Left to Right- Bruce, Norm, Dave, Ruie, and Tara. Not Pictured in this one is Aaron and John, but scroll down...
An undertaking this large requires teamwork from several folks. I started this out on my own, but the enthusiasm grew from the whole crew. Each of us slide into what we do best. Bruce, Ruie, Aaron, and I all carry Sony Mavica cameras and you will continue to see a growing number of pictures. This year, you will be treated to digital movies in MPG form with sound! Norm has a real special knack of being able to talk to anyone on the ride as if he knew them all of their lives. At the end of each day, he has a major story about people that he met. He is also the one who can remember any fact, any town, any year. Catch him on the road and ask him for instance what town had a Wizard of Oz theme and what year it was and he'll give you the correct answer. He'll continue with the date, time, temperature and add even more trivia.
So while you guys are out there relaxing when you reach a town, remember that the crew is just getting to work. Tara is the pic wiz, formatting sizes, cropping to save disk space and adding helpful ideas so that the page gets the best impact.
| Aaron keeps us real. Y2K was his first Ragbrai, and sometimes we take way too much for granted. You will read his tips for novices in that section of the page this year. Ruie is the one who sniffs out the stories, asks any question needed of anybody and fills us in on what is needed at the end of every day's ride. And of course Bruce is-- well, without Bruce this whole thing wouldn't have taken place (with us, anyway, and none of us would have known each other! |  |
This all started when I had not been able to ride a Texas MS150 because I was directing the district honor band and I really wanted to ride in a major event that year. Bicycling magazine had an article about the "Mother of all bike Rides". I was hooked! This was when the net was in it's infancy. Al Gore and Thomas Edison were both kids. I put a plea in a chat section of Pepper Music Company's dos based telnet site for some directors in Iowa to tell me about this here Ragbrai thing. (I even pronounced it incorrectly at the time). This orchestra director named Bruce (our Bruce) answered immediately and not even knowing me offered to pick me up in Clinton which is hours away, stay in his house, join his bike club, the Superior Hawgs, and ride the ride. That was 1994.
| I guess the strangest
thing about this whole group is besides bonding into lifelong friendships,
it's a total coincidence that we are all teachers! There are three
music teachers, one math teacher, a special ed teacher, and a librarian. So here are our bios- Ruie Chehak-I haven't quite decided what my role is with this “motley” but lovable crew, but Dave says it is the "Hey you got to see this!" role. I guess that is because I continue to believe and know that Iowa is a beautiful place and when it is green and hot like it is during RAGBRAI, it just doesn't get much better. I am a library media specialist at an elementary and middle school. EMail Ruie |
 |
I work with kids, books and computers.It is a combination that is hard to
beat. I live with my dog Baxter, (named after Baxter Black the cowboy
poet).
My girls are grown and living on the two coasts. Somehow I just can't
persuade them to ride a bike across Iowa. They just don't understand what
they are missing. I ride RAGBRAI because it a complete and total mind
vacation. I expend so much energy riding and getting to the next overnight
stay that I don't have any time to think about any thing else. All of
those
problems and issues that you left behind just stay there and melt away from
your brain. It is a vacation in the truest sense of the word. Plus, it is
a
heck of lot of fun and you meet great people. And the Dave, Bruce and Norm
show makes me laugh. 
 |
Tara
Hawkins- Like everyone else around here, I
am an educator. I teach Special Education at Wilson Middle School in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I earned my bachelors degree in elementary
education at the University of Iowa. I missed the last two days of
Ragbrai last year so that I could graduate with my Master's degree in
Special Education in the University of Iowa as well. I have been
doing most of the image processing and photography on the DRP crew.
That was me standing in front of all of you snapping away at the Cherokee
Symphony concert.
|
Aaron Eilers-I live in Coralville, Iowa and have a B.A. in Mathematics and Middle School Education from the University of Northern Iowa. I'm currently enrolled in the Mathematics Education graduate program at the University of Iowa. I'm a Math teacher at Highland Junior/Senior High School in Riverside, Iowa.
I do this ride because I like the challenge, and it gives me the opportunity to see people and places that I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to. Besides, I need something to do to keep myself busy during the summer. My role in the actual production of the page is that of photographer and I assist with the production and layout of the page.
Dave's note- Did you hear Aaron in August on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me? He Won!
EMail
Aaron
http://members.home.com/ameilers
AOL IM: AMEilers
Bruce Eilers-
I'm the oldest member of crew. I will be riding my 13th consecutive RAGBRAI this summer. I live in Waterloo, Iowa where they make John Deere tractors. I'm a lifelong resident of Iowa. I've earned a couple of degrees at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
I conduct one of the premier high school orchestras in Iowa at West High School in Waterloo, and I operate a string instrument repair business in my home.
I also play cello in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and am chair of the Iowa All-State Orchestra.
I decided to try RAGBRAI in 1990 after my 13 year old daughter did it the year before. Bike riding is my main method of staying in half-way decent physical condition. After doing it for several years, I also ride to spend a week with some of my best friends. During the week, I manage to forget all of life's problems and just concentrate on riding to the next town and finding food and water.
My role? I managed to get Dave connected with the "Superior Hawgs". I try to do the local research, produce the bike signs for Dave's crew, print the "business cards", and take pictures during the ride.
Bruce's Home Page
Dave Plummer-
You've probably heard it all at one place or another in the page. First, I'm a Dad, and I'm immensely proud of my two daughters, Sarah, who is a Senior Oak Ridge High at age 17, and Kristen, age 21. Kristen is hoping to be a country music star and if you badger me enough, I can send you an mp3 from her first CD. Kristen is a Junior at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. A band director in the Texas schools for 26 years, I hung up the baton this year (2002-2003) and am technology specialist at Vogel Intermediate School in Oak Ridge, Texas. My wife, Cindy, owns and operates Woodland Art & Frame in The Woodlands, Texas. I have have become very involved with technology having won a grant from Intel in the Teach to the Future project. We train teachers to use technology effectively in everything that they do. I've always loved to ride my bicycle. Ragbrai is the only consistent ride that I do, along with the MS 150 from Houston to Austin, but I have ridden the Pacific Coast Highway in California. What a trip! I have also traveled to Europe a couple of times in my high school and college years and rented a bike and thoroughly toured Holland on two wheels.
As far as Ragbrai is concerned. It's all been said, they are my best friends in the world- I only get to see them once a year- I make the best of it. I'm counting down the days.
The Vogel Intermediate Band Page