RAGBRAI 2022 (Part 1): That Time I Rode 462 Miles Across Iowa On My Bicycle

I feel like I have so much to say about riding RAGBRAI this summer and yet, no words seem to adequately convey the experience.

I’ll do my very best to share with you my experiences and feelings throughout the week and how I’m feeling looking back (I can’t believe it was now two months ago!).

What Is RAGBRAI?

First, for those who may be new followers – I decided last summer (2021) to ride RAGBRAI after seeing a shirt on a girl in Colorado. What is RAGBRAI you ask? It stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. In November I signed up for RAGBRAI and didn’t even own a bike. You can see more about my training and updates here.

Could I Do It?

About 6 weeks before RAGBRAI I had a meltdown. What was I doing? How was I ever going to be able to ride that many miles and not have a heart attack? (I’m a big girl.) All this money and time will have been a waste and I’d be a failure.

I decided that I’d be happy with myself if I did a “half-BRAI” – with the goal of making it to the lunch stop each day and assessing if I needed to get a ride with Stephen to the final town or if I could carry on.

That seemed to be a turning point for me – both in my training and my mental health regarding RAGBRAI. The permission to not be perfect was apparently all I needed to feel excited about it once again. Training became fun again; well, as fun as riding 50 miles in the Nebraska heat ever is (we were in Nebraska at the time on the road trip). I had music, books downloaded, podcasts and I was out there getting in the miles.

By the time RAGBRAI actually arrived I was excited, nervous and ready for it to be done – but in a good way. That being said, I was also not sure if I’d just dip Calliope’s tire in the Mississippi River at the end, or if I might just launch her there and let her go her own way to the ocean and I’d go mine and never look at another bike again.

So, how did it go? Did Calliope (that’s the name of my bike) end up needing a raft at the end? Read on to find out.

RAGBRAI Glossary

A glossary of sorts for you as you read.

• Tire Dip – Back/Front tire dipped into the waters of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers respectively at the start and end of RAGBRAI
• Expo – An event with vendors to kick off the week
• Start Town/End Town – The major town each day that you are leaving from in the morning/arriving at in the evening
• Meeting Town – The “lunch” town each day with vendors and local fundraising events
• Pass-thru Town – Many small towns (one had only 27 people) with vendors and local fundraising events along the RAGBRAI Route
• SAG – the name of the support team if your bike or body breaks down and you need a lift to the next town – SAG stands for Support And Gear
• “My RAGBRAI group” – A Facebook group for RAGBRAI Newbies that gives support and advice (and a little frustration at times!)
• Virgin – Those who are doing RAGBRAI for the first time are encouraged to write this in marker on their leg so others know to provide encouragement and to know you may be less confident around the 15,000 other cyclists.
• Century Ride – 100+ miles in one day
• Jersey – A type of shirt worn by many cyclists (I prefer the tank style) that has pockets in the back for your phone, water, etc.
• Charter – A company you pay to support your ride (the largest/most popular is Pork Belly Ventures)
• Team – A group of cyclists that travel, camp and sometimes ride together. They likely do this year-round together in their local area and often have transportation. There’s also the US Air Force Cycling Team that trains all year to come and ride RAGBRAI while also offering mechanical support on the ride (and maybe some eye candy at times!)
• My Hashtags – In my posts online I used #shaepeppercornstar, #shaeridesragbrai and #shaescornyride for fun since Iowa is known for its corn

RAGBRAI 2022 Day 0 – The Tire Dip & Expo (20 extra miles)

When I first heard about RAGBRAI it was “sold” to me as a river to river ride. They have stickers of this too. In reality I found out it is… but it isn’t.

The Missouri River has experienced a lot of flooding and as a result many towns are no longer “on” the river. The start towns often bring buckets of river water to the Expo area. This year the tire dip location was 10 miles each way from the start town of Sergeant Bluff, IA, so if you wanted to dip your tire in the river you had to ride 20 miles before riding the 462 set out for the week.

