Am I on track? Or would I be, if I were determined to ride RAGBRAI 2024?

I’m far from sure. According to the info given, this year’s RAGBRAI will be the hilliest yet — and I’ve got a long way to go before I can become a good climber.

Sure, I know — practice pushing hard in a hard gear; practice riding hard against a headwind. Good ideas in theory; but in actual practice, it’s very easy to slack off when I get tired. If I were riding real hills, I might not have that option. 

How do I stack up against the recommended training plan? Am I on track? At the moment, yes; but in a few weeks, the mileages go up!

Another aspect of RAGBRAI is weather. I’m used to humidity; but not to riding for miles in the hottest part of the afternoon. My practice has always been to ride early in the day, so as to avoid having to pedal in a 100+ heat index.

During RAGBRAI, that seems to be impossible. A cooling neck gaiter would help; but I’d need to start going for afternoon rides, so I can develop the necessary conditioning.

It might not be long before our afternoon temperatures reach well into the 80s; and now that I’m retired, I could do it. The catch is, do I really want to?