RAGBRAI 2014

This was my first year riding RAGBRAI and it was an experience. I learned a lot about bicycle touring. There are a few things I would have done differently , some things I would have left at home, and some things I wished I would have packed. 

This year, the ride was from Rock Valley to Guttenberg. The ride itself was 418 miles. With the Karras Loop, it was 444 miles. I went up with Keokuk Bike Club in a Trailways bus. But beforehand, we loaded all of our stuff in a truck that went up the day before we did. We also got our RAGBRAI packages that day. 

We went up Saturday, July 19 so we could get an early start the next day. It was about a 6 hr ride up to Rock Valley. 

When we got there, we went to our campsite to set up: a private residence. 

After setting up camp, we rode to the expo to look around.

This was probably the busiest the expo was all week. There were many vendors from bike companies such as Specialized and Giant, bike shops doing repairs, Camelback, Clif Bar, and many other vendors. We picked up quite a few free things including a Xyience energy drink. 

We brought our vouchers to the RAGBRAI tent to get our free patches. 

When in town, we decided to stop at the school for something to eat. 

After dinner, I went down to the river to dip my tire, a common tradition. 

...and met a few people along the way. 

We came back and enjoyed a relaxing night before the big day. 

Day 1: 

We got up about 5:30 to pack up and head out. I decided to also make my coffee before the ride. It was a nice start. It was a little cool in the morning but it wasn't too bad. I rode a Vision recumbant bike and Adventure Bear got his ride too. 

Before starting, a small group of us decided to do a first day photo. 

First town we came to was Hull where we got breakfast. It was a nice, leisurely ride. 

From there, we went through Boyden to Sheldon where we got our pie. We had a pie challenge to eat a different pie everyday. Unfortunately, it didn't work out and only had one pie the whole trip. 

Most of the towns also had live music. 

Along the way, we stopped at Beekman's homemade ice cream. They had a stand everyday but only stopped a few times including the first day. 

...And saw some different looking bikes. 

The rest of the ride was through Sheldon, Melvin, and May City, ending in Okoboji. However, we stayed in Milford. We stopped in each town for lunch, water break, etc. This was my first long ride and made the mistake of pushing myself too hard in the beginning, wearing myself out about 1/4 way through the first day. It was 69.2 miles so I was somewhat miserable by time I got in. So I just relaxed around camp at a school, after going into town for dinner. We went over to the school which had showers. That felt great after a grueling first day. 

Wore my kilt each night. 

Day 2:

The second day was relatively short with only 40 miles. I did make my coffee that day as well. It was a pretty easy day and was flat with only a few hills. We again woke at 5:30 and rode through Terril, Graettinger, and ended in Emmetsburg. 

Along the way, we stopped for smoothies. 

We stayed at a community college and just happened to camp next to a putting green. And just happened to have golf clubs. That night, we took showers at a shower trailer. 

Our truck driver was also our massage therapist who gave massages each night. 

We had our "campfire" that night to get to know each other. 

Day 3:

The third day we tried to take off a little early because of the long ride ahead of us. I made sure to make my coffee that day. This day was routed at almost 80 miles through Ringstead, Bancroft, Titonka, Gruis Recreation Center, and Crystal Lake, ending in Forrest city. In addition, I did the Karras Loop, an addition 26 mile loop through Burt and Lone rock. This loop makes it a 100 mile ride, but we got a patch for completing it. 

Day 3 seemed to take a long time to complete because of the distance. It was also the hottest day, high of 92 with no cloud cover. I made the mistake of not wearing a shirt and not using sunscreen, getting a couple second degree sunburns which would keep me from sleeping for 2 nights. Fortunately, though, some people put out sprinklers to cool us down. 

Burt had a special surprise for those of us who did the loop. They had a car show and their famous toilet tossing contest. 

Needless to say, I got in late that evening. We camped at a private residence. I was well impressed with it. The resident bought a mansion and moved it from Mason City to here by semi. He was an interesting guy. He also showed us his classic car collection (which I wasn't able to get pictures of). 

