June Letter
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June 15, 2011
Dear Porkers,
Sometime between now and July 22nd, you’re going to sit straight up in bed and ask, “What the heck was that departure time?” or “How many duffels can I bring with PBV?” or “Do I need a bike lock?” When that happens, just lie back and reassure yourself that your Essential June Letter below contains most, if not all, of the information you need in order to travel with Pork Belly Ventures.
Your June Letter is long, but hey, it’s your Pork Encyclopedia, Porkers. Keep it. Refer back to it. Look things up in it. This is a reference document that walks you chronologically through your week, service by service, telling you what to do and what to expect. A quick scroll through will show you what’s here and how it’s organized. We fully intend for you to skip sections that don’t apply to you. Nobody needs everything in it, but scan it over today, maybe even print it off, pick up a highlighter and read a couple sections tomorrow. Re-read as needed.
Some of our updates are fun. This one, not so much. We hope it’s helpful, but it’s just a lot of straight talk. It’s necessarily repetitive. In several places, we’re going to warn you not to do stupid stuff. Please don’t be offended. We’ve just seen some stupid stuff over the years.
From now on, your June Letter will be posted at www.pkbelly.com <http://www.pkbelly.com> , under “June Letter.” It’s easier, however, to read and understand the email version, so if you’re reading this on the web, write to us and we’ll send you the formatted version. Now, get going on the parts that are relevant to you—starting with your June Form.
YOUR JUNE FORM: Info We Need by June 20th Please login with your username and password at pkbelly.com. You’ll find the new added page of your application, labeled “June Form.” It’s time to give us your official RAGBRAI Wristband Number and your final travel information. If you’re flying or driving into Omaha, we need more info from you than if you’re using the East/West Shuttle from Davenport. If you’re on any bus transportation leg with PBV, we need to know whether you’ll be shipping a bike or bringing a boxed or unboxed bike (tandem or oversized trike or recumbent) in your car or on the plane. THANK YOU for completing your June Form over the coming week.
NOTE: The RAGBRAI Wristband Number is a required field of your June Form. If you are purchasing a wristband on the after-market, find out the six-digit number from your seller, so that you can complete the June Form.
If You Forgot Your Username and Password Click [here] and type in the email address you put into your application. Once you submit the address, you will get an email with username and password. Here is a second way to access your application. If you have your confirmation notice, you will find a link at the top to take you straight back to your application. You can always write to tammypav@cox.net and I’ll send your link, but if everybody does that, we could have a bottleneck—ME. Please make an attempt to login.
EAST/WEST SHUTTLE, Saturday, July 23
Parking Applications: Long-term parking applications for Davenport are available at https://secure.visitquadcities.com/ragbrai/parking.php.
Where We’ll Be: Our charter will be located on the campus of St. Ambrose University, about a mile uphill from the river. Take a look at Davenport’s excellent map at the town website, https://secure.visitquadcities.com/ragbrai/parking.php. In mid-July, Pork Belly Ventures will publish our own maps of all eight host towns in PDF format, showing our locations. For now, you can use Davenport’s map. The Davenport organizers are still working out some of the details, so we don’t know our precise location on the St. Ambrose campus, though it will likely be at the intersection of Lombard and Gaines Streets.
The organizers have said that we’ll be at the same location on Friday afternoon, July 22, Saturday morning, July 23, and on July 30th, when we return to Davenport to finish RAGBRAI.
Camping, Hotels, and Amenities in Davenport Prior to RAGBRAI: The camping location is on Credit Island, about a mile downhill from St. Ambrose University at the river. At the Davenport website, the organizers ask you to contact Betsy at bjt@ci.davenport.ia.us if you intend to camp. You will meet other Porkers camping Friday night in Davenport, but this isn’t a PBV campsite per se. It seems logical that most of you will probably drive to the Credit Island campsite on Friday night and put your vehicle in long-term parking the following morning.
Credit Island is pretty close to the downtown area. We’re told that there’s lots of shopping, dining, and music downtown, about a mile from Credit Island. Fine dining at the Radisson, if you like, but it’s mostly pubs, burgers, and pizza, at comfortable, casual places.
We’re on the west side of Iowa, and we are not familiar with eastern Iowa hotels. We don’t have any blocks of rooms reserved in Davenport. Your hotel reservations for Friday night---if that’s your plan---are up to you.
The long-term parking form indicates that a box lunch can be purchased, but we’re not sure where you can get your box lunch. It’s likely that they will be available on the St. Ambrose campus, according to one of the organizers. Our buses will make one meal stop on the way to Glenwood. Think about whether you want snacks on the bus.
On that Friday or Saturday, the 22nd and 23rd, if you have questions about anything related to Davenport, we are told that you can contact Union Station at 309-277-0937 x. 114.
Pork Rental Tents Our rental tent service is a seven-night service. If you rented a tent from us for the week, your rental tent will be available on Saturday night, the 23rd, in Glenwood. You may wish to bring a tent or sleep in the car on Friday night in Davenport.
Schedule and Details for East/West Shuttle: Our East/West Shuttle crew of about six guys, headed by Dave Kennedy and Martina Werner, will be on the campus of St. Ambrose from about 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., a little longer if necessary. They’ll have a couple of Pork Banners, but look for the three semi-trailers outfitted for hanging unboxed bikes. It’s a good idea to use the Friday bike-loading option if you’re the least bit concerned about running short of time on Saturday morning. On both Friday night and Saturday morning, we’ll provide handlebar tags and markers. Please label your bike with your name before handing it over. Please don’t leave your bike unattended: wait patiently with it until one of our crew can take it from you. Please don’t climb into the bed of a truck, just hand your bike up. [See section at the end of this letter on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport.]
At least one of our massage therapists, Markus, will be there during bike loading, in case you’d like to make an appointment with him for a massage during the week. His schedule (all of their schedules) will fill up, so take advantage of this opportunity.
We assume that anyone who wants to sit next to friends on the East/West Shuttle has given us a COMMON GROUP NAME so that we can seat you on the same bus for this long ride. In early July, we will send out bus rosters with seat assignments to make it easier and quicker for you to claim seats and for our crew to do roll call. By July, it will be too late for changes, so make sure we have your group name if you wish to sit next to someone.
On Saturday morning, July 23rd, bike loading resumes at 6:00 a.m. Buses will stage by 7:30 and depart promptly at 8:00. Once again, allow time on Saturday morning for dropping off your stuff, loading your bike, perhaps grabbing some food to take on the bus, driving to the parking lot, shuttling back to us at St. Ambrose, placing your bags in the compartments under a bus, and claiming a seat on your assigned bus by 7:45. We’ll take attendance and roll at 8:00 sharp. Our coaches are restroom-equipped and very comfortable. You’ll make a meal stop and arrive at the PBV Campsite in Glenwood by about 2:00 p.m.
Two or More Long-Term Parking Areas: The two main long-term parking areas are the St. Ambrose campus and a downtown parking structure. There may be others as needed. The organizers are still working out how they might assign parking spaces, and it’s possible that you will park somewhere other than St. Ambrose. This is another reason not to cut it close on Saturday morning. You might be driving a little distance to park and catching a shuttle back to us. This is the best information we have at this time.
To non-Porkers on the E/W Shuttle: We will take you directly to our Glenwood campsite in Glenwood Lake Park. We’ll be right across the street from the RAGBRAI Bike Expo and fairly close to other groups and charters. We will be busy when these buses roll into Glenwood, but if you can be patient with us, we can try to give you some assistance getting to your weeklong charter. We’ll do our best.
FINDING US IN GLENWOOD
If you are driving to our campsite in Glenwood, we will be located at Glenwood Lake Park. If you follow signs to the RAGBRAI Bike Expo, you’ll find us right across the road at the prettiest place in town. We will publish a map of Glenwood in July, showing our precise location.
OMAHA to GLENWOOD
Omaha Airport Hotels In Glenwood on Saturday, 7/23, you will be camping with PBV. If you need a room near the Omaha airport on Friday, 7/22, or Saturday, 7/30, here is a brief summary of Pork Belly Ventures designated airport hotels.
Holiday Inn Express, 402-505-4900:
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $119.
Hot breakfast served here (Candlewood guests will walk over for breakfast)
Swimming pool located here (Candlewood guests have access, too)
Hospitality areas available to our guests before and after RAGBRAI.
Triple-sheeting is the standard at this hotel.
Across the street from a large convenience store and Subway sandwich shop.
Reasonable weeklong airport parking and valet service provided by Budget (about $5 per day)
Free airport shuttle and Old Market shuttle provided by Budget. (Omaha’s Old Market is a great place for shopping, music, and dining on the Friday before RAGBRAI.)
Candlewood Suites, 402-342-2500, FULL as of 6/10:
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $119.
The site of free laundry (Holiday Inn Express guests can do laundry here too.)
Hospitality areas available to our guests before and after RAGBRAI.
Triple-sheeting is the standard at this hotel.
Across the street from a large convenience store and Subway.
Reasonable weeklong airport parking and valet service provided by Budget (about $5 per day)
Free airport shuttle and Old Market shuttle provided by Budget. (Omaha’s Old Market is a great place for shopping, music, and dining on the Friday before RAGBRAI.)
Breakfast served next door, but great little convenience store in the lobby with CHEAP everything.
If you are a guest of either hotel, we ask that you be considerate of the staff and respect the furniture and linens that belong to the hotel. If you need to work on your bike, the managers have said they can give you rags. Please don’t use their bath towels. Do any bike work outside, not on their carpet, please. We don’t mean to insult you with these reminders, but it happened once before.
If you have reservations at a hotel other than Holiday Inn Express or Candlewood Suites, we suggest that you check with your hotel about using to their shuttles to and from Candlewood Suites. This is important. We will not be able to pick up or drop off at other hotels.
All Pork Belly buses will depart from and return to the Omaha airport Candlewood Suites, one-half block from Holiday Inn Express.
Airport Parking No need for an advance reservation for parking. Anyone staying at our hotels or using our shuttles may use Budget (car rental and) Airport Parking for $5 per day—less than half as expensive as other airport parking options. You may drive straight to the Candlewood Suites or Holiday Inn Express and make arrangements at their front desks for your car to be valet parked at the Budget lot just blocks away. Budget operates a fenced, patrolled, 24-hour parking facility. When you return to Omaha, Budget vans will take you to the nearby lot, and you can drive your car back to your hotel for loading. Easy.
Complete Your June Form Porkers using the Omaha/Glenwood bus service must complete your June Forms before I can assign you to a bus at your desired departure time. See the beginning of this letter for more on completing your June Form.
Bus and Truck Loading on Saturday Morning We’ll be on the north side (the back parking lot) of the Candlewood Suites hotel. All trucks and buses will load there. Shuttles from the airport on Saturday will probably drop you off in FRONT of the hotel. You can walk straight through the lobby and out the back door to check in for your bus.
Departure Schedule and How Things Work I’ll wait a little to see how our arrival schedule is shaking out, and then I’ll be able to give you firm (fairly firm) departure times. We’re guessing an 8:30 and 9:30 departure, and then a bus departing every hour or two until 4:30 p.m. when our last bus will roll.
As usual, I’ll send out a schedule and bus rosters for the entire day and try to minimize anyone having to wait around. To catch our last bus, try to arrive at Omaha’s Eppley Airport by at least 3:40 p.m. If you’re using a Friday night hotel, do feel free to give me your preferred Saturday departure time. If you want to get on the earliest bus, or if you want to sleep in a little, just let me know and I’ll try.
There’s a large convenience store and a Subway sandwich shop right next door, and you’re welcome to take food and drink on board for your bus ride of about 30 minutes, barring traffic slow-downs. We’ll use very comfortable coaches, restroom-equipped and air-conditioned. Your bags will go into the compartments under the bus and your bike will be loaded on a truck. [See section on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport, and see “Bike Transport” below.]
If you’re not using our bus, we cannot transport just your belongings, because that’s how things get lost. You need to accompany your stuff and claim it promptly in Glenwood.
To Those Who Fly Into the Omaha Airport If you fly into Omaha on Friday (7/22), walk out of the airport from baggage claim, and cross to the commercial lane. Get on the next Budget van and tell them you’re bound for Holiday Inn or Candlewood Suites. It’s a short ride. Sleep well tonight! By about 7:00 Saturday morning, we’ll be set up outside on the north side of Candlewood Suites (the back parking lot). Come and check in for your bus.
