Ready for RAGBRAI

My two-wheeled companion, Lexa; Photo by Stephanie Hertel via Instagram

I am so excited. So very, very excited. This has been a crazy, busy summer and after the last couple weeks in June, I am in desperate need of vacation (this may have also been suggested a couple of weeks ago by my boss when I was a bit sassy...). So I am truly looking forward to a week away from the distraction of life and ready to be riding in RAGBRAI. Sometimes it honestly brings tears to my eyes just thinking about memories from last year.

If you haven’t been following along, RAGBRAI stands for Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. It’s always the last week in July, during the most humid and hot time of year of Iowa. So sure, it’s going to be a scorcher and riding 40-80 miles per day in 110+ degree heat indices doesn’t sound overly pleasant, but it’s truly an awesome experience and I would recommend it to anyone, athlete or not... especially Iowans.

RAGBRAI is a leisure, fun ride across the state. It’s not meant to be a race and it’s best that way. Sometimes I entertain the idea of riding hard in the morning in order to get to the next overnight town around noon to escape most of the high, mid-day sun. But I think that would be missing the point of RAGBRAI. It’s not about speed, it’s about enjoying each pass-through town and all of the activities that it has to offer on the journey. It’s about meeting fellow riders and making new friends along the way.

Early morning riding is by far the best. Everything is peaceful, calm, and beautiful. The landscape is truly breathtaking and moves me to my core... sappy, right? But it's so true and I can't help but feel blessed for the experience in the sunrise hours. The majority of the riders (i.e. those that didn't get a little too tipsy the previous evening) start around 6:00 am, which means you hear hundreds of neighboring riders clicking into their petals, downshifting and in general riding as one. Picture one graceful, giant school of fish. As the day passes, riders start to disperse and there is no longer that continuous group movement of the morning, and honestly, it's probably safer that way. But there is something purely magical about RAGBRAI mornings.

So this coming week, think of me as you’re enjoying your modern amenities. I will miss air conditioning, the internet, and a soft bed the most, but it will be well worth it as I take in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Iowa and RAGBRAI via my two-wheeled companion.

Floating

I'm floating on cloud 9 right now... it's only fitting that when we my friend and I pulled into the parking lot after our bike ride tonight that they were blowing up a hot air balloon. It was a beautiful evening for a ride, on the ground or in the air.

Love this floating feeling!

 

Photos by Stephanie Hertel via Instagram

RAGBRAI, The Conclusion

I did it! I finished RAGBRAI and dipped my front tire in the Mississippi River! I am unbelievably proud of myself. I went into RAGBRAI telling myself it was ok to walk up most of the hills, catch the sag wagon towards the end of the day, be the slowest person in the group, etc and I was fine with it. But I was so totally wrong. Yes, this girl that threw a tantrum any time I had to participate in any sort of athletic sporting activity as a child, cycled across the state of Iowa.

I gladly used my friend's wedding reception an excuse to not ride the first day. So, I started on the second day, the day with the most climb of all the days - 4719 feet to be exact. And I dominated. I had fresh legs when everyone else was tired from the previous day. I was sprinting up the hills that I was nervous about like a champ, passing many in the process. The first day was by far my favorite, the weather was cool, cloud-covered and beautiful. The rolling hills went far past the road and we were left with the most beautiful, lush landscape with the fog cresting the horizon. I was smitten, completely smitten. This is why I had decided to do RAGBRAI and I was elated that I was riding at an above-average rate, well above my training pace. And I had the huge realization that I can do this.

It wasn't all rainbows and daisies, by the end of the day the sun had come out and the hills were not nearly as fun and I was a exhausted. Days three through five all blur together a little bit with varying emotions: pride, joy, irritation, exhaustion, silliness, delirium, etc. And then finally I took day six off. My entire life I have been pretty sensitive to the sun/heat: heat exhaustion, heat rash, heat stroke, sun migraines, you name it, I've had it. Around day three I developed a ridiculously irritating heat rash on my arms and legs and decided it was best to give them a rest (which conveniently happened to be the longest day on the route). And I wanted to finish strong on day seven, the last day.

And finish strong I did. Six of our team members finished on Saturday, I rode with four of them and led the pack most of the way. I was in the groove in the morning, riding a good 2-3 (or even 8) miles per hour faster than I trained, up hills and cutting through headwinds. It was an amazing experience to feel my training paying off and being able to go that fast and not be completely exhausted. As we rode into Davenport people lined the streets cheering us on as we rode our final 6.6 miles across Iowa. This was amazing, it felt like a real accomplishment to finish.

I got to the dipping station at 2:56 pm, making it our fastest day of the bunch. I'm so happy I did RAGBRAI, definitely have plans to do it again, although next time more pie will be consumed and I want to take the time to enjoy the people and sites of Iowa, not just escaping to the shade in pass-through towns. I want to be able to ride the entire route and even the 100 mile loop, sun and heat cooperating, of course. Although I'm not sure I'm cut out for the whole camping thing...

I had originally decided to track all of the calories I consumed during the week, but I was too exhausted at night to track everything. Instead, here's some estimated stats from the week:
Miles rode: 300-315 (or about 70% of the route)
Feet of Climb: 13,218
Days: 5 (of 7)
Calories Burned: 11,000+
Max Speed: 36 mph
Weight: +4 lbs (It's common for first time RAGBRAI riders to gain weight. The question is, how much is new muscle mass vs consuming too many calories?)
Pieces of Pie consumed: 1 (I am so sad about this stat)
Ears of Corn consumed: 1 (again, deeply saddened by this!)



And props to the awesome team members of TFP (Team Fist Pump):
Will. Paul. Nate. Danny. Loren. Becky. Dan. Jon. Catherine. John.

Major props to Paul and my dear friend, John, who both rode the entire way across Iowa. Paul even added the extra century day. But John was a rockstar, this was his first RAGBRAI as well and he was determined to finish every mile, no one else in our group had that kind of determination. We were all impressed (and a little shocked) that John rode every. single. mile. Congrats, friend!

RAGBRAI Preface

The time has come, RAGBRAI starts Sunday. I'm about 75% excited and 25% nervous... or really it's the opposite. The past couple weeks I've been trying to get over a nasty cold and my life has just been out of control busy. Translation: I haven't been training like I should. To this date the longest ride I have completed was 32 miles. 32 pitiful miles. And now I'm about to embark on a 454 mile journey. This is scary.

But I do have lots of short rides under my belt. I have done nearly 400 miles in the past 4 months. (Ok, really, that's not that much and OMG I will double that in one weeks time). RAGBRAI recommends 1,000 miles of training before the ride, but most do less... some don't train at all. I just need to keep telling myself RAGBRAI is a series of short rides from town to town. And breathe. I need to remember to breathe.

And camping? I don't think I've ever truly been camping, at least not since I was a tween. Is this woman, who enjoys her 15 minute hot showers ready for an entire week of camping? With mostly boys? I haven't even begun to prepare for that...

So please wish me luck as I prepare for the most athletic and outdoorsy thing I have ever done in my life.