I’m not gonna lie – I was a bit shocked and disappointed. Several experienced cyclists said if 20 miles was daunting then maybe I shouldn’t be doing RAGBRAI at all (gee, thanks!) and others said that last year’s location was 40 miles away. In the end, I did what anyone in my position would do… I made it an event, invited any newbies that wanted to come along at a certain time and even went and chalked the route out for everyone (only to have it rain mid-morning – face palm indeed!).

I had a great time on the ride making some friends I saw throughout the week and still keep in touch with via social media and text (Hi Greer, Pam and Lily!)

I’m not one to do things by halves, so I decided a “whole dip” approach was better and jumped in. The water was really warm and so refreshing on both ends of the ride. I highly recommend it!

I wish that RAGBRAI would either retire the whole “River to River” sales pitch or find a way to always start within X miles of the Missouri River. I wasn’t the only newbie to find this frustrating and disingenuous – especially since the tire dips (especially at the end) are made such a big deal about in RAGBRAI circles – at least for newbies.

The Expo wasn’t much different than any other expo, but it provided the people from my RAGBRAI group the opportunity to meet up in person and get fun temporary tattoos for our group. As “The Corn Star” this started one of my favorite things from the week – feeling famous. I loved every second of people wanting selfies with me, wanting to say hi, wanting a hug, wanting to chat, etc. I was made for fame.

RAGBRAI 2022 Day 1 – Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove (53.2 miles)

RAGBRAI, as it turns out, is the epitome of “I did it my way” and the start was no exception. There’s no official starting line or time. You leave when it suits you. The only thing that keeps the RAGBRAI train rolling is that they do stop providing support/vendors at different times throughout the day. For example, for those using the RAGBRAI truck services you had to have your bag to the truck before 8am if you wanted it to have a free ride to the final town.

So Stephen, Truffles and I got to “my” start and I put on some fun music. We took photos, prepped my bike and off I went! The first day was expected to be hilly so I set out around 5:30am. The air was cool and the sunrise was pretty. I felt ready to tackle the day.

One thing that many veterans of RAGBRAI expressed was disappointment at not “enjoying” their first RAGBRAI as much as they should’ve. They were so worried about getting in the miles that they didn’t stop and enjoy the silliness that also comes along with RAGBRAI.

I decided that I was in no hurry; as long as I kept ahead of everything shutting down, I’d stop and have some fun. I kept this as my rule of thumb for most of the week (Century day and the following day were different, but I’ll get to that later.)

It was on my first day that I experienced one of the iconic RAGBRAI vendors, some cropadanda with corn on the cob and the start of my “tour de farm animals” that became a hallmark of my adventure across Iowa. I’m fairly certain I’ve singlehandedly financially supported the Northern Iowa 4H program this year!

While I won’t go town by town for every day – here’s the very first meeting town – Anthon!

As day 1 was one of the two particularly hilly days on the route, I kept it rolling to the High Point which is the highest point in terms of elevation on RAGBRAI each year.

This year had a large bike made of hay, fun barn animals AND a RAGBRAI vendor icon – Mr. Pork Chop! The idea of Mr. Pork Chop was shared a little differently with me, but it was still fun. And it was really good – it totally hit the spot. But not enough to have one each day for $10 a chop. So just the once for me!

For most people, RAGBRAI is a camping event. I’m not much of a camper and Stephen figured out how to get us hotels for every night. However, in the spirit of things I wanted to try and camp the first and last nights.

In the end, it was only the first night. Yup. I just really hate camping AND I’m never very prepared for it as a result. But, I gave it a go. I’d camp again on RAGBRAI but only with a charter to move my stuff and set up/take down my tent (so Porkbelly Ventures’ full service.)

RAGBRAI 2022 Day 2 – Ida Grove to Pocahontas (71.2 miles)

I had a really great day on Day 1. I listened to music. Talked to people. Took in the scenery. Stopped for the fun. Had a Mr. Pork Chop experience. I didn’t even consider my “half-brai” at this point. I was all in. I was having a blast. Day 2 was a lot of the same – but even more fun with a friend!

