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Our hearts go out to Oklahomans affected by the tornado, and their friends and families.

By Mark Wyatt, Iowa Bicycle Coalition

Wow, it has been cold this year!  It has been really hard to get any decent training miles in.  But, the big ride is about two months away.  It is time to start making plans to ride RAGBRAI.

If you have committed to riding RAGBRAI this year, it all starts with Tip #1, the RIGHT stuff.  And when I say stuff, I mean bicycle.  Every RAGBRAI veteran knows having a smooth running, well-serviced bicycle can mean the difference between an enjoyable or not very enjoyable RAGBRAI.

Over the past 40 years of RAGBRAI, every type of bicycle imaginable has crossed the state.  The most famous bicycle might be Clarence Pickard’s ladies Schwinn.  Pickard’s bike must have weighed 50 pounds, but it carried him from river to river.

A klunker or bargain basement special might be just fine for getting around town, but if you are going to ride across Iowa, you might need a better bike.   Investing in a road bike (that fits) can make riding the 60 to 90 miles per day on RAGBRAI much easier and more comfortable.

On of my friends told me, “I know you said a road bike would make a difference in my ride.  I just didn’t believe you until I test rode one and you were right.  It made riding effortless and fun.”

Road bikes are usually the double diamond frame bicycles with dropped handlebars that give you multiple positions to rest your hands.  They have skinny tires that have less drag friction on the road.  There are many variations and brands of road bicycles. You need to pick a bike that suits you.

Start with a budget in mind.  Decide how much you can afford to spend on your new bike.  But remember, you will likely keep this bike for more than a decade – longer than your cell phone or laptop.  Purchase as much of a bicycle as you can afford.

If you need a new bicycle, the first place to start is your local bicycle retail store.  Many people are going to the local bicycle stores right now to shop for that new bike that will take them from Council Bluffs to Fort Madison.  Your local bicycle store will have knowledge and experience to find the bicycle that fits your needs.  You can find a list of all Iowa bicycle stores at http://iowabicyclecoalition.org/bikeshop

So maybe a new bicycle isn’t in your budget.  Many people purchase used bicycles or borrow one from a friend.  If you are going that route, be sure the bicycle is in good working order and has serviceable parts.  Take it to a local bicycle retailer for a tune-up.

Also, be sure your used or borrowed bicycle actually fits you.  Bicycles come in different sizes.  A tall person needs a larger bicycle and a short person needs a smaller bicycle.  They are not generally interchangeable.  One of the simple ways to measure is stand-over height.  Stand astride your bike with your feet planted firmly on the ground.  You could be able to lift your bike 1-2 inches off the ground.  Watch this Expert Village Video on standover height at http://youtu.be/bCcmLhsMIsI

For a more exact fit, visit your local bicycle retailer and schedule a fitting session.  It could cost a little bit or they may include it with a purchase.  A good fitting bike will make you more comfortable on the long rides.

A little planning for the RIGHT Stuff now, can equal more riding this summer.  If you need to invest in a new bicycle for RAGBRAI, make sure it is smooth running and efficient.  If you are going with a used bicycle, be sure it fits.

If you are going to ride RAGBRAI safely, you are going to keep in mind the following safety tips:

1. The RIGHT stuff.

2. The RIGHT gear.

3. The RIGHT communications.

4. The RIGHT riding.

5. The legal RIGHT.

6. The RIGHT frame of mind.

7. The RIGHT abilities

8. The RIGHT attitude

9. The RIGHT attention.

10. The RIGHT condition

Mark Wyatt is the executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, a statewide advocacy organization for bicycling.  Mark is also a League Cycling Instructor (LCI), board member for the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking.  More information about the Iowa Bicycle Coalition can be found at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org.  

It is with great sadness to report that the Dream Team lost one of their former members in a tragic house fire this week.  Nyakouth Choul, 17, was found by firefighters inside a home in Boone.  Chuol transferred from East High School in Des Moines to Future’s Alternative High School in Boone in March.  Nyakouth last rode with the Dream Team in 2011.

She will be missed by her Dream Team teammates and mentors.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

MEMORIAL FUND

A memorial fund  has been established to help pay for funeral expenses for Nyakouth.  Money gathered will also help buy new clothes and personal items for the surviving woman who lived in the house and lost her belongings.  Money can be sent to Youth & Shelter Services, 420 Kellogg Ave., Ames, IA 50014.

