Laboring across Iowa: Jill rides RAGBRAI

by Jill Pearson

Back in January, when I chose “Discomfort” as my guiding word for 2023, I didn’t realize it would translate to 1500 miles on a bike seat. I wanted a word that would push me physically and spiritually out of my comfort zone, and by golly, it’s been doing its job!

RAGBRAI was one of those discomforts.  The acronym stands for Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, and it was started 50 years ago by two reporters from the Des Moines Register.  It has bloomed into 30,000+ riders biking their way across Iowa on different routes each year for one week in July. 

In February, my husband, Dave, and I decided to register for the ride.  I was the one pushing for it.  Dave’s word of the year was NOT discomfort, and he was a bit reluctant as a newbie to long-distance riding, but he is an adventurer at heart, so we started training on stationary bikes before moving outside in May. By July, we had logged around 1000 miles of hilly roads and rails-to-trails around SE Minnesota.  It was the hilly roads that prepared us well, because, surprise, Iowa is NOT FLAT!  Day 5 of RAGBRAI nearly killed me!  I called that stretch “The Rockies of Iowa.”  

But let me back up.  On July 21, we drove to my mom’s house in Clinton, Iowa.  She then drove us, our bikes, and our camping gear to Davenport, where we hopped on a charter bus to cross the state to the starting town of Sioux City.  The next morning, we dipped our bike tires in the Missouri River and started east.  We rode through many small towns whose citizens pulled out all the stops with entertainment, food vendors, and most importantly, water stations!  Each day we persevered to the next “overnight town,” where we pitched our tent and settled in for the night.  We woke around 5:00 am to do it all over again.  Seven days, 6 nights, 500+ miles.  Our time in the saddle ranged from 57-90 miles each day. 

This year, it happened to be the hottest week of the summer…my fault when I chose the word “discomfort” and God rubbed his palms together.  I do not lie when I say our bike computers registered 122° on the 6th day of the ride.  The heat index was officially 112°, which felt like riding a Peloton in a sauna.   “Normal Jill” would not step outside in that heat.  “Discomfort Jill” said, “Bring it!”  It took about 10 hours of riding/resting in the shade to get to the next overnight town 88 miles away.  It was the hardest thing I’ve done short of childbirth!  I had completed RAGBRAI twice before, but this year took the cake (and burned it!) 

That day ended with storm sirens blasting in Coralville.  I felt the ominous wind whipping up the storm, and as I looked into the darkening sky, I saw someone’s tent fly swirling upward like a kite.  Not a good sign. We had to hang out in the storm shelter (a middle school gym) for about an hour and then find our way to our tent in the pouring rain, navigating a dark sea of tents.  Just delightful!

The storm front caused the heat to break, and we cheerfully rode into Davenport on the 7th day, dipping our wheels in the Mississippi River to put a bookend on the ride.  My mom was there to drive us back to Clinton, sweaty, full of stories, and sporting wonky tan lines and tired muscles.

So why do people embark on this adventure every year, knowing it could be hot, hilly, rainy, chilly, that there could be bike crashes, headwinds, tornados, heat stroke, and stinky porta-potties?  

Here are a few answers:  

-Iowa is full of friendly people willing to hand you a water bottle, douse you with a hose, and clap like you’re an Olympian at the top of a big hill.

-RAGBRAI is full of fun-loving characters!  There was a guy who rode a penny farthing bike, several unicyclers, and one young man from Alaska who rode BACKWARDS on his handlebars THE ENTIRE WAY!

-RAGBRAI is also full of adventurers of all ages, body types, nationalities, and athletic abilities.  I saw obese people tackling the hills, disabled people riding adaptive bikes, and a few octogenarians who had ridden RAGBRAI 30+ times!

-177 members of the US Air Force bike team, who come yearly on their own dime, rode their bikes alongside to help people change flats and tend to emergencies. Our good samaritans!

I suppose the best answer for me personally is that I feel like I accomplished something hard, which gives me courage to tackle other uncomfortable things, on and off the bike seat, that God will call me to.  And, yes, we intend to ride it again.  Wanna join us?