Part I: RAGBRAI Ride Across Iowa - Heat, Hills and More

At the end of July, I took part in a 471 mile organized ride across the state of Iowa, RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, run by the Des Moines Register newspaper), with about 10,000 other cyclists.  The things I enjoyed about the ride were: the beautiful scenery, meeting so many friendly riders and Iowans in the towns we passed through, and the achievement of cycling so many miles in one week.  Things I did not enjoy about the ride were:  the heat, having to get up at 5 O'Clock in the morning to beat the heat, and excruciating saddle soreness in the middle part of the ride.

It might have been partly inspired by the bleak photo on the front of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album when I was 15, but for a long time I'd wanted to cycle across a Mid-Western State.   When I was a teenager and young adult, I had a fascination with the States; not just the East Coast cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and California and the West coast, but I also wanted to see the heartland of the States.  Go right off the beaten track and see and experience the real America.  Cycling seemed like a great idea, as I'd be able to savour the endless cornfields and open roads as I crossed the state, I imagined on my own.

The bike that took me across Iowa

When I started to do research, I initially started with Nebraska, but then reading cyclist's message boards, found there was a ride, but at a minimum pace I would have found too fast.  Then I found out about RAGBRAI, which advertises itself to be "the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world".  It is completely non-competitive, open to people of all ages, shapes and sizes, and is just geared towards enjoying the Iowan countryside and hospitality of their towns.  I instantly signed up.

To get to the start of the ride, I'd flown into Clinton, on the Eastern border of Iowa, and then met up with the charter service I took, Bubba's Pampered Pedallers, run by Bubba, a retired policeman from St Louis, about 6'5" and built like a brick you-know-what.   The event was all about camping, and the service would provide, put up, and take down my tent, and then ship it with all my stuff to the next overnight town.   We took a coach to Sioux Center on the NW border of the State. It was 8 hours of travelling, a long time, and we had to cycle back in the opposite direction, which made me realize what I'd got myself in for!  After arriving and picking up my bike, which I'd had shipped, I got some food, enjoyed some fireworks the town had laid on, and then went to bed early, about 10.00 pm, excited to start my ride the next day.

Day 1:  Sioux Center to Cherokee (54 miles)

Cyclists going up the first hill, Day 1

I got up at about 6 and was on the road by 7.  It was a beautiful sunny morning, and it was a great feeling cycling amongst thousands of other cyclists.  After about 10 miles, I stopped off for a spot of breakfast and coffee.  My carbon fibre cycling leg attracted quite a bit of attention from the other cyclists.  Some of them would cruise past and tell me the leg looked great, and others would pull alongside to have a chat, ask me how I lost my leg (I didn't), what the leg was made of, whether I pushed with it (I don't), etc etc.  I met a lot of cool people this way.  I also heard there was one lady cycling the whole thing with one leg and no prosthetic.  That sounds really hard to me, just for balance issues.  I was hoping to meet her on one of the days, but never did.

Iowa for Green Energy!

I got to the campsite around noon, and still felt quite fresh.  I took a nap in the tent, but woke up with a prickling sensation all over my skin.  I thought it was ants, but it was because I was sweating so much.   Then I went into the town centre, tried to find a restaurant for some pasta, couldn't, and ended up at Subway.  I milled around the town for a bit longer, because it was hot, trying to stay in the shade, listened to a live band they'd put on, and for dessert had home-made apple pie and ice-cream from one of the food vendors that had set up (delicious).  After this I headed back to the campsite and got to bed early, because I knew the next day was going to be HOT so I wanted an early start.

To be Continued..