The Bicycling Thread

[Lee]

This year I did 3 days of RAGBRAI , Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday https://ragbrai.com/
I try to do 3 days when the route is in the southern or central part of the state so I can get home or stay with my sister in Ames each night.
Temps in the 90s this year and it was very crowded due to it being the 50th year. 40,000 to 60,000 riders estimated.
I had my phone on my handle bars but didn't get many pictures because it wasn't safe to mess with it in the crowds and sometimes there was too much vibration from the road surface.
Debbie was my support and would meet me a couple times a day.






Two ambulances and two EMTs on BMWs travel with the bikes.
Here's a picture from 2019. I usually stop and visit with this guy at least once a RAGBRAI.


This year when I stopped to visit with him in Newton one of the RTs was dead. They told me they had a spare GS and would probably switch to that.
The first 5 miles on my day 1, I had to walk 2 times because the ambulances were working on two crashes.
The riding was very close on Tuesday and Wednesday so you really had to pay attention. Probably 6 to 8 ambulance runs that I saw each day.



The little guy in the yellow helmet is taking a nap.




This year there was a 2 mile section of gravel due to construction on a bridge.


A little dusty after a ambulance went by. Des Moines Register picture


Grinnell has a nice downtown.


Newton


Capital building in Des Moines

[Susan]

These pix are great!

[wildbears]

Thongs this year rather than tutus?

[Lee]

I'll post some pictures from the News Paper later today.

[Lee]

Des Moines Register newspaper pictures
Capital Building




Newton on Thursday




Rippey on Tuesday



I saw this pool at Polk City on Wednesday. There was a sign next to the road saying feel free to get in. I wonder how nasty the water was at end of the day




Slater Wednesday



Tuesday morning




Leaving Ames Wednesday morning.
This day was good because it was only 55 miles and I could leave from my sister's house in Ames on the bicycle and got into Des Moines at 12:30 before the high temp of the day.




Wednesday



When going through towns some had fire hydrants putting out a fine spray to cool off riders. A lot of home owners had hoses spraying riders.



Each town had water bottle refill stations. Entering or exiting most towns people would hand out bottled water you could grab on the fly and put in your back jersey pocket.

[wildbears]

Are the white sleeves under your jersey from a UV protective base layer?

[955i]

OH! Those are SLEEVES!!! I thought they were Lee's pasty white arms.

[Lee]

UV protective sleeves.

[955i]

Lee, this looks like a lot of fun. I'd like to do it next year.

[wildbears]

That looks "sweltering"! And maybe new asphalt on the far side of the road making it even hotter....

[Lee]

The days I road it was low to high 90s with high humidity. Picture was taken early morning and I don't remember any new blacktop on that morning.
It was crazy crowded that day, Tuesday, and you really had to pay attention. I did not play music so I could hear what was going on around me.
The crowds made it hard to enjoy the pass through towns, but overall I had fun.
20,000 registered week long riders, 9,000 registered day riders and 20,000 to 30,000 unregistered riders.

[wildbears]

Teenage US cyclist star Magnus White struck and killed by car weeks before world championship:

https://nypost.com/2023/07/31/teenag...-championship/

[955i]

Damn! A cell phone was undoubtedly involved. We would prosecute this case in Oklahoma as at least a misdemeanor "Negligent Manslaughter." Up to a year in jail and a $10,000(?) fine. If texting was involved we would definitely seek some jail time.

[wildbears]

Ride thru Columbus last Thursday...


Approaching downtown from the south along the Scioto.



Downtown along the river.



Turtle formation on the Olentangy south of OSU campus.



Dracket Tower, North Campus dorm. I was a resident advisor there for two years. Scene of the "Snow Ball Riot" while I was there in the sixties.
It started on South Campus, moved north, and then up along HIgh Street and into the Fraternity House area. By that time, the rioters were putting rocks
in the snow balls and breaking windows with them.



Entrance to the "Horseshoe". The stained glass murals and plaques are new since I went to school, but otherwise unchanged.

[955i]

Picture #2 above, could easily be a scene from "Breaking Away," given the skinny tubing on the bike frame!

[wildbears]

Loved that movie. It came out about the same time I got into racing. How fast was he going when he was drafting the truck?

[wildbears]

Best video I've found for taping drop handlebars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je8w9pD9Hgk&t=93s

Tips to prevent having to "unwrap" the bars and "redos":
1. Put in the bar-end plugs before going too far up the drops to make sure they fit well and are "tidy".
2. Put the hoods back down before going too far along the tops. Again, to make sure the tape is placed correctly.

[955i]

This CAN'T be so hard I can't master it. However, some people really have a natural Knack for this stuff. I an do it, yet do not have "the knack."

[955i]

UCI Men's Elite Road Race Championship !!!!!!! I loved this race. I couldn't watch it live. If you guys missed it, here's a link to Chris Horner's tactics/recap show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6uJmGvwSsU Awesome analysis and fun race.

[wildbears]

UCI Men's Elite Road Race Championship !!!!!!! I loved this race. I couldn't watch it live. If you guys missed it, here's a link to Chris Horner's tactics/recap show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6uJmGvwSsU Awesome analysis and fun race.

Here's the link to the full race. Best to start at the 3 hour mark as the race was shut down before then by protesters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_c2ZX4S47s

[wildbears]

wildbears commented
5 days ago
Loved that movie. It came out about the same time I got into racing. How fast was he going when he was drafting the truck?

60 mph...https://vimeo.com/50872582

Youtube movie at: https://www.google.com/search?q=Brea...id:GTzzHRywLBE

Dave's bike was to be a red Masi Gran Criterium, the quintessential embodiment of the classic Italian racing bicycle and perfectly reflecting Dave Stoller's obsession with all things Italian.

The music...

Enrico Caruso; "M'appari tutt'amor" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9O_xZOUQ5I

Mendelssohn :Symphony No.4 in A, 'Italian', 1st movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhstAEaWBl4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07D8HJZM6_s

The Barber of Seville - 'Largo al factotum' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fNzkEY9Kohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afhAqMeeQJk

[wildbears]

Last week...

[955i]

"Breaking Away" and "American Flyer" are required viewing for any of the "new kids" that start riding with our local group. After riding season, we will have a movie night at someone's home with pizza, beer and all the required nonsense provided by the veterans. It's a fun time. "Breaking Away" has aged better than "American Flyer,
in my opinion.

Oh, yeah, although there are lots of great scenes in "Breaking Away," the rant about Italian food by Dave's dad still makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it.

[wildbears]

The "inni" diatribe.

[955i]

The "inni" diatribe indeed. I don't care WHO you are, that right there was funny.

One thing interesting about the movie. It used a broad brush to paint some stereotypes of people: cutters, frat boys, used car salesmen, etc. But, the stereotypes were not "mean." By that, I mean that each cardboard figure had redeeming features that made you end up liking them, or at least not DISliking them. That is certainly rare in movies today.

[wildbears]

One thing interesting about the movie. It used a broad brush to paint some stereotypes of people: cutters, frat boys, used car salesmen, etc. But, the stereotypes were not "mean." By that, I mean that each cardboard figure had redeeming features that made you end up liking them, or at least not DISliking them. That is certainly rare in movies today.

That dimension of the film is eary to overlook. Even Dave's mom's pathos is explored.