My old housemate Steve, the younger of two brothers there, got into modern cycling with a bike I built him on a Bridgestone MB-3 frame. He's taken that way farther on and is a bike commuter to an office and customer setting (supporting the business through Sam's Club and Wal*Mart) requiring actual dress clothes, suit and tie. His ever-expanding interest in bicycling has taken him from Fayetteville, AR to his family cabin at Spar City, CO outside Creede, CO for his 50th birthday. He is a repeat RAGBRAI participant and takes a number of his colleagues from his office and other locations of his company, including some from overseas.
His challenges to keep up the commuting includes leaving his company car at the office for off site meetings in the day and the once a week exchange by the cleaners at the office so he's not lugging that attire back and forth in a bag. His first RAGBRAI introduced him to the logistical challenges and the stress on each town that all of those riders and their needs put on them. Katrina happened and with FEMA foibles and subsequent actions of the military and various non-profits to render aid. I told him about some of the stuff I used in the military when I ran light maintenance companies that often co-located with other logistic elements in the field that allowed crew of equipment needing repairs to walk to a shower tent, at the anteroom hand over their dirty clothes, showering and receive their clothes clean and dry when clean and toweled off. The kitchen trailers served hot food and if repairs took longer we had tents with cots for some rest before heading back with their repaired items. These ideas stuck with Steve and his company (P & G) who had long since been branding his annual group (a recognition to be included) with matching kit bedazzled with unmistakable company logo as useful advertising and then they rolled out the laundry trailer, a self-contained washer/dryer facility available to RAGRAI riders each night, following the horde (and their also branded Tide bus where they sleep and the chef feeds them). Do the ride and you'll see the trailer, their the bus as well as the team TIde. Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Sunday, January 21, 2024 at 4:52:06 PM UTC-5 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Welp, I was so much more excited about this in theory. After reading about > the various experiences of damaged luggage, sweltering temps and difficult > logistics, I think I’ll find a different ride to do. > > Thanks to everyone who offered their experiences! It was a great thread to > read in the dead of a Michigan winter. > Leah > > On Jan 21, 2024, at 12:03 PM, Matt Beecher <beec...@gmail.com> wrote: > > If I were to do it again, I would pay for one of the services where they > haul your stuff and set up your tent. Getting a hotel will likely be > nearly impossible, given the number of people attending. > > > I did RAGBRAI a few years ago and tried bringing my own tent and setting > it up at night. The kids they use to haul luggage from site to site > quickly destroyed my bag. Basically, they pile them in the truck and if I > had to guess, they saw my handles and yanked on it to pull it free, but > tore the brand new heavy canvas bag instead. I tried holding it together > with a cable lock and tape, but had to give up on that after a few days. A > lot of items I didn't need were tossed, then the rest went into my panniers > and I had to haul it myself. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the > luggage service side of the trip. > > However, the ride itself was great, especially eating dinner with > strangers every evening. > > One thing I was happy that I brought was my ultralight cot. It got me off > of the ground, which kept me dry on rainy evenings and cooler on hot days. > > The next trick is to find a way to charge your phone. I'd make sure you > have a power bank available. > > Good luck, > Matt > > On Monday, January 15, 2024 at 5:33:07 PM UTC-6 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! > wrote: > >> Who knows about Bike Film Festival? >> >> I paid for the pass to watch this year’s videos and it was money >> well-spent. I got to the RAGBRAI documentary last night. Wow. I had heard >> of it but really knew nothing about it and now I would just love to figure >> out how to ride it this year. It just looks like such an experience. And >> I’ve had very few experiences, because I’m late to the bike adventure scene >> AND I’ve been raising kids! But now they are teenagers and might not even >> know that I’m gone so maybe I should ride this epic ride! >> >> There are a ton of logistics I don’t understand. I think you need a >> “charter” to haul your stuff, yes? And to bring you back across the state >> after you finish? And if you use these “charters” do they trash your bike >> in their racks or will they have something that can handle a a mixte with >> fenders? Is there are charter that is more friendly to Riv bikes than the >> others? >> >> Also, no camping. I’m really hoping to end up in a hotel or some sort of >> dwelling. I don’t have any tents, don’t know how to pitch tents and so on. >> This may be the thing I can’t plan my way out of, because there are so many >> riders moving through tiny host towns. >> >> I’ll look up more info tonight after I get my chores done! But it really >> is so exciting to imagine riding my bike across a whole state… Also, it’s >> Real Winter here in Michigan, so maybe that’s why this hits different. >> >> Leah >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/816fHN9n71o/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2a9058cd-bfc9-4c58-a8a9-7631438cdc17n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2a9058cd-bfc9-4c58-a8a9-7631438cdc17n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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