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Riding Across A State

08.14.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

Now that RAGBRAI is over, I’m thinking about getting into a ride across state myself. What’s RAGBRAI, you ask? It’s the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa — the granddaddy of all the cross-state rides.

Cyclists dip their tires in the Mississippi River, the traditional way to end RAGBRAI.

In all, about 40 states have some kind of cross-state ride. They’re pretty neat, because they offer a chance for cyclists who do not tour on their bikes to sample a long-distance, multi-day trip. Typically, these rides offer sag support, medical attention, bike repair, meals, and rest stops. A day’s ride can be anywhere from 40 to 100 miles, but usually run about 60 miles.

Most of the time, riders will camp at a large group campground each night. Some rides make arrangements with area motels to take cyclists who are not the camping type.

One of these years, I’m going to do RAGBRAI. The 2011 version has already wrapped up. Their website is already anticipating next year’s ride. The catch is, RAGBRAI is so popular, it limits the number of cyclists who ride the whole trip to 8,500 — and fills that quota with a lottery. So you might not get in.

But there are other options if you don’t. Most of the other cross-state rides aren’t as famous as RAGBRAI, but worth considering nonetheless. Here’s a sample.

California Coast Classic: Sept. 17-24. An eight-day trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinaw (Michigan): Aug. 31-Sept. 4. Five days from Lansing to the tip of the Lower Peninsula, with an option to continue up to Sault Ste. Marie.

One Awesome Tour Bike Ride Across Nevada (OATBRAN): Sept. 25-Oct.1. Starts and ends in Lake Tahoe.

Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee (BRAT): Sept. 11-17. The 22nd annual. Overnight camping in state parks. Figure 8 loop west of Nashville.

Tour des Trees (Virginia): Oct. 2-8. Ride from Virginia Beach to Washington, DC and plant trees along the way.

These are all still scheduled, so if you want to ride one, act fast. Most of the cross-state tours seem to happen in spring, especially June. Some worth considering are the Oklahoma Freewheel: June 10-16, 2012; south to north across the state; Biking Across Kansas; Great Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River (GRABAAWR); June 16-23, 2012; Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN). You can also cross a state in one day in the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN), which goes from Terre Haute to Richmond — 160 miles.

The idea of crossing a state appeals to me — much more than riding across the entire country. I’ll be putting several of these on my bucket list. If you’d like to scope out even more options, the fine touring blog Biking Bis has a whole section devoted to them.

Have you ever done one of these cross-state tours? What do you think?

 

 

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Categories // Rides Tags // charity ride, organized ride

24-Hour Ride Update

06.28.2010 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

You may recall that last month, I blogged about Bike Noob reader Tommy Foster and his plan to circle his local high school track for 24 hours to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation. He did it this past weekend.

Tommy posted a short item on his ride, with some videos, on his own blog.

Next on the agenda for Tommy is a raffle featuring a three-bike rack. If you’re interested, you can take a look.

Congratulations to Tommy for finishing something that I would never even consider as possible.

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Categories // Rides Tags // 24 hours, charity ride

Charity Training Rides

05.30.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Now that summer has arrived, many of us will be gearing up for big charity rides. These fundraising rides often give cyclists the chance to train before the event in an organized group. They offer newer riders the prospect of building up their mileage in a safe environment.

We were first exposed to these training rides several years ago, when my wife decided to sign up for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS (HCRA). She’d never ridden in an organized ride before, and was worried that she might not be up to the challenge of 50 miles. But the HCRA starts offering training rides in about February for the late April event.  After building up her endurance on several training rides, Pat finished the 50 miles, and that’s what got us into biking.

Now, we often tag along on these training rides, whether we’re planning to enter the main event or not. The reason? Well, they’re very much like a regular organized ride. Although there aren’t any rest stops, there is often sag support. The typical HCRA training ride has two or three pickup trucks patrolling the route, and one or two motorcyclists who can respond quickly to any trouble, or help out with directions. Before the ride begins, everyone enters the numbers of the sag drivers into their cell phones, to call them if a rider has problems.  In addition, ride leaders are sprinkled throughout the group to shepherd along slower cyclists, or make sure everyone else stays on course. These folks are usually experienced riders, and may even be able to assist with minor repair work.

HCRA cyclists are briefed before a training ride. Ride leaders wear hi-vis green helmet covers.

Earlier this year, we joined an HCRA training ride in Georgetown, Texas, about 30 miles north of Austin. I did the 45-mile route, and Pat did 29 miles. Because Pat is often the slowest rider, she usually finds herself riding with the “sweep,” the ride leader whose job it is to be the last rider on the course. But this time, she got out ahead of some slower riders and left them behind. As I and two others from the 45-mile ride reached a small town with about 12 miles to go, we caught up to the “sweep.” He was with two newbie riders, pedaling along slowly on their discount store hybrids. They were doing the 29-mile route, and it would be a long time before they got back to the starting point.

Starting another HCRA training ride. Rides like these help new cyclists learn to ride in a group.

These rides start easy, and get more challenging closer to the main event date. The first ride might be less than 20 miles. Then, there will be multiple route choices — or at least two different distances. More hills get thrown in a few weeks before the event.

Saturday, we both went out to a training ride for the Mamma Jamma Ride for Breast Cancer Research, which won’t happen until October. This one was a little different from the HCRA rides. It piggybacks onto a regular Austin Cycling Association ride. Usually, the ACA gives you a route map and cue sheet, and once you’re on the road, you’re on your own. But the Mamma Jamma folks supplied ride leaders, too. Pat and I were both part of the 28-mile group, but after a few miles we split into a 15 mph contingent and a slower group that was targeting 12 mph.  Pat was bringing up the rear of the 12 mph group, but a sweep stayed with her. Then, her rear hub broke, and she called me to come back to get her. I told the sweep to catch up to everyone else, and that I would take care of Pat.

If you’re gearing up for your first big charity ride, and are concerned about being able to cover the mileage, check to see if they offer any training rides. You’ll learn a lot, you’ll get faster and stronger, and you’ll meet some folks who might become future biking buddies. You can’t go wrong.

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Categories // Rides, training Tags // charity ride, training

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