He had his own caboos. 

The windmill pumped drinking water from a well. 

Showers were taken with a hose that night. Although, because of my sunburn, I was chilling so my shower was taken with shower wipes. We also received word that one guy passed away on his bike today. 

Day 4: 

This was a more enjoyable day with few hills and only 38 miles. The ride was through Ventura and Clear Lake, ending in Mason City. Unfortunately, my phone died this day and cloud cover was enough to not let my solar charger charge my phone. Therefore, did not get many pictures. The highlight of the day was going into town and watching the concert. Warrant opened up for Bret Michaels, a great concert. And better yet, it was free admission!

(Warrant)

(Bret Michaels)

That was a later night, getting back from the concert. We stayed at a high school that night and had our shower at the school. 

Day 5:

The next three days were in the 60s mileage-wise. We rode through Nora Springs, Rockford, Marble Rock, Greene, Packard, and Clarksville, ending in Waverly. Again, I was unable to get many pictures of the ride because of a dead phone. We had a few hills, but it was mostly flat. This day, I got a malt which was very refreshing on a hot day. 

I went downtown to look around and also went to the expo. We turned in early that night, camping near a soccer field. Showers were taken at the high school. We received news that another guy had died in his tent. That was 2 deaths in the same RAGBRAI. It was reported that the last RAGBRAI with a death was in 2010. 

Home away from home. 

Decided to make my own dinner that night. 

Day 6:

This day was miserable. It stormed the night before and continued to sprinkle in the morning. It was also the coldest day, bypassing the first town: Bremer. As I came into Tripoli, it started to rain again. I stopped for breakfast and waited under a shelter. When I saw the rain wasn't going to let up, I kept going. As soon as I left that town, it began to pour and winds blew at 40-50 mph with a 60 degree temperature. 

It was a 10 mile ride through that to get to Sumner where I pulled into an ambulance base to wait out the storm and get my free coffee. Unfortunately, I did not have adequate rain gear. After the storm passed, I went into town and continued. The next hour was windy and cold. About an hour after the rain, though, the sun came out and heated things up so it seemed like it was a good day for homemade ice cream. From Sumner, we rode through Westgate, Oelwein, and Otterbille, ending in Independence. 

We camped in the backyard of a mental health institute that looked like it may have been an old hospital. 

After my shower at the shower trailer, I got my leg and foot massage. 

Day 7:

Everyone was pumped this last day, to get home. I skipped most towns because I was worried about being late for the bus. We rode through Winthrop, Lamont, Strawberry Point, Edgewood, And Garber, ending in Guttenberg. I did not focus on getting many pictures that day because we were anxious to get to Guttenberg. This day was also somewhat miserable with many hills. The closer we approached the river basin, the hillier it got. We had a few 14% grade hills that many people could not climb. However, the downhill was a blast, reaching speeds of almost 50 mph. I saw one guy who could not make the turn at the bottom of the hill and hit a wall. Needless to say, he was taken to the hospital. 

I came into Guttenberg almost right at the time we were required to be there. The line to dip our tires was almost a mile long so I was unable to dip my tire.

We loaded our luggage and bikes into the truck and it took off while we waited almost an hour for the bus. 

A majority of us slept the whole 4 hour trip home, including Adventure Bear. 

It was a good first RAGBRAI and I did enjoy it. Fortunately, I did not encounter any bike problems or health problems. Overall, it was a great trip. 

High Trestle Trail pt. 2

Riding the High Trestle Trail was my first actual self-contained, overnight bike trip. Therefore, I learned quite a bit in regards to bicycling. But this is also the first trip where nothing went wrong and I still learned a lot. Anything from simple camping hacks, to improvements on setup techniques. Most of these are fairly simple, so I won't put much time into them and others may be a little longer. 

