08/02/2021
My next several bike posts will be going back in time over this summer. My race season is nearing its end and there were too many good ones to not talk about. This has been one of my most exciting summers on bikes for so many reasons. I spent this past week on RAGBRAI, which always gives me the feeling that summer is starting to come to an end.
First for a little background. Many gravel racers have heard of Dirty Kanza (now known as “Unbound”), it’s supposed to be one of the premier gravel events in existence. In fact, so many people want to take part that now to get in you must be selected by a lottery. The incredibly crazy and wonderful Dangerous Dan is the event Dicktator (no, I did not use the wrong word) of the Sterile Iowan. Dangerous Dan did not get into DK and wanted to create an event that would allow anyone to come and ride, becoming the complete opposite of DK.
I wasn’t there for the first Sterile Iowan in 2019, but I believe it was a single 100 mile route that anyone could come do. Just send in a postcard to Dan, say you’re coming, throw some money in the pickle jar (this year it was a keg). It has now developed into a weekend of “You do You.” Dan has put together multiple course lengths 40, 60, 100, and 200 mile options. You can pick any or all of those or any combination. The current mileage record is somewhere around 300 miles I believe.
The city of Alden has welcomed this ride with open arms. Dan now rents out the entire campground right next to the city park for riders to camp in. Perfect for tents or RVs with a public restroom in the city park. Later in the summer Alden would be a passthrough town for RAGBRAI and at the time of Sterile they were working hard to redo main street.
My original intention for this year was to ride a total of 200 miles throughout the weekend, breaking it into different distances. Spoiler alert: That did not happen. Perhaps next year. I really was not able to train, let alone just ride very much going into this one. By the time I actually was up to riding my bike very much after a broken rib, I was also trying to level up on my side gig and succeeded but that meant much of my free time was spent studying or working.
When the weekend finally came, along with it came strong winds and lots of heat. One of those Iowa weather moments where things completely flip, but definitely not uncommon for late spring. With this being the case, I made the decision to ride my ride on Friday night, waiting until just before the sun went down to make my start. This turned out to be a great decision.
I was by myself for the majority of my ride except for a few miles that I saw a couple other people. At first they looked like headlights behind me but they were moving rather slowly to be a car. I had stopped to take some pictures of the Alpacas in a field and thought it might be a farmer wondering what I was doing so I just got on my way. The guys caught up to me though (I can’t remember who they were) and I rode with them for several miles. It was great to trade off on pulls to relieve some of the strain from the winds. My wahoo says that the winds were ~15.2mph from the SSW. Every south section was a battle.
I really wasn’t in much of a hurry. I really enjoy riding at night and wanted to take it all in. My only regret for this ride was that I did not plan on going for 100 miles that night, by the time I thought that might be a possibility it was too late for a C store to be open on the southern half. Once the sun went down things started to cool off even if the wind didn’t die down as much as I had hoped. It was glorious by the time I was ending my ride. It all worked out however, a newer neck injury had started plaguing me during this ride. Fortunately as the summer has gone on the distance I’ve been able to ride without this issue popping up has increased. Core strength is very important!
I really had no goals for the night other than to make it around the 43 mile loop, the north part of the 100 mile loop which I’ve ridden before. With that in mind I just took my time, taking in the sights. Cole was out trying to do however many miles would fit into his weekend, starting with the 200 mile loop, so it would be hours before I would see him anyway. One of my favorite parts of the entire course was on this loop, as you leave the campgrounds in Alden and head towards Dows, it winds along the Iowa River with all kinds of neat public spaces.
Once I finished my ride, I erased my name off the whiteboard and I never did get on my bike again for the weekend, except to ride down to the public restroom in the park. One of the best things that came of this weekend was not the ride itself, although I’ll guarantee you that I’ll be back. but rather the idea for our wedding venue. It was only a couple weeks before Sterile that we decided to get married. I spent much of my time finishing a book and knitting on my wedding dress next to the river at our campsite. It really made me think, “This would be a nice place to get married.”
I can tell you that I made smart decisions for the weekend. Riding in the heat and wind did not really appeal to me. My form of “You do You” for the weekend was just right. Thank you Dan, I’ll be back again!