Across Iowa on a Trandem

This past July, I biked across Iowa on a three-person bike with two friends I met in Antarctica, Holly and Sylvia. I’ve been interested in RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) for the past few years and was very excited to finally be doing it.

Getting There

We ordered our trandem off Alibaba and had it delivered to my work. After months of wondering whether it would actually arrive, it finally did! Three chefs helped me load it into my truck. It came in one million pieces with no instructions but luckily it all eventually came together after long nights in the garage.

Holly met me in Montana and joined me on the road trip to beautiful corn country! We took the trandem to see Devils Tower in Wyoming and said hello to our founding fathers.

We fulfilled Holly’s long-awaited dream of visiting Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska. I would definitely recommend! We even saw more floating cars later in the day in Grand Island, Nebraska.

The RAGBRAI route changes every year, and we were lucky enough to start near the town where Children of the Corn was filmed! As a big Stephen King fan, we had to do a quick detour.

Day 0 – Onawa

We made it to the starting town, met up with Sylvia, and tried out the bike with all of us on it for the first time! It miraculously went extremely well after some unnerving trial runs a few days prior.

Day 1 – Onawa to Harlan

Distance: 58.5 miles
Elevation: 3,465 feet

We loaded our tents and camping gear into the RAGBRAI trucks and hit the road! Not having to carry our gear was extremely helpful. We had some issues with the bike (we named her Maizie) and had to do some roadside maintenance. Maizie was definitely not built for hills.

Beautiful corn country.

Reaching a new town and seeing the festivities was always fun. It was also extremely exciting to fill up our water bottles because it was HOT outside.

It appears the back two riders are drinking beer! #drivesoberorgetpulledover. We ordered pizza to the tent after a long first day.

Day 2 – Harlan to Guthrie Center

Distance: 53.9 miles
Elevation: 3,554 feet

I’m a huge fan of getting up early, riding in the cool weather, and watching the sunrise. One of the towns we biked through, Elk Horn, has a working windmill that was relocated from Denmark!

Breakfast hot dogs yummm. Right after leaving Elk Horn our back chain (yes, this bike has three separate chains) snapped. We returned to Elk Horn, and I took this ridiculous picture of Maizie in the bike stand getting a new chain. The hills were hard on her, but luckily this was the last mechanical issue we had!

Picture with Margie the cow! We also passed the Missouri-Mississippi divide, which is where water splits and either flows west to the Missouri River or east to the Mississippi River.

Day 3 – Guthrie Center to Boone

Distance: 59.5 miles
Elevation: 1,503 feet

We got a picture with Yale, Iowa’s local bald eagles.

I really liked this big bike statue in Perry. Iowa loves their bikes!

Pennywise emerging from the sewer to stalk you.

Tent city at the Des Moines Area Community College!

Day 4 – Boone to Marshalltown

Distance: 62.2 miles
Elevation: 1,563 feet

Tried to take a selfie and almost lost control of the bike. Beautiful Iowa sunrise!

So many animals to pet!!!

We got Maizie blessed by a priest because she needed all the prayers she could get. We also signed a giant bowling pin in Nevada.

Lots of people wanted pictures of our bike, and some even wanted pictures on it! Our Antarctica friend, Sherri, took us out to dinner and I got the biggest burrito I have ever seen in my life. It looked even bigger in person. It was big enough that a picture of me taking a picture of it exists.

Day 5 – Marshalltown to Independence

Distance: standard route was 81.4 miles (we ended up doing the 100-mile challenge)
Elevation: 2,713 feet

This was a LONG day. We decided to do the century challenge, which ended up being closer to 104 miles. Maizie is a single-speed bike and can’t go very fast on flat sections, maxing out at around 7 mph. You may also be wondering why our knees are so bent. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to adjust the height of the front two seats.

Day 6 – Independence to Dyersville

Distance: 42.2 miles
Elevation: 1,441 feet

We met Lainey, the smallest adult cow in Iowa!

Day 7 – Dyersville to Dubuque

Distance: 33.7 miles
Elevation: 1,788 feet

The route went straight through the Field of Dreams filming area. We met some of the ghost players from the movie and even got to ride the bases!

Sylvia somehow acquired bubbles!

We made it to Dubuque and dipped Maizie’s tire in the Mississippi! If you were curious about why our jerseys say “Bigger Than Sports” on them, it is because we were raising money for the Bigger Than Sports foundation, which provides underserved student-athletes with mentorship, educational opportunities, career guidance, and resources to succeed beyond sports. I recommend you check out their website.

We somehow ended up on the news a few times and even a podcast! If you were interested in being the proud owner of this lovely bike, she has unfortunately found a new home. I’m not sure I’ll ever find myself on another trandem, but I’m glad this happened and I couldn’t have imagined this adventure with anyone else.

Getting Back

I took the long way back to Montana and stopped at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site to see nuclear missiles from the Cold War. Obviously, I also had to stop at Wall Drug for hot sauce and knickknacks and such.