Here is an account of our assault on the weekly mileage record, and the various experiences from our recent trip across Iowa.  Read as much as you care to; details are provided where my senility permits.

The Players of the Pedaling for Parkinson's Team (Identifying Bike):

• Jay Alberts (Cannondale) – our ride organizer, Frazier Cycling Partner (“FCP”) and recent new resident of Cleveland.  Left Georgia Tech to take a position with the Cleveland Clinic, advancing the study of neurological illnesses.  Jay is also one of the founding members of Pedaling for Parkinson’s (“PFP”) and the organizer of our ride.

• Joel and Brenda Alberts (Kestrel and Felt) – From Minneapolis, MN.  Joel is Jay’s older brother.  He works at Wells Fargo in the Trust area.

• Dr. Barry Bershow and son Robbie (Trek)– Also from Minneapolis.  Robbie is in residency to follow in his father’s footsteps.  Barry has an appetite of legendary proportions.  We are hopeful again this year that he will amaze and astound us with accounts of his eating adventures.

• Scott ? (Felt) – From Minneapolis.  Scott is a friend of Barry’s and is joining our PFP group for the first time.  He is a physician, which may be a useful skill set on this year’s ride (ominous foreshadowing!).

• Troy and Kayla Jefferson (Tandem) – From Minneapolis also.  Troy works at Wells Fargo with Joel, and his daughter, Kayla is in high school.  She must love this ride to accompany a bunch of middle-aged cycling junkies across Iowa again.

• Brooks Glasnapp (Recumbent) – Brooks rode two years ago, and hosted our PFP group for “Brooks Burgers” last year during RAGBRAI.  This year he rejoined the ride.

• Chris Hovorka (Cannondale) – From Atlanta, Chris is an FCP, Fab 4 participant (see below).

• Bill and Andrew Craig (Cervelo) – From Atlanta, this father/son team is participating at Andrew’s request, as the final fling before he heads off to VMI in August.  Both are FCP members, and Fab 4 participants.

• Pat Tuley (Trek) – Atlanta; FCP member, Fab 4 participant, and author of this report.

• Darren – One of our support crew.  Darren donned the cycling shorts for a day this year, but mostly followed us across the state, hauling our luggage and keeping track of our pilgrimage across the state.  Darren is a PhD in engineering and professes at a university in Milwaukee.  He gets a million thanks for taking a week out of his summer to support the team.

• Jason (and Keagan) – this father/son team from Hull, Iowa, again supported our team across Iowa.  Keagan is 4 years old, and completes his second RAGBRAI (in the RV).  Keagan rides his bike at most all of the overnight stops, and has already discarded the training wheels.  We expect great things in Keagan’s cycling career.  Jason’s support is indispensable, and Keagan’s energy and antics provide great relief after a long day’s ride.  Jason also donned the spandex for a day of riding, but spent the rest of the week following us on our journey.

Our ride unofficially began on Saturday, July 23.  Andrew, Bill, Chris and I (the “Fab 4” for typing ease) set off from LeMars to Sioux City to “dip our tires” in the Missouri River.  We were told that it was about 21 miles one-way.  Thinking we would have enough time, we departed.  At the 15-mile mark of the outbound ride, we saw a sign indicating that Sioux City was still 10 miles away.  Not significant in terms of extra miles, but daylight was going to work against us, so we decided to turn back at the 20-mile mark.  By the time we got back to LeMars, we had 44 miles, and it was getting dark.

LeMars – Sheldon (Sunday):  Looking at the official route for Sunday, we noted that the mileage was approximately 65 miles.  Our overnight house (Jay’s Mom’s house) was in Sanborn IA, which is 9 miles from the official Sunday stopping point of Sheldon.  Doing the math, the Fab 4 decided to try Sioux City again Sunday morning, return to LeMars, then set off for Sanborn.  This should yield 125 miles.  The constant rolling hills to Sioux City wore us down, and we ultimately ended up with 32 miles one-way to Sioux City before we were able to dip our rear tires in the Missouri River.  A little extra mileage we had not anticipated!  By the time we arrived back in LeMars, we were anxious to get out on the official route and eat some food.  Unfortunately for us, most of the food vendors were packing up or gone before we reached their stops.  For the most part, we ate cookies or fruit, and drank lots of Gatorade.  Did I mention the temperature in IA on Sunday was 95?  Finding a little shortcut along the way, we ultimately made it to Sanborn late in the afternoon, after 122 miles, 12-14 water bottles each (no bathroom stops necessary!), and starved.  Chris had lost over 10 lbs. on the ride, and was discouraged about continuing the assault on the record.

On a serious note, some severe weather moved through Sheldon Sunday night, causing a tree limb to fall on a rider’s tent.  Two people were injured, and one rider was killed as a result.  We all were deeply saddened by the loss of a fellow rider, and felt thankful to have shelter for most of our overnight stays.  Jay and the PFP group always do a great job organizing our trip, so that we can all return safely after the week’s ride.