Click to read a full story in the Des Moines Register

The Valley Junction Foundation will be organizing a West Des Moines street party along Fifth Street, where many cyclists are expected to stop for a break on their 49.9 mile stretch from Perry to Des Moines.

Individuals and vendors who wish to participate in the event or entertain RAGBRAI participants with a booth along Fifth Avenue must contact the Valley Junction Foundation, according to city officials. Individual booths will not require permits because they will operate under the VJF street party permit.

RAGBRAI officials say cyclists coming from Van Meter will be passing through West Des Moines at all hours of the day. Those participating in the street party are expected to stop entertainment by 5 p.m. to allow riders to reach Water Works Park in Des Moines before 6 p.m.

78 riders come from 18 foreign countries.

The foreign countries are: Albania, Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.

39.8% of the riders are from Iowa.

RAGBRAI riders use a variety of bike types:

The average age of this year’s RAGBRAI participants is 46.9 years

The age breakdown of this year’s participants is as follows:

As the Register’s Annual Great  Bicycle Ride Across Iowa looms in the near distance, two  notions and a question scurry about in my mind.

The question, of course, is whether I’ll finally get my legs back under me enough to get back into the fray. One of the reasons we moved back to Des Moines from Colorado in late January was that our legs no longer agreed to ski or hike at 9,000 feet. It also was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe.

As for the notions:

Notion One — I recently realized that I am now the same age as Clarence Pickard was in 1973 when he became a one-week Iowa legend by pedaling his second-hand woman’s Schwinn, green and white, over every mile of that first year’s ride (which included, incidentally, consecutive hundred-mile and eighty-mile days). That age was, and is, 83. It gives one pause.

Notion Two — I can’t get notion one out of mind.

As for the question, it is, simply: When I get to the end of RAGBRAI week, will I be saying, “You were a better man than I am, Clarence Pickard”?

Not that there’s any competition here. After all, I’m at an age when competitiveness is ludicrous (I’m also at an age when lifetime guarantees don’t mean diddly), and Clarence, sad to say, is dead. Some competition.
And when you put all of the above into a sack, shake it up then look inside, what do you see? Why, there’s nothing there but nonsense. Sensible eighty-three-year-old guys don’t worry about such stuff (I have no idea what sensible eighty-three-year-old guys worry about, other than death).

Moving on, people often ask me about Donald Kaul, the other co-founder of RAGBRAI. Good question. He’s alive and relatively well (he’s also no longer a spring chicken) and living in Ann Arbor, MI, with wife Sue. I’ve tried calling him the last two days but he’s not answering. Eventually, he will, and I’ll get a better response for the question.

Later.  Actually talked to Kaul.  Like me, he’s threatening to get on his bike again this year, but probably not in Iowa, unfortunately.

Other than that, my wife, Ann, and I are luxuriating in the elegance of living at Scottish Rite Park here in Des Moines. We moved in Feb. 1 and think it’s the best decision we’ve made in at least the last 10 years. Good food, pleasant staff and lovely accommodations.

We’ve been out on our bikes a couple of times, but will have to put in a lot more miles between now and RAGBRAI week to get into any kind of form.

Several people have asked for Coach Ertl’s Training Plan in an excel file, so here it is RAGBRAI_Training_Plan_2013.

The most popular blogs every year is my training plan for preparing for RAGBRAI.  This has proven to be popular among riders.  So here is this year’s edition.  This is meant to be a guide, not necessary an absolute plan to be followed to a ‘T’.   The main thing it does is provides you with a target for the amount of riding you should be doing each week as you build up RAGBRAI.  The idea is to gradually build up distance each week and occasionally take an easier week to recover and rest.  While this plan has various miles on given days of the week, it doesn’t really matter which days you do these. If this doesn’t fit your schedule feel free to do these rides on other days. However, don’t try to jam it all in on weekends if you can avoid it. Try to ride 3-4 days a week.  It’s good to try to get a couple of shorter rides in during the week and then longer rides on the weekends.

While this plan doesn’t build you up to 400 miles of riding in a week (150 is the max), that is okay.  If you can work your way up to a 65 mile ride, with some other rides during the week, you should be able to handle RAGBRAI.  On RAGBRAI you don’t have to ride fast or hard.  You have many stops during the day and many chances to eat and drink, so your riding won’t need to be terribly strenuous, so you should be able to recover from day to day.  Sure, you will be fatigued as the week goes on, but as long as you take it fairly easy, you can ride day after day, once you build up the ability to ride a long distance in one day.