(We suggest a trip to Omaha’s Old Market for dinner on Friday night. It’s a fun place with great food, drink, and music.)
If you’re flying into Omaha on Saturday (7/23), our crew, wearing Pork Belly shirts and carrying pig signs, will meet you at baggage claim or on the sidewalk outside the airport terminal. They will direct you to walk out of the airport, cross to the commercial lane, and catch the first Budget van. Tell the driver you’re bound for Candlewood Suites. USING THE BUDGET VANS ON SATURDAY IS A CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR. When you’ve checked in with us for your bus, you can hang out in the hotel lobby (a/c and vending machines) until your departure. There’s a big convenience store across the street from Candlewood, and also a Subway sandwich shop.
NOTE: If your plans change on Saturday, or if your flight is delayed, CALL ME. Candlewood front desk is 402/342-2500 and my (Tammy’s) cell phone number is 808/375-8921. If you don’t show, the crew will be looking for you in the terminal. Please do us the courtesy of calling. Thanks.
Bike Transport For the Omaha/Glenwood shuttle, we may use outfitted trailers for hanging unboxed bikes and/or we may use smaller 26’ straight trucks. In any case, you need to take steps to protect any unboxed bike you hand over to us for transport. [See Section entitled Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport at the end of this letter.] We will have adequate space for both boxed and unboxed bikes, but we will not necessarily have a truck departing with every single bus. Your bus may depart an hour prior to the bike truck, in which case you will have a little time in Glenwood to set up your tent, check in, scout around, whatever, before your bike truck rolls into camp.
THE WEEK WITH PBV
What Does PBV Expect of Porkers? Cardinal rule of PBV: Be very, very courteous to our hard-working crew.
Be prepared for physical hardship. You have signed on for a week of biking and camping in the elements. We’ll give you extras, comforts, conveniences, and luxuries, but hey, you won’t always be 100% comfortable. Be ready to buck up.
Prepare to be patient. Take a breath and ask us for help. We can find a lost bag in a matter of minutes, so relax and let us know if something seems to be missing. RAGBRAI is defined as an event where 10,000 people slow down, smell the roses, and stand in line for just about everything. We’ll do our best to keep things moving, but kybos? You’re going to do a little waiting.
We’ll publish an entire update on the subject of COURTESY. In short, be a courteous and responsible camper. Get your bags to our truck OR be out of your rental tent by 7:00 a.m. Pick up your own trash. Yes, our crew will help in the mornings. About five of us will circulate for two hours with huge trash bags, taking your rubbish as you break camp. But it’s not okay to leave a pile of trash where you took down your tent. Do your part, and place your trash in a receptacle. Be quiet after 10:00 and before 5:00 a.m. Never wake a napping PBV crew member. They work hard for about 18 hours per day, and if they’re sleeping, it’s because they need rest. Find someone who is awake to help you with a problem. Except for health emergencies, most problems that occur between 11:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. can wait. It’s not okay to wake a crew member because you left your phone on the charger. You’ll have to get it in the morning.
Before RAGBRAI, read your updates and do what they say. Some updates are optional reading just for fun, but some (like this one) are critical, so be an attentive reader and know what you’re doing.
The Check-In Process for Weeklong Porkers Check-in takes place at our Front Desk in Glenwood, and we’ll do a whole separate update about it. Please be prepared to show identification at the Front Desk on Saturday. One person cannot check in for a whole group. Each individual must check in.
You must show your RAGBRAI wristband before you can put on a Pork Belly bracelet or receive your baggage tags. Pork Belly Ventures does not provide services to RAGBRAI bandits. You must be registered with the Register! (International Porkers, we have a different arrangement for you. See “Check-in for International Porkers” below.)
To receive our services—to load bags, to partake of Pork beverages and Pork meals, to use our massage therapists, to have our mechanics help you with your bike, to drink your fill of delicious Dunkin’ Donuts coffee every morning, and much more—you must be wearing a Pork Bracelet. At check-in we will distribute special souvenir Pork Cups for Pork beverages. Please keep track of your Pork Cup, as we will issue only one per Porker. We’ll put some bleach over at the Thingy, so you can give them a swish to get them RAGBRAI-clean.
As you check in, you will have the opportunity to purchase PBV extras, like optional meals, our mid-week laundry service, an optional hotel stay, and maybe other stuff. You’ll need cash for these items, as we don’t accept checks once the ride begins. You will receive meal tickets for each meal that is included in your weeklong support. You will receive a meal ticket for each optional meal that you purchase at Check-In. Every meal ticket is a different color, and it clearly states the night of the week you can use it. Please keep your meal tickets in a wallet or a safe, handy place. Be thinking now about where you will keep them. They are like cash and we can’t replace them. Again, they are like cash, and we can’t replace them if you lose yours.
Upon check-in, you will receive your official “Live Like a Pig” shirt.
Check-in for International Porkers If you live outside the U.S., RAGBRAI will not mail your RAGBRAI wristband to you. But we’re going to let you have your Pork Wristband before you visit the Bike Expo to pick up your RAGBRAI wristband. Please write to tammypav@aol.com now, so that I can note your diplomatic immunity on your check-in form. Thanks!
Tent City Baggage Tags If you are using one of our rental tents, you will get two tough, durable PBV baggage tags at check-in with your tent number in bold numbers on both sides of each tag. Attach the tags securely to your two bags immediately. Place your bags inside your tent on Saturday. We will be handling your bags throughout the week.
Baggage Tags for PBV Campers Using Their Own Tents If you are in the majority of Porkers who are setting up your own tent in each Pork Campsite, you will be given two business-card-sized tags at check-in, with the Pork Belly logo on one side and a space for your name and cell phone number on the other side. After check-in, go straight to our Laminating Station nearby, complete the information on the tags, and get your tags laminated by our crew. Attach these durable tags to your bags and you’re all set. In case your bag is lost (if you do a home stay, a hotel stay, or accidentally place your bags on the truck of a neighboring charter), it will be apparent to the finder that you are in our charter. The finder can call you immediately.
Your Own Baggage Tags It’s always a good idea to put your contact info on all of your bags. Make a point of putting tags with your name, address, and cell phone number on them. We’ve seen every scenario you can imagine over the years. Suffice it to say that if the bag is somehow in the wrong spot before our tags are put on the bags or after our tags have been removed, your own identifying tag will allow people to contact you without rifling through the contents of your bag.
Extra Night in Your Rental Tent If you plan to reach Glenwood on Friday and camp that extra night, you can pay $40 for the use of your rental tent on the eighth night. Just write to Tammypav@cox.net if this is your plan.
Trucks Roll Daily at 7:00 Sharp Starting Sunday morning, all bags must be on our trucks by 7:00 a.m., when our first caravan rambles on to the next host town. Even those of you renting tents must abandon them by 7:00, because those tents are coming down. Take our word for it, we don’t wait. Gotta get our work done. 7:00!
NEW Pork Maps and Other Ways to Find Us Daily In July, we will publish eight host-town maps in PDF format. You can download them, print, and laminate if you like. These maps will show you where our campsites are in relation to the bike routes into and out of town and other attractions in the host town. They will also give you the daily elevation profiles from Geobike.
You will also receive a laminated card at check-in, with all Pork locations, Sunday through Saturday, listed on it. As ever, we will post our pink signs in each host town to direct you from the biking route to our campsites. When you ride into each host town, follow the official RAGBRAI campground signs until you start seeing pink PBV arrow signs on your right hand side. We’ll post on telephone poles, stop signs, any handy place we can find, arrows pointing the way to camp. In any host town, you can always go to RAGBRAI’s information center and check the bulletin board under “P” for directions to us. Lots of Porkers also keep an eye out for our big red-and-white striped canopies or for the big group of look-alike tents in Tent City. YOUR BEST BET FOR FINDING US: use the daily host town map or the locations on your laminated card. As you bike into town, it’s so simple to ask a local volunteer, “Where is Van Horn Park, please? Am I headed in the right direction?”
Pork Nights We have something special planned every night, Porkers, and all of our events and meals will take place between about 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. We’ll start serving most of our suppers around 5:30 or 6:00. Check the Announcement Board. For greater detail on all of our campsites and amenities, see Update #11, Our Week in the Corn. Each day, you can check our Announcement Board at the front desk for what’s happening tonight in Pork Camp—maybe what’s happening tomorrow night too. Loosely, here’s what to expect, but note that we are still fine-tuning our schedule:
Sunday: Pork Welcome Supper and dinner music
Monday: Optional Dinner, live music on stage at the lake
Tuesday: Pork Dinner, chicken and noodles, exhibition baseball game to follow
Wedsday: Pork Dinner, brisket and barbecue, Yesterday and Today Show
Thursday: Root beer floats for all
Optional Sausage Night, Irish music on stage around 6:00
Friday: Food venders, water park, and entertainment nearby
Check the Board First Thing When you ride into camp, make a habit of checking our Announcement Board at the Front Desk for answers to your questions, like where showers, kybos, or bike mechanics are located and what’s happening in camp tonight or tomorrow night. Then, after you read the board, and if you still have a question or need help with something, ask at our friendly front-desk.
Baggage Limit You get two bag tags, so plan on two duffels total, with tent and sleeping bag enclosed inside. Rule of thumb: If you can’t lift your bag above your head and count to three, it’s too heavy. Our drivers will handle those bags fourteen times—be nice and pack like a pig! Don’t strap a bunch of stuff to your bag. A bag is defined as the stuff that fits inside the zipped bag. Those Rubbermaid tubs will not hold up to RAGBRAI, and we’ve seen the handles tear right off of suitcases. A soft no-nonsense duffel bag is your best bet, one for camping gear and the other for clothing and toiletries. Remove any detachable straps. The clever Porker will mark his/her bags somehow—with a bright bandana or colorful tape—to make them easy to spot in our pile. We used to protest about camp chairs, but hey, if you can get one into your duffel and still lift it over your head, then bring your camp chair. We’ll have a few hundred stackable chairs out under our canopies, so you certainly don’t HAVE to bring your own.
You’ll find our Suggested Packing List under Detail and under 2011 Updates at pkbelly.com.
No Good Stuff Hear this! No fine jewelry, good luggage, good clothes, good anything. Don’t bring a laptop, and in fact, think about leaving your expensive electronics behind. RAGBRAI beats the crap out of stuff. If you like it, leave it home.
Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-Up From noon to 7:00 a.m., enjoy your rental tent from Pork Belly Ventures. We’ll publish an email update soon with all the info on tent rental, but here are two or three important points. The biggest thing to remember is that you can’t enter Tent City until our crew is completely finished with their work. If you or your stuff get in the way of baggage delivery, you will slow down us down, and that’s not allowed. Wait for an “All Clear” sign from our crew (usually around noon each day) before you enter Tent City. Secondly, we must know the names of those who are using a tent. Just because the price for one or two occupants is the same, don’t assume that you can have a roommate without informing us. Before we draw up the tent grid with permanent tent assignments, we must know who is using each tent. Finally, you will find out your address in Tent City when you reach Glenwood Check-In—not beforehand. Stay tuned for more on tent rental.
PHAT Rooms We will write to PHAT Room occupants soon about the details of your stay in our newest Pork Accommodations. Just one thing now. From noon to 8:00 a.m., we want you to enjoy your PHAT room; however, you won’t have access to the room until our housekeeping crew is completely finished with their work, probably right at noon.
Your Daily Shower On all eight days, Saturday through Saturday, weeklong Porkers wearing a Pork Bracelet are entitled to one or more showers. Our vender is adjacent to our campsites in every host town. You may take one fresh towel from our vender (and pay for an extra towel if you like) and return it to her on your way out the door. She provides liquid soap and shampoo in dispensers, and she runs a very tidy operation. You’re going to love this part of the Pork Infrastructure.
Lines happen on RAGBRAI and at busy times of the day, you may wait in line for a shower. In some spots, you might be able to sit under our shady canopy and watch till the line gets shorter. In some spots, you’re better off jumping in and do your waiting standing up.
Here’s what you can do to help with the wait situation. DO NOT WASH YOUR CLOTHING IN THE SHOWER. Our shower vender has several sinks outside, so rinse out clothes AFTER showering. Outside, she’ll have a mirror and electrical outlets so you can primp a little. We don’t criticize anyone who primps. It feels good to do your normal thing, but do realize that any make-up you apply will have dripped off your chin in thirty minutes.
