FROM the COUCH to IOWA…. and BEYOND

How'd I Get Here? ?

 In some ways I started my journey to Iowa way back in the late ‘70’s when I first read about RAGBRAI.  Since then I have always wanted to ride in that annual ride across Iowa but I was not a real active rider so I never could work up the courage to go. It wasn’t until March of 2014 when I saw a presentation about a California to Georgia bike ride that I decided in earnest that I really needed to get off my couch and ride across Iowa.

I started by pulling out my old ‘touring’ road bike, cleaning it up and taking it for a few rides along a local bike trail. I had been riding my hybrid on that trail and around town for a few years but really felt that my road bike would be a better choice to ‘get in shape’ with. I rode it more and more and met a few people in my town that I could ride with on a regular basis. I then came up with a plan to ride the old bike until it broke and at that point I would make a decision about riding for the future – if I was enjoying it I would buy a new bike and keep riding, if I wasn’t enjoying it then I would just put the old road bike back into the basement and keep riding the hybrid around town. I rode in a couple of 30 – 60 mile charity rides with the old bike before I finally had a flat…I was enjoying riding so much that I considered the flat to be a sign that I should buy a new bike.

I had been doing a considerable amount of research into what kind of bike I would purchase and had made up my mind that I needed an ‘endurance bike’ – one that is setup for us ‘older guys’ to ride longer rides but not necessarily fast. That led me to three or four different manufacturers and I ended up choosing a Specialized Roubaix due to its promise to absorb much of the vibration that normally comes from rough roads. I wanted to make sure that I was as comfortable as possible on the longer rides and it seemed to be the smoothest of the ones that I test rode.

Once I got my new bike fit to me I immediately started to ride a little faster and was much more comfortable over the longer rides. I rode more and more of those and started to learn how to eat for the single and (more importantly) multiple day rides. It took a while but I sorted out timing and meal size issues and got myself comfortable with eating during rides and even on my bike.

At this point I started looking into how to train for week long rides and setup a training schedule that would take me through the months before RAGBRAI and get me up to about 200 - 300 miles a week. I was more concerned with trying to ride multiple days in a row so I took advantage of my friends during an annual ‘beach trip’ to ride 12 out of 14 days during our time at the beach in order to ‘toughen up’ my butt. That trip was right before RAGBRAI so once I got all my clothes washed and packed I was ready to hit the road for Western Iowa!

RAGBRAI was a great experience! We rode six days in a row in some of the best weather one could ask for in Iowa in July and had a great time. The sight of 12,000 people doing their best on bikes each day was truly humbling. The opportunity to meet people from all over the country and hear their stories was enjoyable to say the least. The hills of Iowa were cruel but that just made getting over them that much better. I felt the support of many, many friends every day and am grateful that they were always free with their words of encouragement. You should ride RAGBRAI if you’re ever so inclined, you won’t regret it – but you won’t have better weather than I did!!

 

Where You Going Now James?!?!?

So many of you have asked about my next plan? What’s after Iowa? What will you do for the rest of the summer? Since RAGBRAI I have continued to ride in the weekly rides here in Greenville and have kept up that pace as much as possible. My next two ‘big’ rides are the CycleNC “Mountains to Coast” ride that starts on Sunday the 27^th of September and the “Hincapie Gran Fondo” that is on Saturday, October 24^th. The “Mountains to Coast” ride is similar to RAGBRAI in that it is a multi-day ride that crosses the state (this time North Carolina) but is much smaller in that it limits registration to about 1,500 riders. This year it starts in Waynesville, which is in western NC near Asheville and ends in Oak Island, which is in southeastern NC. Unfortunately I will not ride the last day of the ride since it’s on a Saturday and I have a previously scheduled event that day. (So, in the future I will say “I rode IN the “Mountains to Coast” ride, not that “I rode the “Mountains to Coast” ride). It should be a great ride despite the tremendous elevation (for me) climbs during the first couple of days but I’m sure I can ride them if I just take the day’s ride as a series of ‘short’ 15 – 20 mile rides with nice breaks in between. The Hincapie “Gran Fondo” is a one day ride that is similar to a race but really isn’t. It’s a fundraiser that George Hincapie does in order to raise money for the Greenville, SC “Meals on Wheels” program and it has three very challenging options: a 15 mile ‘easy’ ride, a 50 mile ‘medium’ ride and an 80 mile ‘no way I’m doing that’ ride. Needless to say I’m signed up for the 50 mile ride. It has two major climbs: one up and into Saluda, NC and another around Callahan Mountain. I rode the Callahan Mountain piece and part of the Saluda climb a couple weeks ago and thought my lungs were going to explode. I do hope that the training I’ve been doing for the Cycle NC ride and riding it will help me some, but I’m sure it’ll be a fun day nonetheless.

 

The "Medio" 50 Mile Route for the Hincapie Gran Fondo

 

So, that’s about it for now. That’s a quick recap of how I got to Iowa and where I am now. As the days have started to cool off and shorten our weeknight rides will become Saturday or Sunday rides and hopefully I can keep up with them and continue to pick up a few longer rides every now and then.
What’s in store for 2016? Well, I’m thinking about becoming a ‘touring rider’…stay tuned for that long drawn out story! ! ! And as always, thanks for reading and thanks for commenting… I really appreciate hearing from you and hope you’re enjoying my ramblings! ! ! !