1. When camping with a tent or hammock, it's quite common to get dew on your shelter. When we were out on this trip, I only got dew on my rain tarp and ground cloth. My biggest concern with packing up wet gear in the morning is mold, especially if riding the whole next day in the sun. 

Oftentimes, when riding in the sun, that moisture will evaporate and condensate on inside of the stuff sack. A great trick I learned is to simply turn your stuff sack inside out before packing the wet tent or tarp. As you ride or hike and the moisture gathers on the inside of the bag, turn it right side out again and let it finish drying. It's an easy way to dry out your gear if you will be out for a couple more days. 

2. Another thing I learned was in regards to my ENO hammock. You can set the hammock up in many different ways. On this trip, I had my bug net on, as well as my Housefly. When you have all these on, you begin to have a lot tied to the trees. Something I found out is that, if you put the fly low enough to reach the ground and tighten it, it will push on the straps of the hammock and they will also tighten. If you put a tarp on, don't tighten the ridge line too tight or it will mess with tension of your hammock. 

3. The ENO Housefly has lines that come from each corner to stake it down. These lines connect to the tarp with a plastic piece that allows you to tighten to rope. I like to tie a figure 8 and put it over the stake, then tighten as far as it will go. Unfortunately, no matter how tight you get it, the tarp will still be several inches off the ground. Fortunately, though, there are loops that the plastic pieces connect to, so that an even tension can be obtained. You can use these loops to stake the corners directly to the ground. 

There are some downsides to this technique though. When you are used to setting up, using the lines on the tarp, you can figure out the tension needed on the ridgeline. If you use this method, you have to adjust the tension because staking the corners directly to the ground will tighten up the sides. 

If you use this method, also consider hanging your hammock a little lower. When I was in my hammock and had the corners of the tarp directly staked to the ground, I noticed that the tarp would rub again the hammock. It's not that big of a deal, but in the middle of the night when it gets humid, it makes you much warmer. 

3. When in the hammock, I noticed that if you lay in line with it, the sides tend to fold in on you. This isn't bad in winter because it holds in almost all of your body heat. But when it's warm and you want a good breeze, lay at an angle with your feet almost hanging off one side and head right on the edge of the other. This opens the hammock and allows air to breeze by. 

This

Vs this

5. The camp area we stayed at did not have showers, so we had to use a shower bag. This is not big deal and we found these are really easy to use. We used a 5 gallon one and found that we didn't even use half of it, so if you are considering getting one, remember that you probably won't need a huge one. However, if you get a cheap bag, the hose is really weak. When I got one, the hose came kinked and the one we used on this trip kinked at the connection point on the bag. It's a thin hose so it kinks easily, which made it difficult to get water flow. If you get one, consider getting a thicker hose to put on it. 

The one we used had a valve at the bag. This made it a little inconvenient, having to reach out to turn it off. When you get one, get a push-pull valve at the nozzle. 

6. Our campsite was in a fairly open area, so we had to make a shelter for our showers. We found that the ENO Housefly works great. We set it up high enough to stand, but to also conceal the "stuff". We hung the shower bag next to the fly using a climbing carabiner and an ENO Atlas Strap (which worked amazingly well). We pulled the hose into the fly and there you have it, a shower! However, if you get the shower bag and a new hose for it, get a hose a little longer than the one that came with it. It would have been nice to have a longer hose to stretch farther into the tarp. 

7. One thing I learned on this trip was actually from my buddy I went with. I have been using a lightweight tarp from Wal Mart for a ground cloth (which is ideal for a floor when using a hammock). However, if you are looking for a ground cloth for a tent, you can use Tyvek. I would have never thought of using a Tyvek sheet, but it is lightweight and folds up fairly small. If you just need a ground cloth for a tent, that's a good option. 