Sheldon – Estherville (Monday):  On Monday, we all set off together, but Chris was planning on only riding a half day and trying to recuperate.  The Fab 4 was down to three.  Andrew, Bill and I proceeded at what seemed like a snail’s pace most of the day, but logged another 120 miles by day’s end.  We ate a lot more food, and encountered some cooler temperatures, coupled with a light drizzle.  It turned out that Chris had recovered somewhat, and had decided to ride 92 miles on Monday, so he fell 28 miles off our pace.

Estherville – Algona (Tuesday):  Tuesday was RAGBRAI’s official “Century” day.  Feeling a little refreshed after Monday, and with much cooler temperatures (60-80 degrees for most of the rest of the week), Andrew, Bill and I set off together for our third century in three days.  The ride was much faster, especially when we made the turn onto the Century Loop.  At this point, we had a tremendous tailwind, so the pace quickened even more.  I led the group along at about 27 mph, until we were passed by a couple on a tandem bike.  I turned to Andrew and Bill and suggested we try to catch their draft, which I did.  Andrew caught up within another 10 seconds, leaving only Bill off the back a little.  I looked down to see that we were motoring along at 32 mph.  At about this same time, I heard metal hitting the road and turned to see Bill skidding across the (thankfully) smooth pavement.  Even with the favorable road surface, Bill had some major scrapes and cuts.  We stopped to attend to his wounds, and passed the Advil bottle.  After a little while, Bill said he was ready to resume the ride.  We flew along again for about 15 miles, until the course turned back on itself, so we were now facing a stiff headwind.  We hooked up with another group of riders that were pushing into the wind at about 18-20 mph, which helped us considerably, as we hung at the back of the group for the bulk of the rest of the ride.  Finishing the ride at 104 miles, we were thankful to be out of the wind.

Unbeknownst to us, Chris had also decided to ride the century route (and had hoped to catch us).  We did not see him until after the ride was over, but he had logged 110 miles, closing the gap to 22 miles.  It was apparent at this point that Chris was determined to try to make up the mileage before the end of the day on Friday.  We talked about the goals for the next few days to see if Chris could rejoin the Fab 4.  Little did we know what was in store.

Algona – Northwood (Wednesday):  Wednesday’s official mileage was approximately 90 miles, so we were looking for at least an extra 10 miles to continue our string of centuries.  As an added “bonus”, Jay decided to ride with the Fab 4 for the day.  While it is nice to have Jay along, as he tends to do most of the pulling at the front of the paceline, he also tends to inflict pain on his fellow riders with his excellent conditioning and speed.  Nonetheless, the five of us had a great ride, with one incident.  In the first 10 miles of the day’s ride, our group (riding single file) was approached by another group trying to pass us.  At this point there was little room for such a maneuver, but the other group was led by two tandems, and they rolled right up on us and forced their way into the group.  In what was the most reckless passing (on a bike) I have ever witnessed, they proceeded to ram directly into Andrew, rather than slow down for 10 seconds to allow our group to complete our pass.  We were going approximately 20 mph at the time, so Andrew joined his dad in the bloodied and bruised category.  Fortunately for the rest of the group, nobody else was taken out by these idiots.  After a short recovery period and some more Advil, we were on our way again, and made it the rest of the day without other incidents.  Andrew’s crash followed another crash (not in our group) that happened right in front of us, so we were feeling a little apprehensive at this point in the ride.

As a side note, we thought Bill had marred the record of 20,000 rider miles logged during RAGBRAI over almost 2 ½ years without an accident, but it turned out that Barry and his son, Robbie, had had a minor incident on Monday, before Bill’s crash on Tuesday.  I guess the dam was open at that point, given the rash of injuries our group was suffering.

Upon arriving in Northwood, we learned that we were just 5 miles from the Minnesota border!  This provided a perfect opportunity to head for the border and get some extra miles.  15 miles later, we arrived back in Northwood.  Chris wanted to make up some more of his deficit, so he went back to the border road and logged another 10 miles, giving him 115 for the day.  Another day; another Century!

Northwood – Cresco (Thursday):  The official mileage was 78 miles.  We wanted to make Friday an even 100 miles, so we were going to try to get to 600 miles by the end of the day on Thursday.  In addition, Chris wanted to surpass the Frazier Cycling Partners (“FCP”) weekly record (set by Steve Kester a year earlier) at the same time as us, so he intended to ride the last 12 miles to make up the gap.  Andrew, Bill and I wanted 108 miles, so that meant 120 for Chris.  Thursday, we were feeling pretty good, and the pace was enjoyable.  I came up with an idea, which both Andrew and Bill thought sounded like a means to our collective goals for the day.  We decided to head out after the official route to get to approximately 102 miles.  We saved 6 miles each (me, Bill and Andrew) for the end, and decided to do a six-mile, two-person time trial, each of us paring up with Chris for our leg.  This would give Bill, Andrew and me 108 miles, and Chris would get an extra 12 without having to ride alone.  This made perverse sense to the three of us, and Chris was not objecting adamantly, so that was the game plan. 

