Packing

Going on RAGBRAI is not just about riding your bike across the state of Iowa, but it's also a camping and logistical trip!  Packing for a week long ride where you camp and have to bring all of your camping supplies is not easy.

Initial packing list!

 In fact it's daunting!  When doing RAGBRAI, people can have the RAGBRAI trucks take your bag with clothes, tent, etc. from town to town (it's included as part of your entry fee), or you can join a team or charter group and they will carry it for you.  We chose to go with a charter group from the Quad Cities because they would transport our bags and we could ride their bus out to the start in Rock Valley.  They also pick our camp site everyday and supply basic bike maintenance equipment, drinks, and lots of experienced riders.  We felt this was our best option, since if we had the RAGBRAI truck take our bags we'd have to find our own place to camp and bring air pumps and things with us, plus we would have had to find our own ride out to the start.  For us as RAGBRAI newbies it seemed like a no brainier to join a group that knows what they're doing!  We hope to share some picture of our campsites because I'm pretty sure it's more tents in one place than I can even imagine.

The logistics of transporting your bike and bags to the starting town and then to each overnight town takes a lot of planning.  Everything you take has a tag or band with a number on it, which matches the number on the wristband we have to wear all week.  As Stacey said, it's like when you have a baby and the band on the baby matches the band on the mother and you can't leave the hospital unless they match. We can't get our bags or bike without being sure all the numbers match.  

Camping supplies

The group we are going with has a two bag limit and they must weigh under 40 lbs each. If we would have went with RAGBRAI you only get one 50 lb bag.  In packing, I've realized that's not much   when you are talking about packing a tent, sleeping pad or air mattress and your clothes/toiletries for the week.  I have one bag that has all of my camping gear in it, and one bag that has my clothes for the week.  Everyone recommends you pack each days clothes in a ziploc bag so you only have to get out one bag a day.  This may be the best recommendation so far because it's made my bag much more organized. verything we packed is in a plastic bag to protect it from rain.  Our charter group unloads our bags at each overnight town and  puts them out for us, but if it's raining they just sit in the rain.  We've packed all kinds of bags...trash bags, recycled grocery bags, and various sizes of ziploc bags.  Hopefully we don't need their waterproofing capabilities!

Clothes for the week

Stacey and I came to Iowa on Wednesday because we wanted an extra day to make sure we had everything we needed and had time to get anything before we had to load our bikes on the truck Friday. Thank God we came early as Thursday was filled with small hiccups all day.  It started out by realizing that Stacey's helmet was broken as the strap was  no longer attached.  We have to go looking for a new helmet on Friday.   Then while working on my bike and preparing it for transport, the tube on the rear tire popped.  The bike wasn't moving, Stacey was just holding it. We got the tube replaced, but now I need to go buy a new back up tube! Then we couldn't get out pedals removed (they have to be taken off for transport of our bike), so we have to try to get a bike shop to do that for us Friday before loading.  Stacey and I both nixed dad's idea of using a cutting torch!  Hopefully all the little things that have gone wrong means that next week will be smooth sailing!  

Please send good vibes and prayers our way as we leave tomorrow.  Prayers for safety and good weather would be great!  Sounds like it's supposed to get really hot next week, so these nice 70 degree days are a thing of the past! Gabby has helped me pack and is going to spend a week at "farm camp"!  I hope she and my parents survive!      

Gabby helping pack!