On the street

Chasing RAGBRAI

I’m a RAGBRAI-cyclist Wannabe. It’s taken me all of about 20 years to admit it, but there it is.

I’ve been to countless RAGBRAI parties, concerts and other events over the years. Each time I tell myself, “I need to do this next year.” I even told a co-worker, Linda Muller, last year that I’d join her on the LIVESTRONG team this year. Then, when she went around collecting teammates, I changed my mind. I don’t remember my excuse, but I know there was one. My bike is the wrong kind. I couldn’t take a week off work. I don't have time to condition. What would I do with the kids?

Linda’s on RAGBRAI this year, likely having the time of her life. Way to go, Linda! You can read her blog from the road on www.gazetteonline.com, too.

I attended my first RAGBRAI event – OK, party – when I was a college intern in Carroll sometime in the mid-1980s and Carroll was an overnight host city. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. People were camping in yards, on the courthouse greens, in the park. My parents allowed a few people to come in to shower at the house, so we felt, if only briefly, that we were "a part of it."

It was also one of my first brushes with celebrity – Ben Davidson, who played for the Oakland Raiders the first time they were the Oakland Raiders, was on the ride that year, and my dad – in a way only my dad could do – managed to befriend him and the two spent the evening trading jokes and stories. To see the two of them was a sight – my dad stands 6’5” and at the time probably weighed about 265, Ben Davidson is 6’8” and weighed about 270 in his playing years. These were not small men. Ben even gave me a piece of advice to use whenever someone would size me up (I’m 6’0”) and ask if I played basketball – something that always annoyed me once I stopped playing. His daughters, he said, would always reply, “Why? Do you play miniature golf?”

But that’s beside the point. In the years since my first RAGBRAI experience, I’ve covered various stops, celebrated with friends along the way and have even worked food stands or other booths at various stops. I’ve met countless people from across the country and, like the groups I met in Independence this week, they have all been full of stories about the great time they were having on RAGBRAI. I have yet to meet someone who went on the route and didn’t have a good time.

My next big step, I figure, is to actually get my bike ready and join the ride.

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