Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

GRBRAI Or RAGBRAI?

Well they just announced the RAGBRAI route for 2010. RAGBRAI, you might ask? Why yes, that lil' ol' week long, all the way across Iowa ride on bicycles utilizing Iowa's vast network of blacktop roads. It happens every year on the last full week of July. Has every year since 1973. Pretty amazing, eh?

I won't sugar coat it either. I think RAGBRAI is good for a laugh. Once. It gets pretty dang old after that. As far as riding a bicycle goes, it has gotten beyond lame, and stale. No thanks. You might think RAGBRAI is soooo totally awesome that you think I am off my rocker, but that is okay. I've done the whole she-bang once and parts of several other ones. They are all the same. To me at least. A total cycling snooze-fest.

Ya see that road up there? Yeah........now that is a road! No cars, no hordes of party people pretending to be cyclists, and no over regulated, high priced canned entertainment and food vendors. No pretensions. You either ride it and make it, or not, and it is beautiful, peaceful, and much, much more challenging as a cyclist than RAGBRAI.

I came up with an idea about three years ago. I called it GRBRAI. (Gravel Road Bike Ride Across Iowa) I said someone should hop on that and do it. Well, no one did. No surprise there. It takes a lot of logistical work to make a gravel route, much less one all the way across the state. Of course, I've had plenty of experience with that.

Now the RAGBRAI committee has handed me over night towns that make doing a route an almost no-brainer. Check this out: Sioux City to Storm Lake. I've been through here on black tops and going off on gravels would be new, but I know the lay of the land out there, so I know it can be done. Next is Storm Lake to Algona. Okay, now we're talkin. I probably already have one half to three quarters of that day mapped out already from T.I.V1-2 and the aborted plans for the cross state T.I.V3. Algona was our half way town. Nice! Next is Algona to Clear Lake. Again- that's entirely in the can with the exception of the last 5-7 miles into Clear Lake. Next up is Clear Lake to Charles City. Oddly enough, I have a route mapped out. It was from the aborted T.I.V3 course. (We decided to abandon point to points before I finished the course planning that year) Next we have Charles City to Waterloo. I've ridden all of this route with the exception of about 12 miles from Chuck Town to Nashua. Again- easy. Next we have Waterloo to Manchester. Using training route knowledge and Trans Iowa recon knowledge I could piece together this route in five minutes. Manchester to Dubuque is the final leg. This one would prove more difficult since Dubuque County has dang near paved the entire road system within its boundaries. (They must feel that they are part of Wisconsin or something) I'm sure I could eek out about half that days mileage in gravel. Maybe more.

So, I am going to draw it up on Map My Ride and when it is done, ya'all can print it off and do it. I may do a couple of days of it, but since the ride is coming through W'loo, I may be tied down to the shop here doing repairs. We'll see. Last time the ride came through and stayed in Cedar Falls it wasn't that big of a deal.

So, if you are like me, and you want a challenge, you want to get away from people wearing beads and stupid flamingo costumes, and you want to see parts of Iowa that no one else will, hang on. I'll announce when it is ready for public consumption with about 12 disclaimers and what not! ha ha! (Here are a few now!) Remember_ Iowa's gravel roads are public roads and carry lots of different types of traffic, have wild animals running around on them, and may break your bicycle and your body. This isn't a canned, supported, lame-o ride I am talking about. This would be really tough. You would be on your own. It might even really suck. So......you've been warned! I will never and do not now take any responsibility for whatever may happen if this route is drawn up and you ride it. The roads may not even be there in places. Too bad! Figure out yer own re-route.

Okay, I'll do the line drawing later. Now go for a ride ya'all!

GRBRAI Or RAGBRAI?

Well they just announced the RAGBRAI route for 2010. RAGBRAI, you might ask? Why yes, that lil' ol' week long, all the way across Iowa ride on bicycles utilizing Iowa's vast network of blacktop roads. It happens every year on the last full week of July. Has every year since 1973. Pretty amazing, eh?

I won't sugar coat it either. I think RAGBRAI is good for a laugh. Once. It gets pretty dang old after that. As far as riding a bicycle goes, it has gotten beyond lame, and stale. No thanks. You might think RAGBRAI is soooo totally awesome that you think I am off my rocker, but that is okay. I've done the whole she-bang once and parts of several other ones. They are all the same. To me at least. A total cycling snooze-fest.

Ya see that road up there? Yeah........now that is a road! No cars, no hordes of party people pretending to be cyclists, and no over regulated, high priced canned entertainment and food vendors. No pretensions. You either ride it and make it, or not, and it is beautiful, peaceful, and much, much more challenging as a cyclist than RAGBRAI.

I came up with an idea about three years ago. I called it GRBRAI. (Gravel Road Bike Ride Across Iowa) I said someone should hop on that and do it. Well, no one did. No surprise there. It takes a lot of logistical work to make a gravel route, much less one all the way across the state. Of course, I've had plenty of experience with that.

Now the RAGBRAI committee has handed me over night towns that make doing a route an almost no-brainer. Check this out: Sioux City to Storm Lake. I've been through here on black tops and going off on gravels would be new, but I know the lay of the land out there, so I know it can be done. Next is Storm Lake to Algona. Okay, now we're talkin. I probably already have one half to three quarters of that day mapped out already from T.I.V1-2 and the aborted plans for the cross state T.I.V3. Algona was our half way town. Nice! Next is Algona to Clear Lake. Again- that's entirely in the can with the exception of the last 5-7 miles into Clear Lake. Next up is Clear Lake to Charles City. Oddly enough, I have a route mapped out. It was from the aborted T.I.V3 course. (We decided to abandon point to points before I finished the course planning that year) Next we have Charles City to Waterloo. I've ridden all of this route with the exception of about 12 miles from Chuck Town to Nashua. Again- easy. Next we have Waterloo to Manchester. Using training route knowledge and Trans Iowa recon knowledge I could piece together this route in five minutes. Manchester to Dubuque is the final leg. This one would prove more difficult since Dubuque County has dang near paved the entire road system within its boundaries. (They must feel that they are part of Wisconsin or something) I'm sure I could eek out about half that days mileage in gravel. Maybe more.

So, I am going to draw it up on Map My Ride and when it is done, ya'all can print it off and do it. I may do a couple of days of it, but since the ride is coming through W'loo, I may be tied down to the shop here doing repairs. We'll see. Last time the ride came through and stayed in Cedar Falls it wasn't that big of a deal.

So, if you are like me, and you want a challenge, you want to get away from people wearing beads and stupid flamingo costumes, and you want to see parts of Iowa that no one else will, hang on. I'll announce when it is ready for public consumption with about 12 disclaimers and what not! ha ha! (Here are a few now!) Remember_ Iowa's gravel roads are public roads and carry lots of different types of traffic, have wild animals running around on them, and may break your bicycle and your body. This isn't a canned, supported, lame-o ride I am talking about. This would be really tough. You would be on your own. It might even really suck. So......you've been warned! I will never and do not now take any responsibility for whatever may happen if this route is drawn up and you ride it. The roads may not even be there in places. Too bad! Figure out yer own re-route.

Okay, I'll do the line drawing later. Now go for a ride ya'all!