Pie in the sky? I never heard of that constellation! But don\’t we all have our pie in the sky cycling dreams?

I\’ve thought before now that I\’d like to tackle RAGBRAI some day. Now it sound more marvelous than ever! I\’ll skip the punctures, though, whether during RAGBRAI or on the way there! Or, for that matter, on the way home. Tire liners would be useless against a nail like that one.

Oh, what would I need to do to ride RAGBRAI? Or, as I\’ve nicknamed it, RAG-PIE? Start training up right now, for sure. Murphy\’s Law states that Everything takes longer than you think, so I\’d need to allow several years to prepare!

Something that I can start now is pushing the pace more on weekday morning rides so that I can get in more miles; and I need to work towards extending my Sunday long rides to 60 miles.

RABGRAI averages about 67 miles per day, for seven days.  If I can ride 60 miles in 5-6 hours, I can do 67 in a day. It\’s doing it daily for a whole week that makes me say, wait a minute, am I ready for this?

It sounds like RAGBRAI can get very hot, so more riding in the hottest part of the day would be in order. Maybe I should start doing an additional short ride after work once or twice a week? It would be a start.

At least is sounds as though I wouldn\’t need a touring bike. Having to buy one would, of course, add to the expense of such a trip. Especially as a first-time participant, I don\’t think I\’d want to have to pedal a loaded bicycle every day. Even if somebody else transports it for me, however, I\’ll need to learn how to set up a tent. A tent needs a groundcloth under it. And a sleeping bag for inside!

And there\’s getting to Iowa in the first place, and then back home after the ride. If I can\’t get a ride up there with someone who doesn\’t mind my being a non-driver, maybe Amtrak?

All that is supposing my name were drawn in the RAGBRAI lottery! What pie-in-the-sky dreams I have!