RAGBRAI - The Final Frontier

It's July 14.  The epic event know as RAGBRAI (The Register's Great Annual Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) starts in less than a week.

My doom awaits.

To some, RAGBRAI is a hobby.  To others, it's an obsession.

For me, it's a test.

I am marrying into a RAGBRAI family.  And the wedding is not officially on until I pass the test.  It's my own personal Kobayashi Maru.  (And if you don't know what that is, you don't belong in my family).

The epic adventure starts in 6 days.  And I am TERRIFIED.

The ride across Iowa is not a race.  According to my fiance, Jeff, it is a leisurely ride of 468 miles over 7 days.  There are lots of stops for food, dancing, karaoke, and other fun.  I'm more focused on 468 MILES.

I am not a good cyclist.  And yet I find myself with bike clothes, a helmet, bike gloves, shoes, and a beautiful tandem bike, ready to take on this challenge.

And yes, we are doing it on a tandem.

 Riding a tandem is like a special brand of pre-marital counseling.  It may sound easy, but it involves a lot of communication, coordination, practice, and did I mention COMMUNICATION?

I have almost no control over where the bicycle goes.  I have to trust Jeff to steer us in the right direction.  He has to trust me to not fall off the bike and to help keep our balance and not make it more difficult for him to steer.  We work together to bike up hills, our legs pedaling in unison.  He has to remember to warn me when there are bumps in the road and let me know ahead of time if he is going to stop or turn, etc.

It's hard work.  But it's also fun.  I love doing something with Jeff that he is so passionate about.  Even if I'm not quite prepared for the behemoth that is RAGBRAI.

But if we can survive this, we can survive anything, right?

Ready to go!

For the past few months I've been going to spin class (which is AWFUL) in preparation for next week.  Since we don't live in the same state, Jeff and I don't get a lot of time to practice on the tandem.  But this week we are camping with my family so our intensive training has started.  We are going to ride every day this week and hopefully I will still be able to walk next week.

This is my first ride with the shoes that clip into the pedals.  I've been riding with a tennis shoe on my left foot and the clip in shoe on my right.  It's difficult to get out of the clips, so I'm pretty nervous about being fully clipped in.  We'll see how it goes.

And now you can come along on this journey with me as I experience RAGRAI as a rookie.  There will be laughs and probably some tears, blogs and vlogs, and hopefully a whole lot of fun.

And just maybe, I will decide to come back again next year.  Bring it on Iowa!! #RAGBRAI2019orbust

(Disclaimer - I don't really have to survive RAGBRAI to get married.  Jeff is a great guy and is very supportive.  Some of the things I put in this blog are exaggerations).