Advice to Overnight Towns

To Whomever it may concern,

First of all, I really hope that if you are the mayor or the Ragbrai chairman of one of the overnight towns in this year's Ragbrai, you will get to read this..  I'm a pretty "normal" Rider (that just could be an oxymoron) of the Ragbrai who has participated in Ragbrai for almost all of the rides since '94.  An out of stater, I read about Ragbrai, contacted Bruce via internet and the rest is history.  In this very important message, I want to convey to you some of the things that we cyclists like to see when we are choosing the favorite town of the entire ride.  

First, we want to thank you for putting up with us.  I have seen the main street of town after we leave in the mornings and it is not something of which I am proud.  And now- some tips-

1. Please, please, please don't have the "locations" bulletin board in the farthest part of town and the lowest elevation.  We have just ridden distances of up to a hundred miles and are really unwilling to ride back up the two mile hill to our campsite after riding two miles down to the bulletin board.  Is there any way you could communicate by radio to a satellite bulletin board at the entrance to the city on the ride route?  The radio could tell the operator what the original sign says and duplicates could be made.  Or, if you're high tech, they could be faxed "up the hill".

2. Please, in the same Spirit as number 1, do not give us a tour of the town on the way in.  The most direct route would be the best to wherever you have us going.  We promise we'll snoop around a bit after a short rest.

3. People tend to hand out things to cyclists when we're on the go.  Tell them not to be offended if we don't take them, we have to carry them and the "hand off" is quite dangerous.

4. Different people like different things.  Expecting a large crowd to assemble anywhere but downtown in the evening will be a flop.  Guaranteed.

5. Thanks in advance for organizing an efficient transportation system.

6. Be tolerant of us as long as we are not hurting anybody or doing any damage.  Rules are sometimes made to be broken, and we do tend to have a real good time, however, go ahead and arrest the obnoxious drunks!  But leave the nice ones alone.

7. Understand that your biggest problems will not be from cyclists at all, but from the tourists that have come to watch them.

Thank you so much.  Ya know, this couldn't happen so well in any other state!

One more request, I need a place in each overnight town with an internet hookup to upload my daily pictures and text for this site.  It would be so easy if this were taken care of in advance and we had an appointment to do so.  I'll give you free coverage.  Are there any businesses or even homes willing to be available to me and my laptop after 6 or 8 PM?

Thank you so much and we hope your town wins the "Best Town Competition" on Dave's Ragbrai Page!  Voting will take place after the ride.

Dave