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During RAGBRAI:
Forty able-bodied, can-do crew members (not including bike mechanics or massage therapists) to help, comfort, and revive you
Baggage transport from host town to host town
Excellent, well-appointed, spacious RESERVED campsites
*NEW in 2010, Your Daily Shower and Towel. Pork Belly Ventures has partnered with a portable shower vender who provides hot, private showers—more than one per day, if you like. Details below.
*NEW in 2009, and back by popular demand! Last year, we booked our favorite six-piece Irish band for two back-to-back private concerts. And yes, we’ve booked the Elders for a Double Whammy in July of 2010, pending host town approval. Check out EldersMusic.com, and stay tuned for more on our evening entertainment.
Our Open-Air Living Rooms (huge shady circus tents) with chairs and four big Cool Zone fans that blow a refreshing mist into the air
Ice-cold beverages, some free and some cheap, about 90 cents each
Our friendly Front Desk crew, ready to direct you to showers, kybos, and local amenities
Hot Coffee We start brewing at 4:30 a.m., three gallons every eight minutes. Help yourself! Hot chocolate and hot tea, too.
NEW and Different Every Year—Two Dinners in Camp. Last year, we included two wonderful church suppers. Our St. Mary’s hosts roasted Pork Loins on Sunday and our friends at First Lutheran served homemade Turkey and Noodles on Wednesday—delicious sides and desserts, too! After May 1, we’ll give you the mouth-watering details for this year.
Massage! Five therapists, strong and superb, in camp (additional charge)
Professional Bike Mechanics, friendly and highly skilled, set up in camp daily
PBV’s Midweek Laundry Service (optional, proceeds to Juvenile Diabetes Research) There’s nothing like dry, fresh, and folded.
Pete’s Shower Thingy It’s a table, plumbed with five spigots, equipped with a mirror and a wringer for your bike shorts. Fill water bottles, shave, brush your teeth.
EXPANDED in 2010—Juice Thingys for Electricity Our dad is adding about 50 more outlets, so we’ll have upwards of 160 total (with a whisper-quiet generator) for charging phones, fans, and other electronics.
Pump Thingy, a special compressor to make pumping your tires a breeze.
Free weeklong storage of your bike shipping container, be it a hard-shell bike case or a box—$20 value, free to weeklong Porkers.
NEW in 2009—Luxury SAG Service Details below, additional charge.
This and That: come to the equipment truck and ask our crew for a band-
aid, a plastic cup, a hammer for your tent stakes. Just ask. We probably have it.
Before RAGBRAI:
About 35 informative email updates to help you plan and prepare
Several May scouting trips to host towns to reserve great campsites
Prompt answers to your questions on email and by phone
Our comprehensive June Letter with virtually all the info you need in one document
A compilation of Tips for First-Timers from our RAGBRAI Veterans
An opportunity to ship your bike by FedEx to PBV in Iowa
NEW in 2010 PBV Locations on a laminated card at check-in
Mechanical assistance on arrival with uncrating your bike and getting it road ready
At the end of RAGBRAI:
Assistance from our mechanics with getting your bike ready to fly or ship home
A special FedEx receiving area right in our camp in ---- for shipped bikes
A fond-farewell letter that recounts the week’s highlights
NEW in 2009, an audio-visual memento of our week together
So that’s what we know so far about Weeklong Support, but we’ll know more in May, after we’ve met with our hosts. As ever, we are always, always thinking of ways to make you merry. So long as we keep raising our standards and you keep lowering your expectations, everybody’s happy.
*Each town’s host committee has the final say on shower venders. It’s possible that a town may prefer that we use another vender. When we scout in early May, we’ll make arrangements in each town, and in any case, every Porker will receive a daily shower from PBV. Similarly, it’s possible that a host town would not allow an Elders Concert. But we’re optimistic. More detail on the shower service in our invitation letter.
Do I need THAT much support? Well, ask yourself this: after a long hot road, what’s it worth to have a big helpful crew waiting at my well-appointed camp? What’s it worth to have access to the whole Pork Infrastructure, the full range of Pork Comfort, and continual Pork Frivolity every day? You will pay more for our charter, but it could mean the difference between a complicated, exhausting bike trip and a carefree athletic adventure.
What is "Weeklong Support"?