So if you haven’t been riding much yet, now is the time to get started.  RAGBRAI begins in three short months!  Build up gradually and you will be ready by July.

Coach David Ertl

David Ertl is a USA Cycling Level 1 (Elite) Coach. He coaches the Des Moines Cycle Club Race Team and is a national head coach for the the JDRF Ride To Cure Diabetes and he coaches individual cyclists. He also provides cycling training plans and ebooks at his website: http://www.CyclesportCoaching.com . He can be contacted at coach@cyclesportcoaching.com.

Click to access: RAGBRAI_Training_Plan_2013

Happy Mother’s Day to the many moms who are a part of RAGBRAI!

The main message of this article is that above all else, getting miles in your legs and hours on the bike is the most important thing you can do in terms of preparation for RAGBRAI. Because RAGBRAI is a tour and not a race, it means you can take your time and ride at an enjoyable pace.  Even though this year’s edition is the second ‘shortest’ in RAGBRAI’s history, 406 miles is still a long way to ride a bike in a week.  Therefore endurance is extremely important and is the most important aspect of training to focus in on.  Sure, you can work on hills and speed, but first you have to be able to go the distance.   Let’s look at three aspects of endurance to consider.  First, there is the physiological ability of your legs to pedal your bike for 406 miles.  This requires development of leg strength to push the pedals tens of thousands of times per day.  You don’t necessarily need a lot of strength, but you need to have the ability to flex your leg muscles many, many times without giving out.  You also need to increase the cardiovascular fitness so as to be able to supply blood and oxygen to those working muscles.  So by doing progressively longer rides as you prepare for RAGBRAI, you will train those muscles and cardio system to go for progressively longer time as well.  So really it is just putting in the miles.  Nothing special.  Just ride, more each week.  You do want to try to make your longest ride of the week progressively longer along with your total mileage for the week.

Another area of endurance you will need is the ability to sit on your bike saddle for hours a day.  This also takes practice.  Your rear end will get tougher as you do longer rides.  For some people, this ability to be comfortable sitting on the bike limits how long they can ride.  The legs are willing, but the butt isn’t!  This too will take care of itself by doing progressively longer rides.   If it doesn’t, make sure you are wearing padded bike shorts and you may want to check with your local bike shop for a more comfortable saddle.  Keep in mind bigger isn’t always better when it comes to bike seats.

A third area that needs to be improved through endurance is the upper body and arms.  Sitting on a bike leaning forward on your hands for hours a day takes some conditioning for the back, shoulders and arms.  Not only will long rides help prepare these muscles, but some gym work can come in handy here to strengthen these areas of the body.  Padded gloves will also help relieve the pressure on the hands.

The longest day on this year’s RAGBRAI is 83 miles.  The others are in the 50-60 mile range.  So if you can work up to a 60 to 70 mile ride in the weeks leading up to RAGBRAI, you should be able to adequately handle the mileage. Now more is better when it comes to endurance training.  If you can work up to 83 miles, that would be better.   A century ride prior to RAGBRAI, while not necessary, will only help you be stronger for this year’s ‘short’ RAGBRAI.  So as you are thinking about your preparation for RAGBRAI, put the focus on the miles you will be able to put in between now and July.  Refer to my previous post for a training plan guideline for how many miles you might consider for your longest ride as well as for each week.

There is no secret to preparing for RAGBRAI, you just need to put in the miles.  But you do need to put them in, because there is no faking endurance!

Coach David Ertl

David Ertl is a USA Cycling Level 1 (Elite) Coach. He coaches the Des Moines Cycle Club Race Team and is a national head coach for the the JDRF Ride To Cure Diabetes and he coaches individual cyclists. He also provides cycling training plans and ebooks at his website: http://www.CyclesportCoaching.com . He can be contacted at coach@cyclesportcoaching.com.

High Country Shipping in cooperation with RAGBRAI is pleased to offer GEAR Forward!
Ship your camping gear and luggage to RAGBRAI and have it waiting for you at the start of the ride.

Rates are $1.50 per pound one-way from anywhere in the United States.
For details, look for the GEAR Forward logo on the HCS RAGBRAI Sign Up page.

http://www.highcountryshipping.com/bike_events/ragbrai.html