Saturday, March 29, 2008

Registration is in the mail!

This afternoon, I mailed off our registration packet! According to Shantel at the Edison Road Post Office, our packet should arrive at RAGBRAI HQ before 3:30 PM on Monday, March 31. We had to have it postmarked by April 1, so we are well within the time frame!

Lottery results will be posted on May 1 . . .

Let the waiting and anticipating begin!!!!

Another Newbie Chimes In


OK, so I'm the guy getting all the $$ and waivers in place. Some have paid up with nary a peep, but now, for the second time, we get an insight into the mind of a RAGBRAI newbie. (Note as well Lauren's appropriately fashionable L-shaped notes . . . )

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Training has begun!

Bruce, Charmelle, and I began our grueling training program for RAGBRAI today. Since many of the riders will be attending their first RAGBRAI this year, I thought I would share some of our tips.

RAGBRAI takes a lot of commitment, a lot of heart, and a lot of work. You need to start training now! Tonight, we started out slow and small, but made that first step. It started with some stretching and clothing that can’t be too restrictive.

Then there are decisions to be made. You have to think about what you can accomplish at any given session. The goal is to know exactly how much you can take and not stop short or take too much.

Regardless of what you tackle in any given session, you have to commit to it. Each of us took a little different approach. Bruce and Charmelle both went for a more rich session, I took a little more of a plain vanilla approach.

We all finished in record time and really feel like we’ve made the first steps toward preparing for RAGBRAI 2008. We all decided on the Cold Stone Creamery “I like it” size for this first session of 2008. Bruce tackled the “Peanut butter Cup Perfection.” Charmelle decided on “Oreo Chocolate Dirt.” I selected the “Founders Favorite.”

While it was a light work out, it was still a great start to the ride. We’ll be eating pork, fresh corn, homemade ice cream, and pies for 8 days. Start training NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

MacGyver and not so cute shoes!

I attended a women's bike night at a local bike shop this evening. A rep from the Trek Women's Specific Design team was on hand to talk about bike fit, show us how to change a tire and give us free stuff. Obviously the free stuff was the coolest part of the program. I got this awesome multi tool. I feel like MacGyver. About the tire changing, I may just keep the van on speed dial for assistance. They showed me a variety of bike shoes ... seriously are they all that ugly? Yes Matt and Bruce I said it! I have to be able to keep some sort of fashion sense while I trek across Iowa. ;-). I suppose Velcro is pretty much a done deal for bike shoes and I am okay with that, but ugly laces and drab colors are so not necessary. I am on a mission to find way cuter shoes and bike shirts.

I get to ride a bunch of high end road bikes tuesday as the chick from Trek has a full trailer of all sorts of bikes. I figure I may as well spoil myself now and then get back to the reality of the not so high end bike that I have. I am trying to figure out how much plasma I need to sell in order to buy a really kick ass bike. ;-)

Oh ... my life has become bike riding and writing my thesis!! I seriously am fitting into this team more and more each day! ;-)

The Newbie's Sentiments


Just thought I'd post this note that accompanied Tascha's waiver and fee submission.

Does this capture the thoughts of other newbies????

(If you listen closely, you can actually hear the maniacal laughter of Matt and Chris and Dave and Bruce and Steve and Mark . . . for we KNOW what you've gotten yourself into!)

Ciao

Saturday, March 15, 2008

2008 RAGBRAI Route

2008 RAGBRAI route

See also: GeoBike profile

Kal-Haven Trail Blazer

Bruce and I went on the Kal-Haven Trail Blazer last year and enjoyed it. I plan to go this year on Saturday, May 10. The trail covers 34.5 miles between Kalamazoo and South Haven. You can start at either end and either go one way or ride as large a loop as you choose. There are also road routes (25, 45, 70, or 100 mi.) that start in Kalamazoo.

Zoo-De-Mackinac

Matt suggested the Zoo-De-Mackinac as an early-season ride. It's the weekend of May 17th, 2008. From their site: "The bike ride starts Saturday morning at Boyne Highlands Resort and spans 51 miles along Lake Michigan on a paved road with very little automobile traffic."