(Davenport is the only possible exception on showers, but it’s looking really good. We think we’ll have our vender operating there on the 30th. Whether it’s our shower or another shower option provided by St. Ambrose University of Davenport, you will have a nearby shower in Davenport, included with your weeklong support).
The PBV Sag Bus A 56-passenger luxury motorcoach will carry any Pork Saggers from host town to host town, departing at 7:00 a.m. and arriving by about 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. in our next Pork Camp. This year, we have re-tooled the sag bike truck to hold more bikes, so that we can make two runs with the SAG bus if necessary. In most places, we have a convenient place for you to wait if you happen to be on the second SAG run, and the bus should be back for you by about 9:30. If you are on the second sag run, you can actually sleep or stay in your tent a little longer that morning. (But you can’t stay late in a PBV rental tent, sorry.) Just place your bags under the SAG bus. You CAN reserve spots on the SAG now if you’re already sure that you won’t ride on a given day. Write to tammypav@cox.net.
Dave Kennedy is the man to see in Pork Camp about reserving your spots on the sag. His phone number will be published on our laminated Locations business card that each of you will receive at Pork Check-in. Make sure that you contact him and get your bike loaded the night before you sag.
If for some reason you make the decision to sag in the morning, get your bike to Dave well before the 7:00 a.m. departure time. Our sag TRUCK makes only one trip, even if the sag BUS makes two. So get your bike loaded well before 7:00 a.m.
It’s $25 for each host-town-to-host-town ride (includes bike transport). Porkers can load their baggage into compartments under the coach for immediate access in the next host town (you’ll probably arrive before we have baggage unloaded). The seats are cushy and you can sleep all the way. The rest of the day is yours for resting, recovering, getting a massage, whatever, but do remember that we and our crew will be engaged in morning chores until about noon. Most of our services are available by noon.
If you sag, claim your bike immediately on arrival in our next campsite.
Ours is a morning sag only, from host town to host town. No midday pick-up.
Electricity and Our Thingys Thanks to our Dad, the big phone-charging station, aka “The Juice Thingy,” has over 250 outlets. It will always be plugged into a generator (except the last Saturday) right next to the equipment truck (the pretty red truck) from about noon until 10:00 p.m. The big Juice Thingy is great for phones and rechargeable lights and fans. We have a second smaller charging station for a limited number of items (cameras, iphones, ipods, etc—no room for laptops), and a crew member will be watching over them at all times. On this special charger, we definitely DON’T have two hundred outlets. More like a dozen, so you’ll have to be patient and take turns. On both chargers, please don’t leave items with us any longer than is needed to charge them, so the next guy can get some juice. Claim everything from both chargers by 10:00 p.m. Got that? Claim everything from both chargers by 10:00 p.m. Whatever is still on a charger at 10:00 p.m. is unavailable to you till morning.
As for our other Thingys, help yourself: the Shower Thingy, a tall table with five spigots and a wringer for wet bike shorts (watch your fingers on the wringer); and the Pump Thingy, an air compressor with a manifold and pressure regulator for inflating your bike tires.
[Porkers, you must NOT wake our crew and ask for electronics left on the chargers. This is completely unacceptable. Try us in the morning. Our crew needs their four or five hours of sleep per night. Thank you.]
Lost Property and How Not to Lose It You are responsible for your property, handing it to our truck-loaders, locking up your bikes overnight (see below), and keeping track of your stuff. Do things ever get lost? Sometimes, but it’s usually when somebody doesn’t follow our instructions. Don’t make the mistake of tossing your bags onto the truck of some neighboring charter. This leads to head-scratching in the afternoon. In the morning on our trucks, there will always be several strong crew members, and you’ll get to know them. If in doubt, ask “Is this a Pork Truck?” Be sure the bag you drag into your tent is your own. Try our lost-and-found box at the very end of the equipment truck (you can reach it without climbing on the truck). There is usually a separate Tent City Lost and Found, for items left inside rental tents. You might check and see if something has been turned in at the front desk. It may not be necessary to say this, but please know that it’s not acceptable to “go shopping” in the lost and found. We want things to get back to their rightful owners.
If you sag, claim your bike immediately on arrival in our next campsite. If you leave the ride midweek, do not leave a doggone thing with us. If you spend the night elsewhere, make sure your bags are placed on a truck (or left inside your rental tent) before you go off to spend the night in your hotel, host home, or whatever. You are responsible for your property. We are not.
Bike Locks One lock will do for two or three bikes. Overnight, lock your bike to something stationary, or lock a few bikes together. At the very least, lock the bike to itself. Don’t take our word for it, but many people tell us it is not necessary to carry your bike lock during the day. We hear reports that you can lay your bike on the grass in a pass-through town, go eat some pancakes, and find the bike waiting for you when you come back. If you have a super expensive, high-end bike, you obviously need to think further about this.
Pork Pride Days Most RAGBRAI teams select a day to wear team jerseys and/or t-shirts. We do laundry mid-week, so Pork Pride Days will be the first and last days of the week, Sunday and Saturday. Be a Proud Porker and wear Pork Apparel on those days! FYI, some of our crew will be observing “Pete Sunday” and “Aloha Friday.” We will all wear plaid shorts to look like Pete in Atlantic, and we’ll wear Aloha Shirts on Friday in Coralville. If you have a spare polyester tie, wear it in Grinnell.
JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Because Type 1 Diabetes has affected our family, JDRF is our favorite charity, rated very highly for its effective and efficient use of funds. All or a portion of the proceeds from the following efforts will go to JDRF. Our sister and brother-in-law were named Volunteers of the Year in 2009 for the Omaha/Council Bluffs Chapter of JDRF, and they have earned other community awards since then. Through a variety of efforts, but mostly because of their work with PBV, they have raised more than $100,000 for the cause. Here are two ways to help yourself while helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Midweek Laundry Service Sign up by Tuesday evening and turn over your dirty duds. $15 per tall kitchen bag. Along with her volunteers and PBV crew members, Lori dominates three big laudromats, handles around 650 loads of astonishingly smelly clothes and towels, folds it all, gives it back clean and fragrant. This service results in a big chunk of change for JDRF. Pack less and breathe better in that tent. Let us freshen you up midweek!
Please note that we’ll wash everything on Cold, dry everything on Medium. The only special request we can handle is “Don’t Dry Lycra,” in which case your bike shorts and jerseys will be placed damp into a separate bag inside your clean laundry bag. With up to 650 loads to wash, we don’t have time to go through your pockets. Your wallets, cash, chapstick, and ball-point pens will be placed in your clean bag in a little ziplock. Save your clothes from grease and stains! Empty those pockets, and enjoy the happiness of clean, fresh, folded clothes and towels on Wednesday! Thank you, Porkers, for helping JDRF.
Silent Auction Visit our Silent Auction table often from Sunday through Wednesday. In addition to the usual Thursday night hotel stays and champagne/massage packages, you could be the highest bidder on the PBV tent service in July of 2011, miscellaneous treasures we’ve been collecting, and Iowa art. If you “must have” something, you can always shut out other bidders by paying the “Buy Now” price. We’ll announce Silent Auction winners during the Concert on Wednesday. We thank you in advance for supporting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation!
LAST DAY OF RAGBRAI
Where We’ll Be You will be routed to the Mississippi River tire-dip site, through the party, and on to us at the St. Ambrose University staging area. We’ll be about a mile uphill from the river. In July, we’ll send the map showing our exact location. We’re likely to be at the intersection of Lombard and Gaines, where there are grassy areas among the buildings on campus.
Plan Your Last Day All Omaha buses of Pork Belly Ventures will depart between 2:30 and 3:30 pm (barring host-town traffic slow-downs). All Porkers on the buses returning to Omaha will check in with our front desk upon arrival at our Davenport staging area and sign up for the next available bus. Our bike trucks will depart from Davenport by 3:30 at the latest. Please plan your day.
We have changed a couple of things about our last day to make everything flow a little better. We want your ride to end as smoothly as it began. Do remember, however, that some of you will have things to do when you reach us. Don’t get lost in the post-ride party and miss out on bike-shipping, showers, or miss your bus. Watch your time. At 64 miles, this last day of cycling is a little longer than usual, and hilly.
We think that our shower operator will be nearby. It’s sounding good, but we’re waiting for the final word from Davenport. Even if we end up using the St. Ambrose showers (right there), your shower on Saturday, the 30th, is included with your Weeklong Support.
All shipping containers will be available to claim in Davenport. One or more Pork Belly crew members will help you find YOUR shipping container. We’ll have extra smaller boxes and bike boxes for you. Our crew members will ask your name to ensure that each person claims his own container.
Two options for bike shipping are described below.
Once you reach PBV camp, do these things: 1) if you’re on our buses to Omaha, check in with our front desk; 2) prepare your bike for our Omaha trucks or for shipping; 3) see your bike loaded on our truck or take it to our FedEx shipping area in our camp (see special section on Bike Shipping to and from RAGBRAI); 4) if you’re so inclined, drop a tip in the special coffee can designated for crew appreciation; 5) shower, eat, celebrate; 6) board your bus for departure. As you leave Coralville on Saturday morning, remember that this to-do list is waiting for you in Davenport. Plan your day.
Shipping Bikes Home If you have ordered your shipping label online at Sendmybike.com, we will have it for you in Davenport. If you have not purchased a shipping label online, you will be able to purchase one from sendmybike.com during the week—cash only. A FedEx trailer will stage in our Davenport campsite to receive boxed bikes and other parcels that are ready to ship. As ever, we will have your flattened bike boxes, many extra cardboard bike boxes for the taking, and your hard-shell bike cases in camp at Davenport on the 30th. We’ll have tape, extra cardboard boxes, and markers. Here are the TWO OPTIONS FOR SHIPPING BIKES HOME:
The first option for shipping your bike home is to box it yourself in Davenport, affix your shipping label, and hand the package over to our crew to load onto a FedEx trailer immediately. Our bike mechanics will have some tools for your use. This option requires no additional payment and includes very little assistance from our bike mechanics, but it is a great option for those who are accustomed to working on their own bikes.
The second option for shipping your bike home allows you to turn your bike, your shipping container, and your return shipping label over to our crew. These items will be transported safely to an Omaha bike shop, where our mechanics will package your bike for shipping. This option costs an additional $40, payable in cash in Davenport. You can expect your parcel to enter the FedEx system early in the week after RAGBRAI, no later than Tuesday, August 2nd.
For a small number of people who need assistance and must package their bikes for airline travel from Omaha, our mechanics will be able to help. The price is $40, payable in cash to PBV in Davenport.
These people should contact tammypav@cox.net to let us know that you’ll be planning on this service in Davenport. AND you will need to avail yourself of this service well before 2:00 p.m.
Please see the next section entitled “Shipping Bikes to and from RAGBRAI/PBV.” Note that we assume that anyone who intends to ship a bike from our campsite will be using Sendmybike.com or will expect to pay the $25 fee for handling your bike.
Trucking Bikes to Omaha We’ll have truck space for boxed and unboxed bikes going back to Omaha.
Return Bus to Omaha Buses will stage around 2:00, with staggered departures from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Place your bags under a bus and claim a seat. You’re welcome to bring snacks and drinks on the bus. It’s a short trip this year, Porkers, and we’ll make a snack stop along the way and arrive in Omaha at Candlewood Suites by 9:00 or so—hopefully before dark. Most of our crew will be driving trucks and vans across the state, but we will be at Candlewood to say goodbye. If you are staying at another hotel besides Candlewood or Holiday Inn Express, you should arrange your own transfer from Candlewood. All bags and bikes will be unloaded at Candlewood on the evening of the 30th. Please don’t forget to claim your bike before heading off to your hotel or hotel room. We can’t be responsible for it.
By the way, our hotel managers are okay with some congregating and celebrating in the hotels’ hospitality areas on the night of our return. You can get beer at the convenience store right there, and then enjoy a little post-RAGBRAI celebration in air-conditioned comfort. But of course, we’ll expect you to be good guests, keep the noise down, and clean up after yourselves.
