RAGBRAI XXXV

The Des Moines Register has announced the overnight towns for this summer's RAGBRAI, and it is supposed to be the flattest RAGBRAI ever! I have blogged about RAGBRAI in the past, but if you haven't read any of those entries, and you don't know what RAGBRAI is, it is a bike ride across Iowa that is sponsored by the Des Moines Register. It takes place the last full week of July. I have ridden on the past seven RAGBRAIs making this year's ride my eighth if I go. Mel has stated that she would like to join me on RAGBRAI this year. Her sister has even volunteered to babysit our baby the entire week if we both go. I had previously been worried about how we would find the time to properly train for the ride, and I still have some concerns about how much training we'll be able to do together. We would have to get a baby seat for one of our bikes, but I don't know at what age that is safe for babies. Also, with a baby in tow, I would not be at all comfortable riding down steep hills at full speed. But, with this year's ride being flatter than any other RAGBRAI before, maybe training on hills won't be as much of an issue. Oh, we'd still have to train, but I think we could manage.

The Register is reporting that Lance Armstrong will be riding all of this year's ride. He rode RAGBRAI a couple of days last summer. I hope that his presence on the ride won't be disruptive. Last year I heard that some people were riding unsafely, trying to keep up with Armstrong.

While you could follow the above link or even go to the official RAGBRAI web site, I am going to list the overnight towns here:

• Sunday - Rock Rapids to Spencer
• Monday - Spencer to Humboldt (where my parents-in-law live)
• Tuesday - Humboldt to Hampton
• Wednesday - Hampton to Cedar Falls
• Thursday - Cedar Falls to Independence
• Friday - Independence to Dyersville
• Saturday - Dyersville to Bellevue

I will have to check to make sure that I will be able to take the whole week off from work, and that we can afford it, but I think this has the potential to be a great RAGBRAI!