Staying in Shape for SFL: Our Summer Adventure at Ragbrai

When we got hooked on Ski for Light several years ago, we asked our visually impaired ski buddies to tell us what they did to keep in shape in the warm weather months. That led us to create a tandem bike group and to begin a new and fun way to stay fit and enjoy the great outdoors. In 2016 we spent July 23rd to the 31st tandem cycling in the Register Annual Great Bike Ride across Iowa, affectionately called RAGBRAI. About 13,000 riders participated in the 44th annual RAGBRAI, sponsored by the Des Moines Register, which this year spanned eastward 420 miles across Southern Iowa, from the Missouri to the Mississippi rivers. Here are our experiences and some lessons we learned along the way.

Because flights to Des Moines were quite pricey, we flew to Indianapolis on Friday and met some friends, who drove us to Iowa. We learned our first lesson during our travel day-- if a gate agent says, "Just leave your carry-on bag with me and I'll make sure it gets on the plane," don't believe her. While we arrived in Indianapolis on Friday night as expected, we did not receive our bag until Sunday evening! The missing bag offered us a great opportunity for a Saturday shopping trip for new bike shoes, gloves and other necessities.

On Saturday, we arrived in Ankeny, a suburb of Des Moines, where we met the rest of the Adaptive Sports Iowa Cycling Team and took a bus to Glenwood, where the ride would start the next day. The team consisted of about 30 members; half had disabilities of various kinds and half provided a range of support. Our friend Chuck Miller, who will be a first time visually impaired participant at Snow Mountain Ranch this winter, joined us on the ride and helped Bob find a captain. Adaptive Sports Iowa matched Bonnie with a captain. Two other blind riders besides the two of us and several other team members rode tandem bicycles during the week. Adaptive Sports Iowa made sleeping arrangements in church basements and school gymnasiums and we always had shower and bathroom facilities.

We headed out at 6 AM for our first ride from Glenwood to Shenandoah. Early starts enabled us to enjoy the sunrise, to complete most of our ride in the coolest part of the day, and to avoid riders who stopped for a cool brew several times along the way. We learned our second lesson that day-Iowa is not flat! Bonnie thought the first day was the toughest, as we completed our first 50 miles in over 90 degree heat. "Why did I sign up for this?" she groaned at the end of the ride. But Bonnie realized that the only thing she had eaten all day was ice cream, which probably contributed to her fatigue.

Things improved markedly after day one with a little more protein, low humidity and temps only in the mid-80s. On day two, we rode 75 miles and climbed about 3,900 feet over that total mileage - our longest and highest elevation climb for the week. We began to really enjoy ourselves and learned our third lesson-the best food can be found in Iowa's small towns! Some riders, including Bob, refer to RAGBRAI as, "Eat Your Way across Iowa!" Vendors and church and other civic groups with food such as pork chops, corn on the cob, ice cream, turkey legs, fresh fruit pies and other Iowa favorites provided sustenance to hungry riders in every town and at other rest stops along the way. (Did you know that the best cinnamon rolls ever can be found in Essex, Iowa?)

On days three and four we rode between 60 and 70 miles, with more climbing spread over nice rolling hills. By day three, we had learned our fourth lesson-we can send a spaceship to Mars but can't seem to manufacture a comfortable bicycle seat! Our butts were getting pretty sore, despite wearing padded shorts and using Shammy Butter. We nursed our aching backsides over a couple of beers each day at ride's end. A highlight of day three was meeting Marion Elmquist for a couple of beers in the town of Leon after the ride. As if 70 miles per day wasn't enough riding, day four included an additional thirty mile loop, which enabled Bob to complete his first-ever Century, a 100-mile ride!

Talking with other riders along the way was a special treat. RAGBRAI is truly an international event, with cyclists from England, Canada, Wales, Australia and every state in the Union. Each rider had a placard on the back of the bike with their city and state. We even met participants from our home town, Alexandria, Virginia.

Days five through seven rides were shorter, with less climb as we neared the Mississippi River. The shorter rides enabled us to explore our destination towns, including Centerville, Ottumwa and Washington. Day seven culminated with a tire dip in the Mississippi River and farewell promises to see team members again in 2017.

If you would like to learn more about RAGBRAI and tandem cycling, consider joining us and other SFL participants when we share our experiences at RAGBRAI and other rides at our special interest session at the 2017 SFL week in Colorado. You'll learn that you too can ride in RAGBRAI!