If we’re saying farewell in Davenport, remember to claim your bags before we clear out of town at 3:30. Otherwise, your duffel is sitting in the middle of a parking lot.
SHIPPING BIKES TO AND FROM RAGBRAI/PBV
Particularly for those who fly to and from Iowa, shipping bikes and luggage has become an important part of RAGBRAI. SendMyBike.com is tailor-made to help the folks with Pork Belly Ventures ship bikes and luggage directly to the first PBV campsite in Glenwood and ship home from PBV at the end of the ride in Davenport. You’ll have the convenience of ordering shipping labels online and paying by credit card, at a price very close to FedEx retail; however, weeklong clients of Pork Belly Ventures will receive additional value for that FedEx retail price, like free storage of your shipping container during the week of RAGBRAI and/or free mechanical assistance from our mechanics. Here’s the info you need to get ready to ship.
Click here to visit Sendmybike.com. Most of those who ship a bike to RAGBRAI will also ship it home from RAGBRAI, and by clicking “Ship both to and from RAGBRAI” you’ll be able to order both of your shipping labels at once. You can order your shipping labels anytime between now and July 11th. For the two weeks prior to RAGBRAI, we will suspend online sales, but you will be able to purchase return shipping labels during the week of RAGBRAI at the Pork Belly Ventures front desk.
We hope you find it easy to scroll through the frequently asked questions (FAQs) at sendmybike.com and find the information you need. But here’s a basic explanation. You are welcome to write to petephillips@cox.net if you have additional questions.
Shipping To Iowa
Regardless of when you order your inbound shipping label (to Iowa), FedEx rules won’t allow us to mail the label to you until approximately nine days prior to your shipping date. So your label will be sent to you in the early days of July, unless you let us know you intend to ship earlier.
On or before the 14th of July, you’ll pack your bike into your box or case, affix your Sendmybike.com label, and drop off your package at the nearest FedEx location. Your package will be delivered to a FedEx Ground facility near us, where we will claim it for you and deliver it to the first Pork Belly Ventures campsite in Glenwood. When you arrive, you’ll claim your bike, and our professional bike mechanics will be working all day to provide assistance to you. Their main focus on Saturday, the 23rd of July, is to help those Porkers who shipped bikes to RAGBRAI. You may tip the mechanics if you like, but there is no charge for their assistance on the first Saturday of RAGBRAI.
Shipping from Iowa
There are two options for shipping your bike home from RAGBRAI, explained here. In both cases, if you have ordered a return shipping label from SendMyBike.com, it will not be mailed to you. It will be available for you to claim in Davenport on July 30th at the Pork Belly Ventures campsite. If you have asked SendMyBike.com to store a box or case, you will be able to claim it at PBV as well. Extra bike boxes will also be available for your use.
The first option for shipping your bike home is to box it yourself in Davenport, affix your shipping label, and hand the package over to our crew to load onto a FedEx trailer immediately. Our bike mechanics will have some tools for your use. This option requires no additional payment and includes very little assistance from our bike mechanics, but it is a great option for those who are accustomed to working on their own bikes.
The second option allows you to turn your bike, your shipping container, and your return shipping label over to our crew. These items will be transported safely to a bike shop, where our mechanics will package your bike for shipping. This option costs an additional $40, payable in cash in Davenport. You can expect your parcel to enter the FedEx system early in the week after RAGBRAI, no later than Tuesday, August 2nd.
Note that we assume that anyone who intends to ship a bike from our campsite will be using Sendmybike.com or will expect to pay the $25 fee for handling your bike.
Go to sendmybike.com now, enter your zip code, and within a few clicks you’ll have your price.
Questions about Bike Shipping At sendmybike.com, please click on FAQs for answers to many questions about shipping a bike to us or return shipping from our campsite in Davenport. We’ll include a few FAQs here for your convenience:
By when does my bike need to arrive in Iowa? Whether you use FedEx Ground or Express, you need to ship far enough ahead that the bike will arrive on or before Thursday, July 21st.
How long will it take my bike to reach Iowa by Ground? The good news is that Iowa is in the middle of the country, so even if you're far away, the typical delivery time is three to four days. Whether you use Ground or Express, don't cut it close. It's better to let go of your bike early and miss a couple days of training than to ship too late and miss a couple days of RAGBRAI. For Ground shippers, we suggest allowing a full seven days for your bike to arrive, which means that you would ship no later than Thursday, July 14th.
How do I make sure my shipment is on time? Follow the suggested timeline above, use your FedEx tracking number to check on your shipment, and watch email for our notices of any shipping delays and for our notice of delivery when the bike has been received.
Are there ways to avoid shipping delays? Remember that most shipping problems occur when a shipping label falls off a package. Make sure your label is securely affixed to your bike box or luggage, and be sure to read our tips page at sendmybike.com. If your package is delayed, SendMyBike.com will notify you via email. If you have allowed our recommended two- or three-day buffer, there is an excellent chance that your package will still arrive on time.
What happens to my bike when it reaches Iowa? Your bike will be held at a FedEx facility until Friday morning, July 22nd, when it will be claimed and transported to the Pork Belly Ventures campsite in Glenwood. Although you pay a price a little above FedEx retail, you receive special transport of your bike to your precise starting point at the beginning of RAGBRAI at no additional charge.
PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL CARE THAT YOUR NAME IS CLEARLY LEGIBLE ON THE BOX.
Packing Your Bike for Its Trip to Iowa Whether you're flying the bike on a plane or shipping it in advance, careful packing can save your bike, particularly for those of you using cardboard shipping boxes. Keep bike parts from poking through the box by giving special attention to these areas--pad or reinforce the bottom of the box where forks can puncture it, and the sides where parts could punch through. Pad other vulnerable areas (brake levers sometimes poke through), and if there are no slots for handling the box, cut some so the FedEx handlers can grab your box. Often, we receive boxes torn open for lack of a place to grab. (Follow these directions if you're flying the bike with you.)
Cost of Flying My Bike At sendmybike.com, you can find out what your airline charges for bringing a bike on the plane.
Claims Claims can be made directly with FedEx claims department.
Weeklong Storage of Bike Containers For anybody using sendmybike.com, we’ll store your bike container for the week at no additional charge. Bike boxes will have to be flattened, Porkers, to pack stuff tighter. Any pipe insulation or packing materials should be stored in your duffel bags or in hard-shell bike cases.
Purchase Hard-Shell Bike Cases from PBV Check out http://www.porkbellyventures.com/porkBellyVenturesHardCaseOrderForm.pdf If you’ve missed our June 15 deadline, call Pete at 712-681-2613 to see if we can still fill your order in time.
Note Your Shipping Plans on Your June Form. We need to know whether or not you’re loading a bike on our trucks bound for Glenwood, so remember to include this info on your June Form.
BETWEEN NOW AND RAGBRAI
Your June Form Please glance back at the beginning of this letter for instructions on completing your June Form. If you’re coming into Omaha, you will not be assigned to a bus departure until you have completed your June Form. Thank you.
Pork Belly Ventures Cancellation Policy Before Wednesday, June 15th, you could still cancel part or all of your PBV services and receive a 90% refund. You could drop services or cancel entirely by phone or email, and we would send you a refund check quickly. Whenever you cancel, we'll try to find you a buyer for your wristband. We have included our written cancellation policy in at least four email updates. It has been sent to each person who completed an application at our website. It is always posted at the website, under “Cancellation.” On or after the 15th of June, we make no refunds.
Pork Belly Ventures Trip Cancellation Protection If you took this option when you registered for our services, then you will extend your 90% refund period from June 15th through July 22nd at 10:00 p.m. You can click on “Cancellation” at pkbelly.com to read more.
June/July Contact with PBV If we travel beyond Iowa, our trips will be short, but it’s a good idea to email both of us: tammypav@cox.net and petephillips@cox.net. Tammy’s home phone is 712/328-0161 and cell is 808-375-8921. Pete is at 712/328-6836 (home) and 402-681-2613 (cell).
Questions NOW, Please Don’t save your questions. We will only get busier over the coming weeks. RAGBRAI itself is invigorating and wonderful, but as we often say, we’d rather get a root canal than go through the two weeks prior to RAGBRAI. Those two weeks are our toughest times for getting to your questions. If you have questions, Porkers, now is the best time to ask. Read your June Letter first, and then call or email Tammy with any questions. (Questions about bike shipping should go to Pete.)
Veterans, Help Our Virgins and Send Tips NOW Steve just sent an excellent tip: “As soon as you smell road kill, close your mouth to avoid ingesting a fly that has been dinning on said road kill. This is the voice of experience.” The rest of you veterans need to step up. Please fire off advice for new RAGBRAIers to Tammypav@cox.net. Help our newbies learn how to train, how to pack, how to enjoy their week, how to avoid pitfalls, yadda-yadda. Humor is good! Send all tips by the 20th, please!
SEND PAYMENT Our mailing address is PBV LLC, 412 Forest Glen Drive, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503. If we haven’t received payment (and more than 10 days has passed since you registered), we’ll make an attempt to reach you before giving your spot to someone else.
PBV Jerseys, Hooded Sweatshirts, T-Shirts You can still order, and it’s a good idea if you really want something in your size. We’ll still honor the combo deals, which have been very popular. Click here to see Pork Apparel and download the order form: http://www.porkbellyventures.com/jersey.php.
Email Updates From here on in, it’s getting more important that you receive and read some of these updates. We have sent out a dozen so far. If you realize that you’re not getting our updates, write to petephillips@cox.net or tammypav@cox.net to get on our distribution list. Spam filters just make it impossible for some people to get them, but they’ll be posted at our website if they’re important. Especially in July, we’ll send the host town maps showing our campsite locations, bus assignments and departure times, and other important Pork info.
PREPARING/PROTECTING YOUR BIKE FOR TRUCK TRANSPORT
This info is available at our website, but we want the June Letter to be your complete guide to PBV. Here it is again.
PORK BELLY VENTURES DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE TO BIKES THAT ARE NOT FULLY BOXED.
When transporting bikes on trucks, we've had only one mishap in over 20 years--truck contents shifted and gouged the top tube of a beautiful, completely unprotected bike. Since then, we have recommended that all Porkers fully box bikes for truck transport. If you box, we will provide tools and professional assistance in Glenwood for getting the bike out of the box and ready to ride.
If for some reason fully boxing isn't possible for you, then here are some suggestions. At any hardware store, you can buy cheap pipe insulation to protect your frame's tubing. Tape it on the main triangle-top tube, down tube, and seat tube, forks, and chainstays. Cover your rear derailleur and other fragile components. Remove the computer or other accessories from your handlebars and frame.
Experience tells us that, in spite of our recommendation and because of limited car space, those of you on the July 23rd East/West Shuttle will bring unboxed bikes to Davenport for transport on our trucks. Consequently, our semis (the big 18-wheeler trailers) will be outfitted to hang unboxed bikes in rows--they're hung by a wheel, with the opposite wheel secured to the truck floor by bungee cord. STILL, take the above precautions to protect your frame and components. We’ll have space for boxed bikes, tandems, recumbents, too, but we need to know if you’re expecting us to transport one. There’s a place to note this on your June Form.
If you fly your bike to Omaha, please do not take it out of the box until we've trucked it to Glenwood. If you drive your bike to Omaha, you may not have car space for carrying boxed bikes. In Omaha, we'll have buses and trucks (not always semis) departing throughout the day. Though these smaller trucks will not be outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, our crew will carefully load both boxed and unboxed bikes. We urge you to take the above precautions, protecting your frame and components, if you plan to give us an unboxed bike.
For our return to Omaha at the end of RAGBRAI, we'll have a semi outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, and smaller trucks for boxed ones, tandems, and recumbents.
Bottom line, we'll load your bike in whatever condition you like, but if it's not in a box, we assume no responsibility for damage.
Finally, if you take our advice and use pipe insulation or other packing material, plan to store it either in your hard shell bike case or in your duffel. We can't store it loose on our trucks. All bike boxes should be flattened for weeklong storage.
Thanks for hanging on to your June Letter, Porkers, and referring to it over the coming weeks.
In the hopper for June Updates, we’ll be sending Tips from Veterans, your Pork Glossary of Terms, and hopefully our “Meet the Crew” series, too, which I hope to get to this week. RAGBRAI will be here before we know it!
