 Charlie's Bike Stuff |
| Charlie's Bike Stuff |
Here a some new pictures from RAGBRAI XXIV - 1996
Chompin' the killer sausage day 1.
(L-R: Chris, Monica, Kendra, Chris)
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| More Eatin'. (L-R: Gary, Chris, Rebecca) | Beer and Rice Krispy Treats for ALL (L-R: Chris and Kendra) |
 Monica Presses On After Being Struck By A Car. | |
| Monica Stein an iXLer from Atlanta, GA (Get that sunscreen ready!!) |  | Rosenberg Would have come all the way from Hoboken, NJJulie was involved in a little biking accident and was unable to make it this year. Hope you're feeling better Julie! |
Bicycling has been a part of my life for about 10 years now. The big annual event is to go out to Iowa the last week of July for the Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa -- better known as RAGBRAI. It's the oldest, longest, largest cross-state ride. Approximately 7,500 people participate in the 7 day, 500 mile ride each year (as many as 10,000 applications are received each year). I have made the trip 6 times now (1988, '92, '93, '94, '95, '96).
In this photo, we are enjoying a cold drink after a long day on the bike. I'm in the center and my wife Laurie is on the right. She has made the trip with me twice. On the left are our good friends Chris and Kendra. Chris and I started attending RAGBRAI together in '88 and have attempted to go every year since. The 3 years we didn't make it, our applications weren't selected in the lottery.
Having music along can make the difference on the longer stretches between the 6-10 small towns visited each day. This is my "time machine" equipped with a rear mounted speaker and 900Mhz stereo transmitter. My speaker would be set to the right channel and Chris would carry the other one set to the left channel. This way we could enjoy true stereo sound but with the penalty of about 10 extra pounds (in addition to the weight of the speaker, we carried 8 D batteries each to achieve a long lasting, 12 volt power supply.) The batteries are kept tucked away in the seat wedge. The white plastic trash bag is used to cover the entire system when it rains.
I built a support under the head unit to keep it within easy reach. We had our choice of AM or FM radio (which can be sparse in the middle of Iowa) or cassette tape. The two computers on my bike allow me to keep track of total elevation gain and heart rate at the same time. Both are fun to watch as you tackle some of Iowa's larger hills -- by the way, Iowa is NOT FLAT!
Here's the new ride. It's a Trek 5200 with a full component swap. Actually, I wanted to get a 5500 to build myself but as of January 7, 1996 they had already sold all that they intended to produce in my size. My local bike shop was kind enough to order a 5200 for me and a smaller 5500 for themselves to move the 600 Ultegra components to. I equipped mine with Record Ergo shifters and brakes and the new Campy Racing Triple drive train.