Its that time again for the Cycling Pigs to ride again. For those not in the know the Cycling Pigs is a riding group, a bicycle riding group started a little over a year ago by a few brave souls for the purpose of organizing a bicycle trip through Iowa. The Registers Annual Great Ride Across Iowa or RAGBRAI is set to start in another month. This is its thirty sixth running of the ride across Iowa with numbers over ten thousand rides most days. You can read more about the ride at the RAGBRAI web site.

Its only 4 weeks until the planes leave for Iowa or rather Omaha Nebraska where we fly in. Omaha is the staging area for another great Ride Across Iowa. This year as we did last, we will be hosted by the Pork Belly Venture group. This is a large sag wagon support group that includes tents and fun stuff for the entire week. Real fun stuff like the Shower Thingy. Check it out.

As many of you know the recent rains have flooded out central sections of Iowa and part of the intended ride route. I do not think that any of these terrible floods will effect the ride even though it has effected thousands of residents of Iowa. The damaged homes will not have had time to receive full repair when the ride begins and many Iowans will be still struggling with the aftermath of the heavy rains and flooding that these 500 years water levels have brought. We will spend a much money as we can when going through these areas so maybe that could help cheer up some spirits. We are looking into some possible donation sites right now so that more help could be channeled into the right direction.

This year the Cycling Pigs group has grown. Last year there were four, this year we total eight. The Cycling Pigs has doubled in one year. Thats a pretty good average. So we will see how things go. More to follow soon.

Did you check out the Shower Thingy?

The Register’s Annual Great Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) is coming up in July and the Cycling Pigs are again ready to ride. Last year the Fiersom Foursome, Nancy, Russ, Juli and myself were the Cycling Pig ambassadors from the San Gabriel Valley. We did a pretty good job of representing our area. As many of you know Lance Armstrong and the Live Strong riders were there is force. Iowa will never be the same.

This year the Cycling Pigs are at it again. So far there are seven riders who will be enjoying themselves for the week long ride across Iowa. The route is out and from what I hear will be a little hillier than last year with a total of 22.,000 plus feet of climbing over the seven day period. Again, the total millage will be just under 500 miles which will make for very pleasant days on the road.

Yesturday I finally uploaded the pictures from last years RAGBRAI adventure to flickr. You can see all of the pictures here.

This year I promise to keep a regular log going over the week and post pictures as they happen. I have bee taking a break as you can see from all of the blogging but will never the less keep up with this event.

For a full report on all that is related to the Cycling Pigs, check out their website from the link above or just do a Google search.  Ciao!

No joy in Muddville! I goofed it up this year with our little cycling group the Cycling Pigs. As it turned out I did not submit all of our applications waivers and fees at one time resulting in chaos. No SMURSH is not on the rampage it is just that we ended up as individuals rather than as a group. One of the five of our little Cycling Pigs was selected in the lottery. How are those odds?So what happens to the rest of us after the lottery is more chaos. Well maybe not the appocaliptic variety just hastle. Stephani dropped out and the rest of us have been on the hunt for wrist bands on sale for transfer. As of this morning we all have wrist bands except Russ who should be in line for getting one soon.

My new waiver in posted in the mail this morning so the transfer of my new shinny wrist band should be official next week some time. Now off for more training!

I have taken the liberty of reproducing Brian Duffy’s Personal Training Tips and posting them here at CyclingPigs.com/. The link below is to the RAGBRAI web site where this article is taken from. Enjoy and be safe out there!

Personal Preparation Tips from RAGBRAI Host Brian Duffy

Personal Preparation Tips from Register Host Brian Duffy
For those of you who have not heard, RAGBRAI Co-founder John Karras penned his last postcard from the ride in 2000 and retired as a co-host. John assures us that he will still be riding RAGBRAI but he has joined the ranks of cyclo-tourist whose only worry will be what type of pie to have. I am the front-page cartoonist for The Des Moines Register, and was named as a co-host of RAGBRAI in 2000. I have ridden and drawn cartoons on the ride since 1988, so I am not brand new to RAGBRAI.

I have dabbled in every type of cycling from criterium racing to a few ultra-marathon events. It was through the ultra-marathon experience that I discovered riding 400 kilometers in a day can make the hands go numb and that is not a good thing for someone in my business.

In addition to the host gig, I have inherited Karras’ traditional training tips column. For those of you who live in Iowa or other northern climes, our winters are not conducive to outdoor riding. Many of you are forced to sit on a trainer, rollers or take spinning classes to get your cycling fix. I’m sure one thing that you have found is how exceedingly difficult it is to force yourself to sit on a trainer for an hour, even with a whole library of old Tour de France tapes to keep you pedaling. The key to indoor cycling workouts is to vary the types and intensity. One day a week, work on hill climbs doing a group of steady efforts lasting five to seven minutes a piece. Another day, work in an easy gear and concentrate on your pedal stroke. Another day, practice short hard intervals that get you close to your maximum heart rate. If you feel nauseous or light-headed while doing a workout, stop immediately. Read More→