Tag: Air Force Cycling Team.

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7 RAGBRAI Lessons: Wisdom Revealed

1. Be part of a team.

A team is not required to participate in RAGBRAI, but why do it alone? I appreciated Team Larry in the morning when they got me going by 7 a.m. I appreciated them when I rode with a member along the way. I really appreciated them when I got done at the end of the day and we swapped stories. I learned so much from the hundreds of years of experience of the collective team.

RAGBRAI Team Larry 2015
Team Larry 2015

2. Be thankful you have your arms and legs.

Whenever I felt sorry for myself when the lactic acid was building in my legs going uphill, I only needed to look over at the person with no legs pedaling up the hill with their arms, or the tandem bike where one of the people could not use their arms or could not see. If they can overcome those challenges I can deal with a little discomfort.

3. Drink lots of water.

It is so easy to get behind in drinking water. I love Nuun and I drank at least one bottle of water with these magic electrolyte tabs, sometimes two a day. When I substituted diet Coke or beer or chocolate milk I fell behind and got dehydrated. This is the fastest route to getting a headache or “hitting the wall.” If it is humid drink even more. Similar wisdom: use sunscreen (and keep slathering it on) and use chapstick with UV protection. Get plenty of rest.

Biker catching some z's on floor of fire station.
Biker catching some z’s on floor of fire station.

4. Brake for pie.

There is a National Public Radio team (NPR) that gets lots of attention each year because their team name is No Pie Refused. This is a great philosophy for RAGBRAI. There is so much good pie available and it supports good causes. Tony from Chicago substituted rootbeer floats for pie. I normally brake for pie so RAGBRAI was awesome.

Rhubarb pie a la mode from United Church of Christ in Alden, IA.
Rhubarb pie a la mode from United Church of Christ in Alden, IA.

5. Ask for help.

I found myself wanting to appear tough and self-sufficient to Team Larry, so first I would only text my questions to my daughter. Ultimately I had to ask Cousin Sandy for help finding a dentist, then ask the dentist to come in from the Rotary booth to fix my tooth. And the list goes on. The great thing about RAGBRAI is that people were helping people all around  me: I saw a dad help his younger daughter up hills by putting his hand gently on her back to help her uphill; I witnessed members of the Air Force Cycling Team helping women change their flat tires; and lots of local town volunteers were ready to help with directions or other assistance. Ask for help and graciously accept it when it is offered.

6. Be open to new experiences.

Try new foods like chocolate dipped bacon. Or stop for the slip n slide or the car museum. Talk to the person next to you on the road. Eat with the person you just met in line. Good stuff happens when you remain open and present to what is happening in this moment.

Chocolate dipped bacon is amazing!
Chocolate dipped bacon is amazing!

7. Unplug, but not the coffee.

There is very little cell coverage in rural Iowa, so I enjoyed this excuse and disconnected from the news and thinking about work.

These volunteers had the best intentions of providing free coffee--except they blew a fuse and so no coffee.
These volunteers had the best intentions of providing free coffee–except they blew a fuse and so no coffee.

Bonus wisdom: Enjoy the view. It may not be changing much but you are outdoors, it is green, and you are on your bike. And as the great Manx sprinter Mark Cavendish says, Any day on your bike beats a day working in a bank.

Corn fields and more corn fields make up the dominant view.
Corn fields and more corn fields make up the dominant view.
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Hump Day RAGBRAI Day 4

Nancy and me at fire stationLast night we slept little because of the concert in town and then people coming home from the concert. We took off about 7:15 a.m. and worked our way through the bike congestion in Eldora.

I chatted briefly with an Australian cyclist from Perth. Then I caught up with team member Nancy. We rode the first 20 miles together at a smart clip. We stopped briefly at the first town and the 6 coffee pots had blown a fuse so no coffee. We were on our way to collect our bikes and I ran into Tony from Chicago. So you never know on RAGBRAI.

Nancy and I did stop at Chris Cakes for pancakes in Ackley. It was in the Volunteer Fire Department main bays and it was a fun atmosphere. The cooks tossed pancakes into the line every once in a while! I met Steve from Chicago and he joined our group from Team Larry for breakfast. Bacon on the roadThe towns were closer together today and this hump day is also the shortest–just 62 miles to my host family in Cedar Rapids. Nancy moved on at a faster pace after a few more miles. We had more long rolling hills. It feels like the uphill to downhill ratio is 2:1.

I stopped in Aplington and indulged in the chocolate dipped bacon. It is delicious and the creator Karen is going to send me the recipe.

At this point I decided to go all in and get the walking taco or taco in a bag. I had fun talking to a group of the US Air Force Cycling Team. They have impressed other riders with how much they have been there for other riders–helping to change tires and offering encouragement to people struggling with the hills.

I stopped again in Parkersburg and enjoyed a piece of pie. Maybe I should have eaten some more protein and less sugar because at mile 53 I hit the wall. There were people collapsing from dehydration and falling over. The ambulances were busy. and it was sobering. On one of the steepest hills in the last 7 miles I shifted to the lowest gear and I was still teetering, so I pulled over to the side with a “biker off”. Moments later a woman passed me and then fell over. Her chain broke and may have caused her fall. Suddenly my decision to walk up seemed smart. I struggled all the way home, but I didn’t have to walk again.

I took some time to myself to recover and then enjoyed the convivial Team Larry circle and a delicious homemade dinner from our hosts. And they very kindly let me watch the Tour de France Stage 17 coverage on NBC Sports.

Take a bag of nacho doritos and add seasoned hamburger, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.
Take a bag of nacho doritos and add seasoned hamburger, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Louise from Bimiji shared with me her experience riding near a woman cycling with her trumpet. At one point she stopped at the top of a long hard hill and played the theme from Rocky for all of the other riders. The impact was tremendous for those struggling up the hill. That is RAGBRAI. Fingers crossed for better sleep and a better day of riding.