450 MILES ON AN EBIKE DURING RAGBRAI 2018
RAGBRAI, the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa is something every serious or semi-serious cyclist should have on his bucket list. RAGBRAI is a celebration of small-town Iowa. For the last 46 years thousands of cyclists have peddled across the state from west to east. Each year the route varies between 420 and 480 miles with about 200 small towns bidding to participate. Daily routes range from 48 to 75 miles. Routes are relatively flat but rolling. Small towns in Iowa seem always to be located at the top of a hill or in a valley by a river with the result that one must climb a hill into or out of town. This year, however, an 8% grade was the most I recorded. In recent years, the number of registered week long riders has been limited to 10,000. Daily riders and a number of “bandits” increase the actual daily total by several thousand.
Towns that are designated “overnight towns” have thousands of people camping, sleeping in RVs or filling hotels for miles around. Each night the overnight towns have multiple bands, cycle shops and food vendors of every sort. The route passes through five to seven other towns each day. These towns usually have less than 2,000 residents. The residents greet the line of bikers who begin to arrive at day break and continue for hours. In most towns, there are so many cyclists that you must walk your bike through town first passing bike repair stands and then stopping for pie, beer, “walking tacos,” pork tenderloins, smoothies and about any other treat you can think of. The one day economic benefit to each town is estimated to be in the range of $1 million. In addition to the towns, vendors set up along the route. Mr. Pork Chop, the Iowa Craft Beer tent, Tender Toms Turkeys and Beekman’s Ice Cream are particular roadside favorites.
Notwithstanding the compulsive bikers who begin at daybreak and complete the day’s route by 10 a.m., RAGBRAI is a ride not a race. There is no formal start. Whenever you are ready to go, you just join the line of bikers. The roads are mostly closed to traffic with crossings monitored by state police and county sheriffs. The person riding beside you may be from Canada, Wales or Australia (or from your home town as I found this year). By mid-morning several hundred people will be in town or at a roadside stand waiting in line for beer or ice cream. Porta potties (in RAGBRAI language “Kybos,” for keep your bowels open) are located everywhere, but cornfields serve the same purpose for both sexes. A popular tee shirt says “What happens in a cornfield stays in the cornfield.”
2018 was my fourth RAGBRAI. For health reasons, this year I rode an ebike. My bike is a Trek with a motor that has four levels of assist at speeds up to 28 mph. The bike has a 500 watt battery and weighs about 42 pounds including the battery. It takes several hours to fully charge the battery. Some states call this a “Category 3” ebike. I saw about 25 other ebikes during the week and every one of them was different. While some people took extra batteries along, I took my charger. The large battery had proved to be sufficient on multiple flat Illinois practice rides of up to 75 miles. It was easily sufficient on five of the seven RAGBRAI days and probably would have been enough on the other two days. Those days I decided to add about a half hour’s charge while enjoying the local lunch time treats.
I now have over 1,200 miles on the ebike. In retrospect, I find that the size of battery is far more important that the size of the motor. I have never used more than two of the available four assist levels but would prefer greater battery power. My concern about battery power seems to be the same concern that limits the wide spread adoption of electric cars.
I need to keep reminding myself that ebikes have a good set of gears so it’s better exercise and more battery efficient to change gears instead of increasing the assist level. I also have learned not to show off. The ebike will leave other riders behind on any hill or flat but there is no reason to do so. I encourage bikers of any level to try these bikes. They will only get better and lighter and will keep you riding.
Returning to RAGBRAI, the most fun jerseys I saw said “The Donner Party. We eat the slow ones” and “Arkansas Goat Festival.” I’m assured that the Goat Festival is real. Among other things, it offers goat’s milk ice cream and goat tacos.
The most inspirational riders were the many ten-to-twelve year old boys and girls riding the entire route, the rider with a sign saying “Another year to do at 92” and the 45 blind and disabled riders sponsored by Adaptive Sports Iowa.
By: George Gilkerson, August, 2018