What’s included in PBV’s Weeklong Support? Here’s a list. We’ll send you more juicy details on meals and entertainment after we’ve scouted host towns in May, and we’ll save some surprises for your arrival in Iowa. There’s nothing basic about it, but here, generally, is what you can expect with Pork Belly’s “basic” Weeklong Support:During RAGBRAI:
Forty able-bodied, can-do crew members (not including bike mechanics or massage therapists) to help, comfort, and revive you
Baggage transport from host town to host town
Excellent, well-appointed, spacious RESERVED campsites
*NEW in 2010, Your Daily Shower and Towel. Pork Belly Ventures has partnered with a portable shower vender who provides hot, private showers—more than one per day, if you like. Details below.
*NEW in 2009, and back by popular demand! Last year, we booked our favorite six-piece Irish band for two back-to-back private concerts. And yes, we’ve booked the Elders for a Double Whammy in July of 2010, pending host town approval. Check out EldersMusic.com, and stay tuned for more on our evening entertainment.
Our Open-Air Living Rooms (huge shady circus tents) with chairs and four big Cool Zone fans that blow a refreshing mist into the air
Ice-cold beverages, some free and some cheap, about 90 cents each
Our friendly Front Desk crew, ready to direct you to showers, kybos, and local amenities
Hot Coffee We start brewing at 4:30 a.m., three gallons every eight minutes. Help yourself! Hot chocolate and hot tea, too.
NEW and Different Every Year—Two Dinners in Camp. Last year, we included two wonderful church suppers. Our St. Mary’s hosts roasted Pork Loins on Sunday and our friends at First Lutheran served homemade Turkey and Noodles on Wednesday—delicious sides and desserts, too! After May 1, we’ll give you the mouth-watering details for this year.
Massage! Five therapists, strong and superb, in camp (additional charge)
Professional Bike Mechanics, friendly and highly skilled, set up in camp daily
PBV’s Midweek Laundry Service (optional, proceeds to Juvenile Diabetes Research) There’s nothing like dry, fresh, and folded.
Pete’s Shower Thingy It’s a table, plumbed with five spigots, equipped with a mirror and a wringer for your bike shorts. Fill water bottles, shave, brush your teeth.
EXPANDED in 2010—Juice Thingys for Electricity Our dad is adding about 50 more outlets, so we’ll have upwards of 160 total (with a whisper-quiet generator) for charging phones, fans, and other electronics.
Pump Thingy, a special compressor to make pumping your tires a breeze.
Free weeklong storage of your bike shipping container, be it a hard-shell bike case or a box—$20 value, free to weeklong Porkers.
NEW in 2009—Luxury SAG Service Details below, additional charge.
This and That: come to the equipment truck and ask our crew for a band-
aid, a plastic cup, a hammer for your tent stakes. Just ask. We probably have it.
Before RAGBRAI:
About 35 informative email updates to help you plan and prepare
Several May scouting trips to host towns to reserve great campsites
Prompt answers to your questions on email and by phone
Our comprehensive June Letter with virtually all the info you need in one document
A compilation of Tips for First-Timers from our RAGBRAI Veterans
An opportunity to ship your bike by FedEx to PBV in Iowa
NEW in 2010 PBV Locations on a laminated card at check-in
Mechanical assistance on arrival with uncrating your bike and getting it road ready
At the end of RAGBRAI:
Assistance from our mechanics with getting your bike ready to fly or ship home
A special FedEx receiving area right in our camp in ---- for shipped bikes
A fond-farewell letter that recounts the week’s highlights
NEW in 2009, an audio-visual memento of our week together
So that’s what we know so far about Weeklong Support, but we’ll know more in May, after we’ve met with our hosts. As ever, we are always, always thinking of ways to make you merry. So long as we keep raising our standards and you keep lowering your expectations, everybody’s happy.
*Each town’s host committee has the final say on shower venders. It’s possible that a town may prefer that we use another vender. When we scout in early May, we’ll make arrangements in each town, and in any case, every Porker will receive a daily shower from PBV. Similarly, it’s possible that a host town would not allow an Elders Concert. But we’re optimistic. More detail on the shower service in our invitation letter.
Do I need THAT much support? Well, ask yourself this: after a long hot road, what’s it worth to have a big helpful crew waiting at my well-appointed camp? What’s it worth to have access to the whole Pork Infrastructure, the full range of Pork Comfort, and continual Pork Frivolity every day? You will pay more for our charter, but it could mean the difference between a complicated, exhausting bike trip and a carefree athletic adventure.