The specific routes for each day of RAGBRAI 2018 (XLVI) were announced last week!
My team (Dad, Gina, Steve, and Andrew) is on board for the last day of RAGBRAI, Day 7. The elevation profile looks much less intimidating than last year’s, but seventy miles (I bet we’ll be at that, if not more) on a bike is no joke! Dad (and Will and Julie) and I did a seventy+ mile route in 2015 and we were BEAT. But that was after we rode sixty miles the day before, which won’t be the case this year.
Anyway, no matter WHAT we are all doing the day before, EVERYONE needs to train to ride seventy miles. Which probably means a few half century rides prior to RAGBRAI. It’s always interesting to see how well trained everyone shows up to ride, muah ha ha.
And most importantly, I will make sure I can satisfy my Mexican food craving in Davenport before we leave town, so no one has to listen to me talk about beans and rice on the long car ride home. (This has happened more than once!)
I love that you guys all do this together every year. I did the trek across Maine with friends for several years in my early twenties with friends and it was so fun! Too bad they have all moved away 🙁 you definitely can’t fake your way through 70 miles if you didn’t train. Have you gotten to ride outside yet thus year?
Oh man! They all need to come back for a reunion!!! I haven’t ridden outside yet! We had one day last week where the weather was appropriate. I bet I will by the end of this month or in April!
Wow, 70 miles sounds intense! And fun! How long would a ride like that typically take? The longest ride I’ve ever done is 30 miles (untrained, after a run, and on my old 3 speed cruiser LOL) and I was hurting by the end of that.
We average about 13 mph on RAGBRAI, so that’s over 5 hours, and with all the stops, I am guessing we’ll be out for 7 hours.
Oh man, I bet you were hurting after that! I feel like the longer distances of cycling aren’t something you can just jump in to and do, without that outcome (I’ve done it before too)!
I think it’s great that you all do this together – what a fun adventure! Will you have matching jerseys this year?
I hope so! Hopefully the jerseys aren’t cheesy and we decide to get them!
What a sore butt you’ll have :p its so nice you have a group to do this with. I want to do a ragnar relay or something similar but need a few more people to drag along 🙂
I’ve found if I put enough saddle time in before, my butt is not that sore (because I’ve already gone through the sore process, ha!). But that requires A LOT of saddle time 😉
I bet people in your run club would want to!!!!
Glad the course is less ferocious than last year. 70 miles Sounds super fun! I need to participate in this ride someday 🙂
You do! I think you’d really enjoy the experience!
I have a friend whose husband has done a RAGBRAI day here and there – they live in Iowa City and are going to be out of town for it this year. He is SO bummed!
I think the big trick to 70 miles is to build up to it – make sure that you do several 50+ rides (and maybe not the day before??!!!!). Mind you, my husband rode a metric century last year on almost zero training, so it definitely is possible! But… not as enjoyable, in my opinion. I like to have the fitness to enjoy a longer ride.
Oh no, what a bummer for your friend 🙁 Are they out of town for the entire week?
I want to enjoy it so I will definitely do a few 50s, and NOT the day before, ha. I want my team to enjoy it too, so I hope they do the same. It’s more fun when we’re ALL having fun 😉