8. Bug spray is good to have!

9. My buddy got a Eureka Apex tent which he brought along. This is an awesome 2 person tent that I have considered getting. However, it does have one flaw. It has medium-sized vestibules and the idea was to open them up and the window on the door to get some ventilation. The whole tent seems to be a screen except for the door and it doesn't even have a window to unzip so you can't really get optimal ventilation. You can angle the tent right and use the vestibule as a sail to guide the air in, but you still won't have a window on the door. Something to consider. 

10. This trip was the first one I took that I relied solely on my solar charger to charge my phone. It worked great and charged it quite quickly. Unfortunately, it was overcasted on the trip back. My solar charger battery will charge when it's cloudy, but charges optimally in direct sunlight. 

Something I did not know is that if you are trying to charge your phone with strictly the solar panel, it won't charge when it's cloudy. We were hitting clouds, then sun, continuously. In direct sunlight, my phone would charge, but when it clouded over, it would quit charging. I came to the conclusion that my phone died faster doing that than if I just unplugged it. If you need to charge your phone and it's cloudy, put the solar charger in the sun and let the internal battery charge up first. Then you can charge your phone off the charger battery. 

11. Make sure to have the right pump/adaptor for the type of valve you have on your bike tire.  

12. Remember the external speakers for your iPod! 

13. Something I learned on the trip really helped, but seems a little mundane. If you are using your hammock as a chair and have the bug net on you can throw your sleeping bag and pillow under your hammock, but keep it in the but net. This will make it more comfortable to sit and also keeps the bugs out of your sleeping bag. 

If the bugs are bad, but you still want to sit in your hammock and talk to the  other person, you can stick your head out of the net and use the two zipper to seal off the net around your neck so bugs don't get in, but can still converse with the other person. 

14. When I initially packed for the trip, I threw my sandals in the bag. Before we started out, I decided to just wear the biking sandals and leave my regular sandals behind. Unfortunately, our camping site was mostly mud with some grass patches. When you wear biking shoes with cleats, mud will pack tightly into the cleats and make it hard to clip in when riding. So you have to spend 20-30 minutes digging the mud out. 

To solve this, you can do what I did and walk barefoot in the mud (but have to clean your feet before bed). Or... You can simply bring the sandals. There are also shoe covers for biking shoes. If you don't want to carry an extra pair of shoes, you can get these rubber shoe covers that keep the mud out. If you go on any trip (biking or hiking) I recommend just taking a pair of lightweight sandals. 

15. Speaking of mud... There are many brands and styles of backpacking chairs out there. I personally have an Alite Monarch chair which only has two legs with plastic balls on the ends. If you are going to be in a muddy area like we were, I recommend something like this. My buddy brought his Big Agnes Helinox which has poles for legs and dug into the mud. If you have something like this, you may want to get some kind of cap to put on the ends. 

16. There are many ways for tying off a ridge line for your bug net or tarp. I have seen many different knots for tying your line to the tree, but while on this trip, I found an easy way to tie it. 

It's similar to a slipknot, but instead of it being a simple overhand knot, it's a figure eight. Let me try to describe it. When you wrap the line around the tree, take the free end and tie it to the end going to the ridgeline. Normally, when doing this, it's second nature to just tie a simple overhand knot. But instead, tie a figure eight. After tying the knot, you can tighten the line on the tree. The advantage to tying the figure eight is the ease of untying it. If you tie an overhand knot, it tightens on itself and is hard to untie. A figure eight is much easier to untie. There are many other knots out there that can be used, but I found this one to be very efficient. 

17. When hanging a bear bag, make sure to throw it over the exact spot on the branch that you want. Otherwise, it's hard to move it up the branch once it's over (depending on the bracnch). 

18. Something I learned a while ago, I applied to this trip (and every trip) but could use restating. When packing clothes, fold them into a strip, then roll them up tight. This makes it much easier to pack more clothes into small spaces of your pack. 

There is a lot to be learned on each trip and more to be learned in the future. These are some things that mad out trip easier and some of these may change depending on the type of trip. I hope this post has been a help. Comment below what you have learned you think would be a help.