Until next time, we remain,
Your friends,
Tammy and Pete
June 15, 2011
Dear Porkers,
Sometime between now and July 22nd, you’re going to sit straight up in bed and ask, “What the heck was that departure time?” or “How many duffels can I bring with PBV?” or “Do I need a bike lock?” When that happens, just lie back and reassure yourself that your Essential June Letter below contains most, if not all, of the information you need in order to travel with Pork Belly Ventures.
Your June Letter is long, but hey, it’s your Pork Encyclopedia, Porkers. Keep it. Refer back to it. Look things up in it. This is a reference document that walks you chronologically through your week, service by service, telling you what to do and what to expect. A quick scroll through will show you what’s here and how it’s organized. We fully intend for you to skip sections that don’t apply to you. Nobody needs everything in it, but scan it over today, maybe even print it off, pick up a highlighter and read a couple sections tomorrow. Re-read as needed.
Some of our updates are fun. This one, not so much. We hope it’s helpful, but it’s just a lot of straight talk. It’s necessarily repetitive. In several places, we’re going to warn you not to do stupid stuff. Please don’t be offended. We’ve just seen some stupid stuff over the years.
From now on, your June Letter will be posted at www.pkbelly.com <http://www.pkbelly.com> , under “June Letter.” It’s easier, however, to read and understand the email version, so if you’re reading this on the web, write to us and we’ll send you the formatted version. Now, get going on the parts that are relevant to you—starting with your June Form.
YOUR JUNE FORM: Info We Need by June 20th Please login with your username and password at pkbelly.com. You’ll find the new added page of your application, labeled “June Form.” It’s time to give us your official RAGBRAI Wristband Number and your final travel information. If you’re flying or driving into Omaha, we need more info from you than if you’re using the East/West Shuttle from Davenport. If you’re on any bus transportation leg with PBV, we need to know whether you’ll be shipping a bike or bringing a boxed or unboxed bike (tandem or oversized trike or recumbent) in your car or on the plane. THANK YOU for completing your June Form over the coming week.
NOTE: The RAGBRAI Wristband Number is a required field of your June Form. If you are purchasing a wristband on the after-market, find out the six-digit number from your seller, so that you can complete the June Form.
If You Forgot Your Username and Password Click [here] and type in the email address you put into your application. Once you submit the address, you will get an email with username and password. Here is a second way to access your application. If you have your confirmation notice, you will find a link at the top to take you straight back to your application. You can always write to tammypav@cox.net and I’ll send your link, but if everybody does that, we could have a bottleneck—ME. Please make an attempt to login.
EAST/WEST SHUTTLE, Saturday, July 23
Parking Applications: Long-term parking applications for Davenport are available at https://secure.visitquadcities.com/ragbrai/parking.php.
Where We’ll Be: Our charter will be located on the campus of St. Ambrose University, about a mile uphill from the river. Take a look at Davenport’s excellent map at the town website, https://secure.visitquadcities.com/ragbrai/parking.php. In mid-July, Pork Belly Ventures will publish our own maps of all eight host towns in PDF format, showing our locations. For now, you can use Davenport’s map. The Davenport organizers are still working out some of the details, so we don’t know our precise location on the St. Ambrose campus, though it will likely be at the intersection of Lombard and Gaines Streets.
The organizers have said that we’ll be at the same location on Friday afternoon, July 22, Saturday morning, July 23, and on July 30th, when we return to Davenport to finish RAGBRAI.
Camping, Hotels, and Amenities in Davenport Prior to RAGBRAI: The camping location is on Credit Island, about a mile downhill from St. Ambrose University at the river. At the Davenport website, the organizers ask you to contact Betsy at bjt@ci.davenport.ia.us if you intend to camp. You will meet other Porkers camping Friday night in Davenport, but this isn’t a PBV campsite per se. It seems logical that most of you will probably drive to the Credit Island campsite on Friday night and put your vehicle in long-term parking the following morning.
Credit Island is pretty close to the downtown area. We’re told that there’s lots of shopping, dining, and music downtown, about a mile from Credit Island. Fine dining at the Radisson, if you like, but it’s mostly pubs, burgers, and pizza, at comfortable, casual places.
We’re on the west side of Iowa, and we are not familiar with eastern Iowa hotels. We don’t have any blocks of rooms reserved in Davenport. Your hotel reservations for Friday night---if that’s your plan---are up to you.
The long-term parking form indicates that a box lunch can be purchased, but we’re not sure where you can get your box lunch. It’s likely that they will be available on the St. Ambrose campus, according to one of the organizers. Our buses will make one meal stop on the way to Glenwood. Think about whether you want snacks on the bus.
On that Friday or Saturday, the 22nd and 23rd, if you have questions about anything related to Davenport, we are told that you can contact Union Station at 309-277-0937 x. 114.
Pork Rental Tents Our rental tent service is a seven-night service. If you rented a tent from us for the week, your rental tent will be available on Saturday night, the 23rd, in Glenwood. You may wish to bring a tent or sleep in the car on Friday night in Davenport.
Schedule and Details for East/West Shuttle: Our East/West Shuttle crew of about six guys, headed by Dave Kennedy and Martina Werner, will be on the campus of St. Ambrose from about 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., a little longer if necessary. They’ll have a couple of Pork Banners, but look for the three semi-trailers outfitted for hanging unboxed bikes. It’s a good idea to use the Friday bike-loading option if you’re the least bit concerned about running short of time on Saturday morning. On both Friday night and Saturday morning, we’ll provide handlebar tags and markers. Please label your bike with your name before handing it over. Please don’t leave your bike unattended: wait patiently with it until one of our crew can take it from you. Please don’t climb into the bed of a truck, just hand your bike up. [See section at the end of this letter on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport.]
At least one of our massage therapists, Markus, will be there during bike loading, in case you’d like to make an appointment with him for a massage during the week. His schedule (all of their schedules) will fill up, so take advantage of this opportunity.
We assume that anyone who wants to sit next to friends on the East/West Shuttle has given us a COMMON GROUP NAME so that we can seat you on the same bus for this long ride. In early July, we will send out bus rosters with seat assignments to make it easier and quicker for you to claim seats and for our crew to do roll call. By July, it will be too late for changes, so make sure we have your group name if you wish to sit next to someone.
On Saturday morning, July 23rd, bike loading resumes at 6:00 a.m. Buses will stage by 7:30 and depart promptly at 8:00. Once again, allow time on Saturday morning for dropping off your stuff, loading your bike, perhaps grabbing some food to take on the bus, driving to the parking lot, shuttling back to us at St. Ambrose, placing your bags in the compartments under a bus, and claiming a seat on your assigned bus by 7:45. We’ll take attendance and roll at 8:00 sharp. Our coaches are restroom-equipped and very comfortable. You’ll make a meal stop and arrive at the PBV Campsite in Glenwood by about 2:00 p.m.
Two or More Long-Term Parking Areas: The two main long-term parking areas are the St. Ambrose campus and a downtown parking structure. There may be others as needed. The organizers are still working out how they might assign parking spaces, and it’s possible that you will park somewhere other than St. Ambrose. This is another reason not to cut it close on Saturday morning. You might be driving a little distance to park and catching a shuttle back to us. This is the best information we have at this time.
To non-Porkers on the E/W Shuttle: We will take you directly to our Glenwood campsite in Glenwood Lake Park. We’ll be right across the street from the RAGBRAI Bike Expo and fairly close to other groups and charters. We will be busy when these buses roll into Glenwood, but if you can be patient with us, we can try to give you some assistance getting to your weeklong charter. We’ll do our best.
FINDING US IN GLENWOOD
If you are driving to our campsite in Glenwood, we will be located at Glenwood Lake Park. If you follow signs to the RAGBRAI Bike Expo, you’ll find us right across the road at the prettiest place in town. We will publish a map of Glenwood in July, showing our precise location.
OMAHA to GLENWOOD
Omaha Airport Hotels In Glenwood on Saturday, 7/23, you will be camping with PBV. If you need a room near the Omaha airport on Friday, 7/22, or Saturday, 7/30, here is a brief summary of Pork Belly Ventures designated airport hotels.
Holiday Inn Express, 402-505-4900:
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $119.
Hot breakfast served here (Candlewood guests will walk over for breakfast)
Swimming pool located here (Candlewood guests have access, too)
Hospitality areas available to our guests before and after RAGBRAI.
Triple-sheeting is the standard at this hotel.
Across the street from a large convenience store and Subway sandwich shop.
Reasonable weeklong airport parking and valet service provided by Budget (about $5 per day)
Free airport shuttle and Old Market shuttle provided by Budget. (Omaha’s Old Market is a great place for shopping, music, and dining on the Friday before RAGBRAI.)
Candlewood Suites, 402-342-2500, FULL as of 6/10:
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $119.
The site of free laundry (Holiday Inn Express guests can do laundry here too.)
Hospitality areas available to our guests before and after RAGBRAI.
Triple-sheeting is the standard at this hotel.
Across the street from a large convenience store and Subway.
Reasonable weeklong airport parking and valet service provided by Budget (about $5 per day)
Free airport shuttle and Old Market shuttle provided by Budget. (Omaha’s Old Market is a great place for shopping, music, and dining on the Friday before RAGBRAI.)
Breakfast served next door, but great little convenience store in the lobby with CHEAP everything.
If you are a guest of either hotel, we ask that you be considerate of the staff and respect the furniture and linens that belong to the hotel. If you need to work on your bike, the managers have said they can give you rags. Please don’t use their bath towels. Do any bike work outside, not on their carpet, please. We don’t mean to insult you with these reminders, but it happened once before.
If you have reservations at a hotel other than Holiday Inn Express or Candlewood Suites, we suggest that you check with your hotel about using to their shuttles to and from Candlewood Suites. This is important. We will not be able to pick up or drop off at other hotels.
All Pork Belly buses will depart from and return to the Omaha airport Candlewood Suites, one-half block from Holiday Inn Express.
Airport Parking No need for an advance reservation for parking. Anyone staying at our hotels or using our shuttles may use Budget (car rental and) Airport Parking for $5 per day—less than half as expensive as other airport parking options. You may drive straight to the Candlewood Suites or Holiday Inn Express and make arrangements at their front desks for your car to be valet parked at the Budget lot just blocks away. Budget operates a fenced, patrolled, 24-hour parking facility. When you return to Omaha, Budget vans will take you to the nearby lot, and you can drive your car back to your hotel for loading. Easy.
Complete Your June Form Porkers using the Omaha/Glenwood bus service must complete your June Forms before I can assign you to a bus at your desired departure time. See the beginning of this letter for more on completing your June Form.
Bus and Truck Loading on Saturday Morning We’ll be on the north side (the back parking lot) of the Candlewood Suites hotel. All trucks and buses will load there. Shuttles from the airport on Saturday will probably drop you off in FRONT of the hotel. You can walk straight through the lobby and out the back door to check in for your bus.
Departure Schedule and How Things Work I’ll wait a little to see how our arrival schedule is shaking out, and then I’ll be able to give you firm (fairly firm) departure times. We’re guessing an 8:30 and 9:30 departure, and then a bus departing every hour or two until 4:30 p.m. when our last bus will roll.
As usual, I’ll send out a schedule and bus rosters for the entire day and try to minimize anyone having to wait around. To catch our last bus, try to arrive at Omaha’s Eppley Airport by at least 3:40 p.m. If you’re using a Friday night hotel, do feel free to give me your preferred Saturday departure time. If you want to get on the earliest bus, or if you want to sleep in a little, just let me know and I’ll try.
There’s a large convenience store and a Subway sandwich shop right next door, and you’re welcome to take food and drink on board for your bus ride of about 30 minutes, barring traffic slow-downs. We’ll use very comfortable coaches, restroom-equipped and air-conditioned. Your bags will go into the compartments under the bus and your bike will be loaded on a truck. [See section on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport, and see “Bike Transport” below.]
If you’re not using our bus, we cannot transport just your belongings, because that’s how things get lost. You need to accompany your stuff and claim it promptly in Glenwood.
To Those Who Fly Into the Omaha Airport If you fly into Omaha on Friday (7/22), walk out of the airport from baggage claim, and cross to the commercial lane. Get on the next Budget van and tell them you’re bound for Holiday Inn or Candlewood Suites. It’s a short ride. Sleep well tonight! By about 7:00 Saturday morning, we’ll be set up outside on the north side of Candlewood Suites (the back parking lot). Come and check in for your bus.