One thing I did contemplate, and part of what your training is for, is that it’s incredibly lonely on your bike for that many hours if you’re doing RAGBRAI alone. Everyone says “you’re never alone – there are friends everywhere” and while this is true on one level, “friends everywhere” isn’t how I’d describe it. If you need meaningful connection like I do (and others did), consider doing this with a friend or, at the very least, join a charter or team so you can see those same people each night. I had Stephen with me all week at the meet ups and at night which helped a little. I think my RAGBRAI memories would’ve been very different without him and Truffles there.

The first signs I started to see were for Bufford – “Put your rear on the Midwest’s largest steer!” Um! Yes, please!!! It was $5 to climb up and I got a t-shirt for an extra $20 – all to support the 4H program in the area. They were able to use Venmo which worked out perfectly as we’d figured out I’d left my wallet in the hot shower trailer the night before (it was only $8 for a hot shower at the campsite – best money spent that day!)

At Bufford, I met up with someone around 8am from my Facebook group and we spent the day together – it was incredible! It was so fun to have someone to chat with, sing with, and do funny stuff with! We stopped and played in a sprinkler, got official “corn” pictures at a lemonade stop, rode a giant slip’n’slide and went to a donkey show which was $5 and was ridiculous, but also worth the $5 just for the miles of hilarious signs we saw leading up to it!

By the time we arrived in town both Lily and I were in great spirits. She headed off to get her shower, campsite set up and relax. I hit up Pocahontas for all the fun!

While waiting for Stephen and Truffles to make it to me (they drove the support route, checked in and out of the hotels, etc.), I lived it up with some vodka and lemonades! They were well-earned since until that point this was the farthest I’d ridden yet! Then I saw that you could get a picture with SANTA! Santa? I know him! So I went in my green leggings and red tutu and hung out with the big man himself before heading in for the night.

RAGBRAI 2022 Day 3 – Pocahontas to Emmetsburg (56.4 miles)

I started at sunrise once again. It was so beautiful, peaceful, and most of all – cool! We had beautiful weather overall for RAGBRAI 2022, but it was still warm by 10am so whatever you could get in before then was a great idea. On day 3, Lily rode with Greer and I for the first bit and then she went on at a faster pace while Greer and I rode together for the day. Another day of finding the fun.

We stopped for more fresh Iowa corn – so so good on a hot day, mid-ride.

This day was in support of the Dream Team which gives young people, who might not otherwise have the chance, a mentor, a bike and training to ride RAGBRAI. They had a scavenger hunt to complete and we had a great time trying to find them and meet the challenges.

We went through the meeting town for lunch which was West Bend, IA, home of the The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption and more farm animals! I was interested in the baby goats either way (it was kids for kids raising money for a playground in West Bend), but I was also hoping to spot a member of the Dream Team so I could cross off another item on the hunt – with a farm animal. Sadly we didn’t get three of the items checked off in the end and this was one of them.

The highlight of this day was getting to hang out with a few members of the Dream Team. One of the tasks was “photo with Beekman’s ice cream” which is another RAGBRAI iconic must-have. I saw a member of the team (a mentor/leader named Mike); I chased after him and shouted that I’d treat to ice cream if I could get a photo with a Dream Team member at Beekman’s if that’s what it took. He laughed and we chatted all things Dream Team and non-profit work which Greer and I loved both being educators.

When we arrived at Beekman’s it turned out that an ice cream treat was definitely in order a for a few younger members of the Dream Team. So we all hung out in line together and we got our picture. Then Greer and I let them go and enjoy their time with their friends since they’d been “on” a lot that day talking about the Dream Team. It was a pleasure to chat with them and to hear more about the entire program from Mike. If I lived in Des Moines I’d be all over this program – check it out!!

We made it to Emmetsburg that night and Greer headed off to find a campsite. We didn’t hang around too much, just had dinner by the lake then headed back, since the next day was the big one… Century Day!

So, it’s here that I’ll leave our story for now. Check out part 2 of my RAGBRAI story which includes the Century day where I rode more than 100 miles in a day.