the feel of the water: the flow, the current, the waves. You have a different kind of experience altogether. Then again, there's also the risk of capsizing and soaking, or possibly losing, your gear. 

Each mode of travel in backpacking has it's benefits and flaws, but I believe that they are all equally enjoyable and you can gain from each. When selecting which you will pursue, determine your interest and what you want out of it. Each person has his own preference and that is what it's all about: enjoying your time experiencing God's green earth.