(We suggest a trip to Omaha’s Old Market for dinner on Friday night. It’s a fun place with great food, drink, and music.)
If you’re flying into Omaha on Saturday (7/23), our crew, wearing Pork Belly shirts and carrying pig signs, will meet you at baggage claim or on the sidewalk outside the airport terminal. They will direct you to walk out of the airport, cross to the commercial lane, and catch the first Budget van. Tell the driver you’re bound for Candlewood Suites. USING THE BUDGET VANS ON SATURDAY IS A CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR. When you’ve checked in with us for your bus, you can hang out in the hotel lobby (a/c and vending machines) until your departure. There’s a big convenience store across the street from Candlewood, and also a Subway sandwich shop.
NOTE: If your plans change on Saturday, or if your flight is delayed, CALL ME. Candlewood front desk is 402/342-2500 and my (Tammy’s) cell phone number is 808/375-8921. If you don’t show, the crew will be looking for you in the terminal. Please do us the courtesy of calling. Thanks.
Bike Transport For the Omaha/Glenwood shuttle, we may use outfitted trailers for hanging unboxed bikes and/or we may use smaller 26’ straight trucks. In any case, you need to take steps to protect any unboxed bike you hand over to us for transport. [See Section entitled Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport at the end of this letter.] We will have adequate space for both boxed and unboxed bikes, but we will not necessarily have a truck departing with every single bus. Your bus may depart an hour prior to the bike truck, in which case you will have a little time in Glenwood to set up your tent, check in, scout around, whatever, before your bike truck rolls into camp.
THE WEEK WITH PBV
What Does PBV Expect of Porkers? Cardinal rule of PBV: Be very, very courteous to our hard-working crew.
Be prepared for physical hardship. You have signed on for a week of biking and camping in the elements. We’ll give you extras, comforts, conveniences, and luxuries, but hey, you won’t always be 100% comfortable. Be ready to buck up.
Prepare to be patient. Take a breath and ask us for help. We can find a lost bag in a matter of minutes, so relax and let us know if something seems to be missing. RAGBRAI is defined as an event where 10,000 people slow down, smell the roses, and stand in line for just about everything. We’ll do our best to keep things moving, but kybos? You’re going to do a little waiting.
We’ll publish an entire update on the subject of COURTESY. In short, be a courteous and responsible camper. Get your bags to our truck OR be out of your rental tent by 7:00 a.m. Pick up your own trash. Yes, our crew will help in the mornings. About five of us will circulate for two hours with huge trash bags, taking your rubbish as you break camp. But it’s not okay to leave a pile of trash where you took down your tent. Do your part, and place your trash in a receptacle. Be quiet after 10:00 and before 5:00 a.m. Never wake a napping PBV crew member. They work hard for about 18 hours per day, and if they’re sleeping, it’s because they need rest. Find someone who is awake to help you with a problem. Except for health emergencies, most problems that occur between 11:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. can wait. It’s not okay to wake a crew member because you left your phone on the charger. You’ll have to get it in the morning.
Before RAGBRAI, read your updates and do what they say. Some updates are optional reading just for fun, but some (like this one) are critical, so be an attentive reader and know what you’re doing.
The Check-In Process for Weeklong Porkers Check-in takes place at our Front Desk in Glenwood, and we’ll do a whole separate update about it. Please be prepared to show identification at the Front Desk on Saturday. One person cannot check in for a whole group. Each individual must check in.
You must show your RAGBRAI wristband before you can put on a Pork Belly bracelet or receive your baggage tags. Pork Belly Ventures does not provide services to RAGBRAI bandits. You must be registered with the Register! (International Porkers, we have a different arrangement for you. See “Check-in for International Porkers” below.)
To receive our services—to load bags, to partake of Pork beverages and Pork meals, to use our massage therapists, to have our mechanics help you with your bike, to drink your fill of delicious Dunkin’ Donuts coffee every morning, and much more—you must be wearing a Pork Bracelet. At check-in we will distribute special souvenir Pork Cups for Pork beverages. Please keep track of your Pork Cup, as we will issue only one per Porker. We’ll put some bleach over at the Thingy, so you can give them a swish to get them RAGBRAI-clean.
As you check in, you will have the opportunity to purchase PBV extras, like optional meals, our mid-week laundry service, an optional hotel stay, and maybe other stuff. You’ll need cash for these items, as we don’t accept checks once the ride begins. You will receive meal tickets for each meal that is included in your weeklong support. You will receive a meal ticket for each optional meal that you purchase at Check-In. Every meal ticket is a different color, and it clearly states the night of the week you can use it. Please keep your meal tickets in a wallet or a safe, handy place. Be thinking now about where you will keep them. They are like cash and we can’t replace them. Again, they are like cash, and we can’t replace them if you lose yours.
Upon check-in, you will receive your official “Live Like a Pig” shirt.
Check-in for International Porkers If you live outside the U.S., RAGBRAI will not mail your RAGBRAI wristband to you. But we’re going to let you have your Pork Wristband before you visit the Bike Expo to pick up your RAGBRAI wristband. Please write to tammypav@aol.com now, so that I can note your diplomatic immunity on your check-in form. Thanks!
Tent City Baggage Tags If you are using one of our rental tents, you will get two tough, durable PBV baggage tags at check-in with your tent number in bold numbers on both sides of each tag. Attach the tags securely to your two bags immediately. Place your bags inside your tent on Saturday. We will be handling your bags throughout the week.
Baggage Tags for PBV Campers Using Their Own Tents If you are in the majority of Porkers who are setting up your own tent in each Pork Campsite, you will be given two business-card-sized tags at check-in, with the Pork Belly logo on one side and a space for your name and cell phone number on the other side. After check-in, go straight to our Laminating Station nearby, complete the information on the tags, and get your tags laminated by our crew. Attach these durable tags to your bags and you’re all set. In case your bag is lost (if you do a home stay, a hotel stay, or accidentally place your bags on the truck of a neighboring charter), it will be apparent to the finder that you are in our charter. The finder can call you immediately.
Your Own Baggage Tags It’s always a good idea to put your contact info on all of your bags. Make a point of putting tags with your name, address, and cell phone number on them. We’ve seen every scenario you can imagine over the years. Suffice it to say that if the bag is somehow in the wrong spot before our tags are put on the bags or after our tags have been removed, your own identifying tag will allow people to contact you without rifling through the contents of your bag.
Extra Night in Your Rental Tent If you plan to reach Glenwood on Friday and camp that extra night, you can pay $40 for the use of your rental tent on the eighth night. Just write to Tammypav@cox.net if this is your plan.
Trucks Roll Daily at 7:00 Sharp Starting Sunday morning, all bags must be on our trucks by 7:00 a.m., when our first caravan rambles on to the next host town. Even those of you renting tents must abandon them by 7:00, because those tents are coming down. Take our word for it, we don’t wait. Gotta get our work done. 7:00!
NEW Pork Maps and Other Ways to Find Us Daily In July, we will publish eight host-town maps in PDF format. You can download them, print, and laminate if you like. These maps will show you where our campsites are in relation to the bike routes into and out of town and other attractions in the host town. They will also give you the daily elevation profiles from Geobike.
You will also receive a laminated card at check-in, with all Pork locations, Sunday through Saturday, listed on it. As ever, we will post our pink signs in each host town to direct you from the biking route to our campsites. When you ride into each host town, follow the official RAGBRAI campground signs until you start seeing pink PBV arrow signs on your right hand side. We’ll post on telephone poles, stop signs, any handy place we can find, arrows pointing the way to camp. In any host town, you can always go to RAGBRAI’s information center and check the bulletin board under “P” for directions to us. Lots of Porkers also keep an eye out for our big red-and-white striped canopies or for the big group of look-alike tents in Tent City. YOUR BEST BET FOR FINDING US: use the daily host town map or the locations on your laminated card. As you bike into town, it’s so simple to ask a local volunteer, “Where is Van Horn Park, please? Am I headed in the right direction?”
Pork Nights We have something special planned every night, Porkers, and all of our events and meals will take place between about 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. We’ll start serving most of our suppers around 5:30 or 6:00. Check the Announcement Board. For greater detail on all of our campsites and amenities, see Update #11, Our Week in the Corn. Each day, you can check our Announcement Board at the front desk for what’s happening tonight in Pork Camp—maybe what’s happening tomorrow night too. Loosely, here’s what to expect, but note that we are still fine-tuning our schedule:
Sunday: Pork Welcome Supper and dinner music
Monday: Optional Dinner, live music on stage at the lake
Tuesday: Pork Dinner, chicken and noodles, exhibition baseball game to follow
Wedsday: Pork Dinner, brisket and barbecue, Yesterday and Today Show
Thursday: Root beer floats for all
Optional Sausage Night, Irish music on stage around 6:00
Friday: Food venders, water park, and entertainment nearby
Check the Board First Thing When you ride into camp, make a habit of checking our Announcement Board at the Front Desk for answers to your questions, like where showers, kybos, or bike mechanics are located and what’s happening in camp tonight or tomorrow night. Then, after you read the board, and if you still have a question or need help with something, ask at our friendly front-desk.
Baggage Limit You get two bag tags, so plan on two duffels total, with tent and sleeping bag enclosed inside. Rule of thumb: If you can’t lift your bag above your head and count to three, it’s too heavy. Our drivers will handle those bags fourteen times—be nice and pack like a pig! Don’t strap a bunch of stuff to your bag. A bag is defined as the stuff that fits inside the zipped bag. Those Rubbermaid tubs will not hold up to RAGBRAI, and we’ve seen the handles tear right off of suitcases. A soft no-nonsense duffel bag is your best bet, one for camping gear and the other for clothing and toiletries. Remove any detachable straps. The clever Porker will mark his/her bags somehow—with a bright bandana or colorful tape—to make them easy to spot in our pile. We used to protest about camp chairs, but hey, if you can get one into your duffel and still lift it over your head, then bring your camp chair. We’ll have a few hundred stackable chairs out under our canopies, so you certainly don’t HAVE to bring your own.
You’ll find our Suggested Packing List under Detail and under 2011 Updates at pkbelly.com.
No Good Stuff Hear this! No fine jewelry, good luggage, good clothes, good anything. Don’t bring a laptop, and in fact, think about leaving your expensive electronics behind. RAGBRAI beats the crap out of stuff. If you like it, leave it home.
Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-Up From noon to 7:00 a.m., enjoy your rental tent from Pork Belly Ventures. We’ll publish an email update soon with all the info on tent rental, but here are two or three important points. The biggest thing to remember is that you can’t enter Tent City until our crew is completely finished with their work. If you or your stuff get in the way of baggage delivery, you will slow down us down, and that’s not allowed. Wait for an “All Clear” sign from our crew (usually around noon each day) before you enter Tent City. Secondly, we must know the names of those who are using a tent. Just because the price for one or two occupants is the same, don’t assume that you can have a roommate without informing us. Before we draw up the tent grid with permanent tent assignments, we must know who is using each tent. Finally, you will find out your address in Tent City when you reach Glenwood Check-In—not beforehand. Stay tuned for more on tent rental.
PHAT Rooms We will write to PHAT Room occupants soon about the details of your stay in our newest Pork Accommodations. Just one thing now. From noon to 8:00 a.m., we want you to enjoy your PHAT room; however, you won’t have access to the room until our housekeeping crew is completely finished with their work, probably right at noon.
Your Daily Shower On all eight days, Saturday through Saturday, weeklong Porkers wearing a Pork Bracelet are entitled to one or more showers. Our vender is adjacent to our campsites in every host town. You may take one fresh towel from our vender (and pay for an extra towel if you like) and return it to her on your way out the door. She provides liquid soap and shampoo in dispensers, and she runs a very tidy operation. You’re going to love this part of the Pork Infrastructure.
Lines happen on RAGBRAI and at busy times of the day, you may wait in line for a shower. In some spots, you might be able to sit under our shady canopy and watch till the line gets shorter. In some spots, you’re better off jumping in and do your waiting standing up.
Here’s what you can do to help with the wait situation. DO NOT WASH YOUR CLOTHING IN THE SHOWER. Our shower vender has several sinks outside, so rinse out clothes AFTER showering. Outside, she’ll have a mirror and electrical outlets so you can primp a little. We don’t criticize anyone who primps. It feels good to do your normal thing, but do realize that any make-up you apply will have dripped off your chin in thirty minutes.
