There are multiple ways to do Ragbrai. Event registration gives riders access to their main campgrounds spread out across the overnight host city, in parks, stadiums, schools, etc. Kybos (the Iowa term for Porta-Potties) are in abundance. Showers are not. Riders can typically pay a small donation fee to shower at the local school or YMCA; many opt for a fire hydrant, garden hose, or no shower at all. In our now humble opinion, showers are critical from a hygiene standpoint. Chafing is real and not taking care of the under carriage can get you in real trouble!
The second option is finding a host family to either a pitch a tent in their yard or stay in an extra room. This is actually very popular and not a difficult task to find a local family. Prior to Ragbrai there are multiple community pages dedicated to connecting riders to housing, or many just show up and knock on doors once they ride into town. Like I said, Iowa Nice is real and folks are happy to break bread. Each early morning when we pedaled out of the host towns, we’d wave to the community often sitting in their driveways with their coffee cups wishing us well and goodbye. I loved this part and IF we did Ragbrai again we would choose this option for reasons I’ll get into later.
The third choice is RVs or converted old school buses that either park in dedicated support vehicle areas or you guessed it, someone’s driveway in town!
And lastly, there is a charter. There are dozens of charter options, small businesses that are dedicated to bike tours like Ragbrai. They are logistical experts on wheels, literally moving huge operations from town to town each day. They offer “comforts” like reserved camp sites, pre-set tent service (which we didn’t do, but would have been a freaking luxury if you ask me now), showers, dinners, dedicated SAG, etc. We made the decision to go with a company called Pork Belly Ventures (PBV). They weren’t the cheapest option, but our research told us they were the best, and because we were virgins (which is what they call first time riders) and traveling with children we wanted the peace of mind of an expert charter.
Pork Belly is like a small community of customized infrastructure on wheels. “Live like a pig” is their motto, and mostly they aren’t joking. Their operations include three hot shower trucks – tractor trailers with 18 teeny, tiny private showers built into each trailer, two luggage trucks (our bags had to be at the drop each morning by 7am for transport to the next overnight town), a couple bike transport tractor trailers, phone charging trucks, water stations (nicknamed “the Thingy”) for teeth brushing and filling water jugs, portable bathroom trailer, nightly entertainment stage, and multiple tents for beverages, meals, etc.
The Pork Belly team worked hard! Over 100 PBV crew members buzzed around camp each day working a minimum of 18 hours loading and unloading, setting up several hundred tents, handing out food, etc. A process they repeated every single day – setup, take down, travel to next town, repeat. There was only one rule in camp: if you see a PBV crew member napping, don’t wake them.
While attaching ourselves to PBV worked just fine for us…mostly because the coffee they started serving at 4:30am, I’m not sure we would choose a charter next time (lol, next time!). Because we rolled into camp each night well after 6pm and utterly exhausted, we didn’t get the chance to enjoy any of the accommodations they offered – except for the showers and coffee. Those were god sends. But we saw very little of the bands that played each night, nor had any desire to drink the FREE beer they poured until 8pm. (If that’s any indication to how hard this was— we said no to free beer!) PBV camp also went to bed early. By 9:30pm camp was quiet vs. the main campground where riders sometimes party until the early mornings. For the love of god, I have no idea how. Those people are machines.
Next time we do Ragbrai (see, I’m delirious), we will bring many of the lessons we learned this first time, which would include bringing a support driver with us and/or host families. As I close out our adventure I’ll be sure to elaborate on why. In the meantime, I’m going to brush my teeth at the Thingy with 3,000 other Porkers.
The Mommy Briefing 