We let our injured “little buddy” take the first leg.  He had Chris pull the entire outbound leg (into the wind), with Andrew pulling back to the start point with a tailwind.  The official time was 17 minutes and 36 seconds.  For those of you not familiar with our FCP group, time and mileage reports are critical, so forgive me the gory details.  Bill was next up, and he decided to pull into the wind, with Chris pulling the return leg with the tailwind.  With the extra day of recovery from his injuries, Bill and Chris finished in 16:22.  I had suggested to Bill that it would be wise to try to wear Chris out before he and I took our turn, and we both agreed that a separate objective would be to try to get Chris to puke before he was done (a solid indication of suffering on the bike and exceeding anaerobic capacity!).  Chris was still looking fresh when he returned, so we let him rest for 4 minutes before setting out on the final leg of the time trial.  I suggested to Chris that I start out on the front, but that we switch every minute going out, and that I would take 2 minutes for his one on the return leg.  Owing mostly to their injuries and my superior strategy, Chris and I finished the final 6 miles of the time trial in 15:04.  Chris held his stomach, but everyone was still pleased with our efforts.  If only Jay had been along for one more leg, Chris may have cracked.  We returned as a group to Cresco with 108 miles and 120 miles for Chris.  The gap had been eliminated, and Chris was an official member of the Fab 4 again!

Cresco – West Union (Friday):  Friday was a scheduled short day, with only 57 miles to ride.  At the 37-mile mark, we stopped in Waucoma for a picture to commemorate our 640^th mile of the week.  Steve’s old record of 638 miles was behind us now.  After 5 Centuries in a row, our goals quickly changed in the face of some hills on the route, and with the spirit of accomplishment.  We decided our new goal would be to sample every pie stand between Waucoma and West Union.  Several others in our group joined us in this goal, and our ranks grew with the addition of Troy and Kayla, Joel and Scott.  Our enthusiasm for our new quest waned as our search for pie was mostly…fruitless!  Our search turned maniacal as we encountered one pie-less town after another.  With young children, I use lots of Disney references, so if you have enjoyed “Finding Nemo”, you may recall the Sea Gulls screeching out “MINE, MINE, MINE” at a point in the movie when they are contemplating eating Nemo and his friends who are sitting helpless on a dock.  Our cries for “PIE” sounded much like this, as we rolled through town inquiring about pie from anyone and everyone.  Ultimately, we arrived in West Union, still searching for our first pie stand, and followed signs to a church that advertised PIE.  The arrangement was for a Lasagna Dinner, accompanied by PIE, but we wanted nothing to do with Lasagna.  Joel took care of the negotiations, securing our ability to buy PIE for $1.50 a slice.  After our first piece, Joel slipped out, returning a few minutes later to inform our group of 7 or 8 that he had made a bulk purchase of 20 more pieces of PIE!!!!  Several people stopped at two or three pieces, but Joel had 5, and I had 4.  After satisfying our PIE obsession, we wandered back to our bikes to go find our overnight house.  The best description of my state-of-mind at that moment would be a “pie hangover”.  The FCP mileage record was now officially 663 miles for week, and we finished the day with 60 miles.

West Union – Guttenberg (Saturday):  Our final day on the road, everyone was feeling relieved to be almost done.  Some of the soreness from earlier in the week was finally subsiding, and some of the FCP gang were feeling particularly “frisky”.  Coupled with a mostly hilly day of challenging climbs and fast descents, the ride quickly deteriorated into a series of attacks on almost every hill.  These were led usually by Bill, Andrew, Chris or myself, but always answered by Jay (the reigning Hammerhead).  With rare exception, Jay caught and dropped the attacker and then waited at the top of the hill for the rest of the gang to regroup.  On several occasions, Andrew would take off, and Jay would sprint to catch and overtake him, commenting “where are you going Little Buddy”.  This was one of the new nicknames for the week.  Bill was renamed “Bloody Bill” for his adventures on the pavement.  Official mileage for Saturday was 58 miles.

Other pertinent facts:

• Total mileage in Iowa for the Fab 4:  721 miles

• New FCP record for miles in one week – 663 miles

• Total elapsed time – NO IDEA

• Best Ice Cream – Beekmans

• Best Pie – Amish roadside pie stand

• Most Pie consumed in one sitting – 5 pieces (Joel)

• Most Pancakes consumed in one sitting – 17 (Dr. Barry)

• Most crashes in one week on RAGBRAI – FOUR

• Favorite Food Stops – Beekmans, Mr. Porkchop, Chris’ Cakes, Rib Place at the Theater in Cresco.

• Cheapest Gatorade - $1.19 for 32 oz. at the convenience store in Sioux City (that’s the treat for riding back to the Missouri River).  Later in the day, we paid $2.50 for a sixteen oz. Bottle

• Worst idea of the week – Riding back to Sioux City and missing all of the food on the first day; what were we thinking?

• Most likely to be the cause of delays in starting our rides in the morning – Chris (We are considering naming an award in his honor, but need to consider Bill Murphy’s legend first).