(Davenport is the only possible exception on showers, but it’s looking really good. We think we’ll have our vender operating there on the 30th. Whether it’s our shower or another shower option provided by St. Ambrose University of Davenport, you will have a nearby shower in Davenport, included with your weeklong support).
The PBV Sag Bus A 56-passenger luxury motorcoach will carry any Pork Saggers from host town to host town, departing at 7:00 a.m. and arriving by about 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. in our next Pork Camp. This year, we have re-tooled the sag bike truck to hold more bikes, so that we can make two runs with the SAG bus if necessary. In most places, we have a convenient place for you to wait if you happen to be on the second SAG run, and the bus should be back for you by about 9:30. If you are on the second sag run, you can actually sleep or stay in your tent a little longer that morning. (But you can’t stay late in a PBV rental tent, sorry.) Just place your bags under the SAG bus. You CAN reserve spots on the SAG now if you’re already sure that you won’t ride on a given day. Write to tammypav@cox.net.
Dave Kennedy is the man to see in Pork Camp about reserving your spots on the sag. His phone number will be published on our laminated Locations business card that each of you will receive at Pork Check-in. Make sure that you contact him and get your bike loaded the night before you sag.
If for some reason you make the decision to sag in the morning, get your bike to Dave well before the 7:00 a.m. departure time. Our sag TRUCK makes only one trip, even if the sag BUS makes two. So get your bike loaded well before 7:00 a.m.
It’s $25 for each host-town-to-host-town ride (includes bike transport). Porkers can load their baggage into compartments under the coach for immediate access in the next host town (you’ll probably arrive before we have baggage unloaded). The seats are cushy and you can sleep all the way. The rest of the day is yours for resting, recovering, getting a massage, whatever, but do remember that we and our crew will be engaged in morning chores until about noon. Most of our services are available by noon.
If you sag, claim your bike immediately on arrival in our next campsite.
Ours is a morning sag only, from host town to host town. No midday pick-up.
Electricity and Our Thingys Thanks to our Dad, the big phone-charging station, aka “The Juice Thingy,” has over 250 outlets. It will always be plugged into a generator (except the last Saturday) right next to the equipment truck (the pretty red truck) from about noon until 10:00 p.m. The big Juice Thingy is great for phones and rechargeable lights and fans. We have a second smaller charging station for a limited number of items (cameras, iphones, ipods, etc—no room for laptops), and a crew member will be watching over them at all times. On this special charger, we definitely DON’T have two hundred outlets. More like a dozen, so you’ll have to be patient and take turns. On both chargers, please don’t leave items with us any longer than is needed to charge them, so the next guy can get some juice. Claim everything from both chargers by 10:00 p.m. Got that? Claim everything from both chargers by 10:00 p.m. Whatever is still on a charger at 10:00 p.m. is unavailable to you till morning.
As for our other Thingys, help yourself: the Shower Thingy, a tall table with five spigots and a wringer for wet bike shorts (watch your fingers on the wringer); and the Pump Thingy, an air compressor with a manifold and pressure regulator for inflating your bike tires.
[Porkers, you must NOT wake our crew and ask for electronics left on the chargers. This is completely unacceptable. Try us in the morning. Our crew needs their four or five hours of sleep per night. Thank you.]
Lost Property and How Not to Lose It You are responsible for your property, handing it to our truck-loaders, locking up your bikes overnight (see below), and keeping track of your stuff. Do things ever get lost? Sometimes, but it’s usually when somebody doesn’t follow our instructions. Don’t make the mistake of tossing your bags onto the truck of some neighboring charter. This leads to head-scratching in the afternoon. In the morning on our trucks, there will always be several strong crew members, and you’ll get to know them. If in doubt, ask “Is this a Pork Truck?” Be sure the bag you drag into your tent is your own. Try our lost-and-found box at the very end of the equipment truck (you can reach it without climbing on the truck). There is usually a separate Tent City Lost and Found, for items left inside rental tents. You might check and see if something has been turned in at the front desk. It may not be necessary to say this, but please know that it’s not acceptable to “go shopping” in the lost and found. We want things to get back to their rightful owners.
If you sag, claim your bike immediately on arrival in our next campsite. If you leave the ride midweek, do not leave a doggone thing with us. If you spend the night elsewhere, make sure your bags are placed on a truck (or left inside your rental tent) before you go off to spend the night in your hotel, host home, or whatever. You are responsible for your property. We are not.
Bike Locks One lock will do for two or three bikes. Overnight, lock your bike to something stationary, or lock a few bikes together. At the very least, lock the bike to itself. Don’t take our word for it, but many people tell us it is not necessary to carry your bike lock during the day. We hear reports that you can lay your bike on the grass in a pass-through town, go eat some pancakes, and find the bike waiting for you when you come back. If you have a super expensive, high-end bike, you obviously need to think further about this.
Pork Pride Days Most RAGBRAI teams select a day to wear team jerseys and/or t-shirts. We do laundry mid-week, so Pork Pride Days will be the first and last days of the week, Sunday and Saturday. Be a Proud Porker and wear Pork Apparel on those days! FYI, some of our crew will be observing “Pete Sunday” and “Aloha Friday.” We will all wear plaid shorts to look like Pete in Atlantic, and we’ll wear Aloha Shirts on Friday in Coralville. If you have a spare polyester tie, wear it in Grinnell.
JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Because Type 1 Diabetes has affected our family, JDRF is our favorite charity, rated very highly for its effective and efficient use of funds. All or a portion of the proceeds from the following efforts will go to JDRF. Our sister and brother-in-law were named Volunteers of the Year in 2009 for the Omaha/Council Bluffs Chapter of JDRF, and they have earned other community awards since then. Through a variety of efforts, but mostly because of their work with PBV, they have raised more than $100,000 for the cause. Here are two ways to help yourself while helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Midweek Laundry Service Sign up by Tuesday evening and turn over your dirty duds. $15 per tall kitchen bag. Along with her volunteers and PBV crew members, Lori dominates three big laudromats, handles around 650 loads of astonishingly smelly clothes and towels, folds it all, gives it back clean and fragrant. This service results in a big chunk of change for JDRF. Pack less and breathe better in that tent. Let us freshen you up midweek!
Please note that we’ll wash everything on Cold, dry everything on Medium. The only special request we can handle is “Don’t Dry Lycra,” in which case your bike shorts and jerseys will be placed damp into a separate bag inside your clean laundry bag. With up to 650 loads to wash, we don’t have time to go through your pockets. Your wallets, cash, chapstick, and ball-point pens will be placed in your clean bag in a little ziplock. Save your clothes from grease and stains! Empty those pockets, and enjoy the happiness of clean, fresh, folded clothes and towels on Wednesday! Thank you, Porkers, for helping JDRF.
Silent Auction Visit our Silent Auction table often from Sunday through Wednesday. In addition to the usual Thursday night hotel stays and champagne/massage packages, you could be the highest bidder on the PBV tent service in July of 2011, miscellaneous treasures we’ve been collecting, and Iowa art. If you “must have” something, you can always shut out other bidders by paying the “Buy Now” price. We’ll announce Silent Auction winners during the Concert on Wednesday. We thank you in advance for supporting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation!
LAST DAY OF RAGBRAI
Where We’ll Be You will be routed to the Mississippi River tire-dip site, through the party, and on to us at the St. Ambrose University staging area. We’ll be about a mile uphill from the river. In July, we’ll send the map showing our exact location. We’re likely to be at the intersection of Lombard and Gaines, where there are grassy areas among the buildings on campus.
Plan Your Last Day All Omaha buses of Pork Belly Ventures will depart between 2:30 and 3:30 pm (barring host-town traffic slow-downs). All Porkers on the buses returning to Omaha will check in with our front desk upon arrival at our Davenport staging area and sign up for the next available bus. Our bike trucks will depart from Davenport by 3:30 at the latest. Please plan your day.
We have changed a couple of things about our last day to make everything flow a little better. We want your ride to end as smoothly as it began. Do remember, however, that some of you will have things to do when you reach us. Don’t get lost in the post-ride party and miss out on bike-shipping, showers, or miss your bus. Watch your time. At 64 miles, this last day of cycling is a little longer than usual, and hilly.
We think that our shower operator will be nearby. It’s sounding good, but we’re waiting for the final word from Davenport. Even if we end up using the St. Ambrose showers (right there), your shower on Saturday, the 30th, is included with your Weeklong Support.
All shipping containers will be available to claim in Davenport. One or more Pork Belly crew members will help you find YOUR shipping container. We’ll have extra smaller boxes and bike boxes for you. Our crew members will ask your name to ensure that each person claims his own container.
Two options for bike shipping are described below.
Once you reach PBV camp, do these things: 1) if you’re on our buses to Omaha, check in with our front desk; 2) prepare your bike for our Omaha trucks or for shipping; 3) see your bike loaded on our truck or take it to our FedEx shipping area in our camp (see special section on Bike Shipping to and from RAGBRAI); 4) if you’re so inclined, drop a tip in the special coffee can designated for crew appreciation; 5) shower, eat, celebrate; 6) board your bus for departure. As you leave Coralville on Saturday morning, remember that this to-do list is waiting for you in Davenport. Plan your day.
Shipping Bikes Home If you have ordered your shipping label online at Sendmybike.com, we will have it for you in Davenport. If you have not purchased a shipping label online, you will be able to purchase one from sendmybike.com during the week—cash only. A FedEx trailer will stage in our Davenport campsite to receive boxed bikes and other parcels that are ready to ship. As ever, we will have your flattened bike boxes, many extra cardboard bike boxes for the taking, and your hard-shell bike cases in camp at Davenport on the 30th. We’ll have tape, extra cardboard boxes, and markers. Here are the TWO OPTIONS FOR SHIPPING BIKES HOME:
The first option for shipping your bike home is to box it yourself in Davenport, affix your shipping label, and hand the package over to our crew to load onto a FedEx trailer immediately. Our bike mechanics will have some tools for your use. This option requires no additional payment and includes very little assistance from our bike mechanics, but it is a great option for those who are accustomed to working on their own bikes.
The second option for shipping your bike home allows you to turn your bike, your shipping container, and your return shipping label over to our crew. These items will be transported safely to an Omaha bike shop, where our mechanics will package your bike for shipping. This option costs an additional $40, payable in cash in Davenport. You can expect your parcel to enter the FedEx system early in the week after RAGBRAI, no later than Tuesday, August 2nd.
For a small number of people who need assistance and must package their bikes for airline travel from Omaha, our mechanics will be able to help. The price is $40, payable in cash to PBV in Davenport.
These people should contact tammypav@cox.net to let us know that you’ll be planning on this service in Davenport. AND you will need to avail yourself of this service well before 2:00 p.m.
Please see the next section entitled “Shipping Bikes to and from RAGBRAI/PBV.” Note that we assume that anyone who intends to ship a bike from our campsite will be using Sendmybike.com or will expect to pay the $25 fee for handling your bike.
Trucking Bikes to Omaha We’ll have truck space for boxed and unboxed bikes going back to Omaha.
Return Bus to Omaha Buses will stage around 2:00, with staggered departures from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Place your bags under a bus and claim a seat. You’re welcome to bring snacks and drinks on the bus. It’s a short trip this year, Porkers, and we’ll make a snack stop along the way and arrive in Omaha at Candlewood Suites by 9:00 or so—hopefully before dark. Most of our crew will be driving trucks and vans across the state, but we will be at Candlewood to say goodbye. If you are staying at another hotel besides Candlewood or Holiday Inn Express, you should arrange your own transfer from Candlewood. All bags and bikes will be unloaded at Candlewood on the evening of the 30th. Please don’t forget to claim your bike before heading off to your hotel or hotel room. We can’t be responsible for it.
By the way, our hotel managers are okay with some congregating and celebrating in the hotels’ hospitality areas on the night of our return. You can get beer at the convenience store right there, and then enjoy a little post-RAGBRAI celebration in air-conditioned comfort. But of course, we’ll expect you to be good guests, keep the noise down, and clean up after yourselves.
