I will be bike riding across Iowa

[kickflipjr]

Me, may dad, uncle, and cousin will be riding across iowa. It is called "RAGBRAI" and is a big event which +9000 cyclists go to. Lance Armstrong will be there one day too. I am leaving tomorrow. You can see the route here.

http://www.ragbrai.org/route2006.html

Daily distances range from 48 to 77 miles. Hopefully the weather isn't too hot and not +90 the whole time.


We are using my uncle's 96' Toyota land cruiser to drive out. I will be shure to track the gas hog's MPG.

[MetroMPG]

Sounds ... hot?

Seriously, good luck. I've never toured, but done plenty of mountain biking.

One thing I noticed on June's 1400 km sailing trip was that we rarely exceeded the speed of a bicycle ridden at a moderate pace.

[Matt Timion]

How exciting! Be careful and enjoy yourself. I grew up in Illinois, and have spent a decent amount of time in Iowa. Hope you think corn is pretty

[kickflipjr]

So I finished the first day. It had the most hills of any day. It was 54miles and temp rose to 92. There is TONS of bikers. It is sort of a freak show on wheels. I am sleeping in a rec center tomight and got a wifi connection.

tomorrow is 77 miles and similar temps. I will be leaving around 6am so I can get some cooler temps.

I hit 39mph today. Tomarrow I break out the spandex. Hopefully I will get in the 40-45mph range.

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

I hit 39mph today. Tomarrow I break out the spandex. Hopefully I will get in the 40-45mph range.

So spandex is good for 10%?

Do they make spandex for Honda civic hatchbacks?

[kickflipjr]

^
yeah downhill

I did hold +20 for 5 miles. There must of been a tailwind

[MetroMPG]

You're lugging your laptop in case you find WiFi?

[kickflipjr]

No, we have an outfitter who lugs our luggage.

Well I survived the ride. Biking long distance day after day teaches you alot about efficiency. The second day was the hardest 77miles, hills, and a headwind for over 75% of the time . The last few days were much flatter and had a tail wind. I was holding 17mph without much difficulty. I also drafted on the flats. If a big bike club would come by I would jump on the back of the paceline and it would help alot.

I did get to ride with lance armstrong for 2 miles. There was a group of around 100 by him and they were going around 25mph. It was very scary being around that many people going that fast. I could of gone for a longer but I lost him in the town (everybody goes slow and walks there bikes in the towns).

[Gary Palmer]

Hey that's great. I lived in the midwest for a couple of year's and I cannot say I'd look forward to bicycling across IOWA, in the summer. It sound's like it was a good experience, all things considered. I think if those guy's were all doing 25mph, they were in pretty decent shape.

[kickflipjr]

I will never say iowa is flat again. There was plenty of hills in the west.

Oh yeah, The toyota landcuiser got 16-18mpg what a gas pig!