Forums >Cross Training>RAGBRAI ?!?
I think I mightl be in IA in late July. Is Ragbrai still in August or did they move it to July?
Last week of July.
July 22 - July 28.
Hawt and sexy
Holy crap. I might be in the neighborhood then.
I'm touching your pants.
not bad for mile 25
Truth be told, this probably wouldn't be all that different than what my kid sees most days.
But a lot more of it.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Heh, and from strangers!
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Expand their little minds.
Well, at least there is no one having sex on RAGBRAI...or was that just me?
You just didn't look down the alleys.
Or between the corn rows.
The host city day goes like this:
The bikers start arriving at about 7 am. These people are either serious bikers doing Ragbrai as a workout, or, more likely, serious party peeps that didn't sleep the night before. My town had a four lane main road, so one lane was shut down to cars to allow for bike traffic.
At about 9am crazy buses and rvs start coming into town. It's mostly converted buses. Most of them have a party deck up top with barrels that heat water all day, and chill beer at night. Semis show up and dump piles of gear at the camps.
By noon, any last minute road closures are complete to allow a big party area. The bikers start coming in at a steady rate. Some of them are not sober as the beer tent/bars in the last town before the host city has opened up. This continues until the sag wagon pulls in the evening.
There is noise of the party to be heard from the camps, the city activities, and the beer tent until about midnight. This sucks if you have to go to work in the morning.
I probably missed a bunch of stuff. I remember the cops just can't do too much because they have little space in jails. You have to be incredibly wasted to be thrown into jail.
Kalsarikännit
Once you count crew this thing is over 12k peeps a night, so that county seat of 5k where you are spending the night is going WTF?
Hell of a lot more than that. They distribute 12,500 week long rider passes and 2500 daily passes. Many of the groups and riders don't even get passes because they have a team bus or someone to schlepp their stuff from town to town. The hardasses get panniers and baby carriers and transport their own stuff. This puts the total at 20,000 riders some days.
I don't see those towns going WTF, though. They beg for this. Every year they ask for RAGBRAI to go through because of the huge economic boom to their town. Go into any of the towns this year and ask them when RAGBRAI was there last. They will tell you the year and all the things the town was able to do with the money. Churches get new roofs. Parks are built. It goes on and on. Plus RAGBRAI never wears out their welcome with them. One night every ten years? They can handle it. I have always seen good relationships between the riders and the locals. This is what makes RAGBRAI so great. I love the Iowans. They are genuinely good people.
And speaking of hardasses hauling their own stuff, how about Team Bad Boy who was banned years ago, but they don't get wristbands (hell, they never stay on the route), so who cares?
Their grill and bar:
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
I thought the official motto of RAGBRAI was still, "Just because I slept with you last night doesn't mean you get to ride with me today."
If/when the hubby and I ride it I'm totally gonna use that line on him!
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, to find there's sex going on here.
(Besides, I don't think my wife would give me permission. Not that I'd have any takers.)
Getting close! The team has finished up the guide to good beer along the route. I hope it comes in handy. It looks better when printed out. If anyone needs guides during the week, we will all have copies. Just look for the riders in a kit that looks like lederhosen, or the bus that is painted like a beer.
In the eventuality that we ever ride, I know who we're riding with....