If we’re saying farewell in Davenport, remember to claim your bags before we clear out of town at 3:30. Otherwise, your duffel is sitting in the middle of a parking lot.
SHIPPING BIKES TO AND FROM RAGBRAI/PBV
Particularly for those who fly to and from Iowa, shipping bikes and luggage has become an important part of RAGBRAI. SendMyBike.com is tailor-made to help the folks with Pork Belly Ventures ship bikes and luggage directly to the first PBV campsite in Glenwood and ship home from PBV at the end of the ride in Davenport. You’ll have the convenience of ordering shipping labels online and paying by credit card, at a price very close to FedEx retail; however, weeklong clients of Pork Belly Ventures will receive additional value for that FedEx retail price, like free storage of your shipping container during the week of RAGBRAI and/or free mechanical assistance from our mechanics. Here’s the info you need to get ready to ship.
Click here to visit Sendmybike.com. Most of those who ship a bike to RAGBRAI will also ship it home from RAGBRAI, and by clicking “Ship both to and from RAGBRAI” you’ll be able to order both of your shipping labels at once. You can order your shipping labels anytime between now and July 11th. For the two weeks prior to RAGBRAI, we will suspend online sales, but you will be able to purchase return shipping labels during the week of RAGBRAI at the Pork Belly Ventures front desk.
We hope you find it easy to scroll through the frequently asked questions (FAQs) at sendmybike.com and find the information you need. But here’s a basic explanation. You are welcome to write to petephillips@cox.net if you have additional questions.
Shipping To Iowa
Regardless of when you order your inbound shipping label (to Iowa), FedEx rules won’t allow us to mail the label to you until approximately nine days prior to your shipping date. So your label will be sent to you in the early days of July, unless you let us know you intend to ship earlier.
On or before the 14th of July, you’ll pack your bike into your box or case, affix your Sendmybike.com label, and drop off your package at the nearest FedEx location. Your package will be delivered to a FedEx Ground facility near us, where we will claim it for you and deliver it to the first Pork Belly Ventures campsite in Glenwood. When you arrive, you’ll claim your bike, and our professional bike mechanics will be working all day to provide assistance to you. Their main focus on Saturday, the 23rd of July, is to help those Porkers who shipped bikes to RAGBRAI. You may tip the mechanics if you like, but there is no charge for their assistance on the first Saturday of RAGBRAI.
Shipping from Iowa
There are two options for shipping your bike home from RAGBRAI, explained here. In both cases, if you have ordered a return shipping label from SendMyBike.com, it will not be mailed to you. It will be available for you to claim in Davenport on July 30th at the Pork Belly Ventures campsite. If you have asked SendMyBike.com to store a box or case, you will be able to claim it at PBV as well. Extra bike boxes will also be available for your use.
The first option for shipping your bike home is to box it yourself in Davenport, affix your shipping label, and hand the package over to our crew to load onto a FedEx trailer immediately. Our bike mechanics will have some tools for your use. This option requires no additional payment and includes very little assistance from our bike mechanics, but it is a great option for those who are accustomed to working on their own bikes.
The second option allows you to turn your bike, your shipping container, and your return shipping label over to our crew. These items will be transported safely to a bike shop, where our mechanics will package your bike for shipping. This option costs an additional $40, payable in cash in Davenport. You can expect your parcel to enter the FedEx system early in the week after RAGBRAI, no later than Tuesday, August 2nd.
Note that we assume that anyone who intends to ship a bike from our campsite will be using Sendmybike.com or will expect to pay the $25 fee for handling your bike.
Go to sendmybike.com now, enter your zip code, and within a few clicks you’ll have your price.
Questions about Bike Shipping At sendmybike.com, please click on FAQs for answers to many questions about shipping a bike to us or return shipping from our campsite in Davenport. We’ll include a few FAQs here for your convenience:
By when does my bike need to arrive in Iowa? Whether you use FedEx Ground or Express, you need to ship far enough ahead that the bike will arrive on or before Thursday, July 21st.
How long will it take my bike to reach Iowa by Ground? The good news is that Iowa is in the middle of the country, so even if you're far away, the typical delivery time is three to four days. Whether you use Ground or Express, don't cut it close. It's better to let go of your bike early and miss a couple days of training than to ship too late and miss a couple days of RAGBRAI. For Ground shippers, we suggest allowing a full seven days for your bike to arrive, which means that you would ship no later than Thursday, July 14th.
How do I make sure my shipment is on time? Follow the suggested timeline above, use your FedEx tracking number to check on your shipment, and watch email for our notices of any shipping delays and for our notice of delivery when the bike has been received.
Are there ways to avoid shipping delays? Remember that most shipping problems occur when a shipping label falls off a package. Make sure your label is securely affixed to your bike box or luggage, and be sure to read our tips page at sendmybike.com. If your package is delayed, SendMyBike.com will notify you via email. If you have allowed our recommended two- or three-day buffer, there is an excellent chance that your package will still arrive on time.
What happens to my bike when it reaches Iowa? Your bike will be held at a FedEx facility until Friday morning, July 22nd, when it will be claimed and transported to the Pork Belly Ventures campsite in Glenwood. Although you pay a price a little above FedEx retail, you receive special transport of your bike to your precise starting point at the beginning of RAGBRAI at no additional charge.
PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL CARE THAT YOUR NAME IS CLEARLY LEGIBLE ON THE BOX.
Packing Your Bike for Its Trip to Iowa Whether you're flying the bike on a plane or shipping it in advance, careful packing can save your bike, particularly for those of you using cardboard shipping boxes. Keep bike parts from poking through the box by giving special attention to these areas--pad or reinforce the bottom of the box where forks can puncture it, and the sides where parts could punch through. Pad other vulnerable areas (brake levers sometimes poke through), and if there are no slots for handling the box, cut some so the FedEx handlers can grab your box. Often, we receive boxes torn open for lack of a place to grab. (Follow these directions if you're flying the bike with you.)
Cost of Flying My Bike At sendmybike.com, you can find out what your airline charges for bringing a bike on the plane.
Claims Claims can be made directly with FedEx claims department.
Weeklong Storage of Bike Containers For anybody using sendmybike.com, we’ll store your bike container for the week at no additional charge. Bike boxes will have to be flattened, Porkers, to pack stuff tighter. Any pipe insulation or packing materials should be stored in your duffel bags or in hard-shell bike cases.
Purchase Hard-Shell Bike Cases from PBV Check out http://www.porkbellyventures.com/porkBellyVenturesHardCaseOrderForm.pdf If you’ve missed our June 15 deadline, call Pete at 712-681-2613 to see if we can still fill your order in time.
Note Your Shipping Plans on Your June Form. We need to know whether or not you’re loading a bike on our trucks bound for Glenwood, so remember to include this info on your June Form.
BETWEEN NOW AND RAGBRAI
Your June Form Please glance back at the beginning of this letter for instructions on completing your June Form. If you’re coming into Omaha, you will not be assigned to a bus departure until you have completed your June Form. Thank you.
Pork Belly Ventures Cancellation Policy Before Wednesday, June 15th, you could still cancel part or all of your PBV services and receive a 90% refund. You could drop services or cancel entirely by phone or email, and we would send you a refund check quickly. Whenever you cancel, we'll try to find you a buyer for your wristband. We have included our written cancellation policy in at least four email updates. It has been sent to each person who completed an application at our website. It is always posted at the website, under “Cancellation.” On or after the 15th of June, we make no refunds.
Pork Belly Ventures Trip Cancellation Protection If you took this option when you registered for our services, then you will extend your 90% refund period from June 15th through July 22nd at 10:00 p.m. You can click on “Cancellation” at pkbelly.com to read more.
June/July Contact with PBV If we travel beyond Iowa, our trips will be short, but it’s a good idea to email both of us: tammypav@cox.net and petephillips@cox.net. Tammy’s home phone is 712/328-0161 and cell is 808-375-8921. Pete is at 712/328-6836 (home) and 402-681-2613 (cell).
Questions NOW, Please Don’t save your questions. We will only get busier over the coming weeks. RAGBRAI itself is invigorating and wonderful, but as we often say, we’d rather get a root canal than go through the two weeks prior to RAGBRAI. Those two weeks are our toughest times for getting to your questions. If you have questions, Porkers, now is the best time to ask. Read your June Letter first, and then call or email Tammy with any questions. (Questions about bike shipping should go to Pete.)
Veterans, Help Our Virgins and Send Tips NOW Steve just sent an excellent tip: “As soon as you smell road kill, close your mouth to avoid ingesting a fly that has been dinning on said road kill. This is the voice of experience.” The rest of you veterans need to step up. Please fire off advice for new RAGBRAIers to Tammypav@cox.net. Help our newbies learn how to train, how to pack, how to enjoy their week, how to avoid pitfalls, yadda-yadda. Humor is good! Send all tips by the 20th, please!
SEND PAYMENT Our mailing address is PBV LLC, 412 Forest Glen Drive, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503. If we haven’t received payment (and more than 10 days has passed since you registered), we’ll make an attempt to reach you before giving your spot to someone else.
PBV Jerseys, Hooded Sweatshirts, T-Shirts You can still order, and it’s a good idea if you really want something in your size. We’ll still honor the combo deals, which have been very popular. Click here to see Pork Apparel and download the order form: http://www.porkbellyventures.com/jersey.php.
Email Updates From here on in, it’s getting more important that you receive and read some of these updates. We have sent out a dozen so far. If you realize that you’re not getting our updates, write to petephillips@cox.net or tammypav@cox.net to get on our distribution list. Spam filters just make it impossible for some people to get them, but they’ll be posted at our website if they’re important. Especially in July, we’ll send the host town maps showing our campsite locations, bus assignments and departure times, and other important Pork info.
PREPARING/PROTECTING YOUR BIKE FOR TRUCK TRANSPORT
This info is available at our website, but we want the June Letter to be your complete guide to PBV. Here it is again.
PORK BELLY VENTURES DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE TO BIKES THAT ARE NOT FULLY BOXED.
When transporting bikes on trucks, we've had only one mishap in over 20 years--truck contents shifted and gouged the top tube of a beautiful, completely unprotected bike. Since then, we have recommended that all Porkers fully box bikes for truck transport. If you box, we will provide tools and professional assistance in Glenwood for getting the bike out of the box and ready to ride.
If for some reason fully boxing isn't possible for you, then here are some suggestions. At any hardware store, you can buy cheap pipe insulation to protect your frame's tubing. Tape it on the main triangle-top tube, down tube, and seat tube, forks, and chainstays. Cover your rear derailleur and other fragile components. Remove the computer or other accessories from your handlebars and frame.
Experience tells us that, in spite of our recommendation and because of limited car space, those of you on the July 23rd East/West Shuttle will bring unboxed bikes to Davenport for transport on our trucks. Consequently, our semis (the big 18-wheeler trailers) will be outfitted to hang unboxed bikes in rows--they're hung by a wheel, with the opposite wheel secured to the truck floor by bungee cord. STILL, take the above precautions to protect your frame and components. We’ll have space for boxed bikes, tandems, recumbents, too, but we need to know if you’re expecting us to transport one. There’s a place to note this on your June Form.
If you fly your bike to Omaha, please do not take it out of the box until we've trucked it to Glenwood. If you drive your bike to Omaha, you may not have car space for carrying boxed bikes. In Omaha, we'll have buses and trucks (not always semis) departing throughout the day. Though these smaller trucks will not be outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, our crew will carefully load both boxed and unboxed bikes. We urge you to take the above precautions, protecting your frame and components, if you plan to give us an unboxed bike.
For our return to Omaha at the end of RAGBRAI, we'll have a semi outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, and smaller trucks for boxed ones, tandems, and recumbents.
Bottom line, we'll load your bike in whatever condition you like, but if it's not in a box, we assume no responsibility for damage.
Finally, if you take our advice and use pipe insulation or other packing material, plan to store it either in your hard shell bike case or in your duffel. We can't store it loose on our trucks. All bike boxes should be flattened for weeklong storage.
Thanks for hanging on to your June Letter, Porkers, and referring to it over the coming weeks.
In the hopper for June Updates, we’ll be sending Tips from Veterans, your Pork Glossary of Terms, and hopefully our “Meet the Crew” series, too, which I hope to get to this week. RAGBRAI will be here before we know it!
Until next time, we remain,
Your friends,
Tammy and Pete