Riders, Iowa endure one more scorching day as RAGBRAI 2023 nears its end

It was not a day most people would have chosen to be out on bicycles — let alone riding more than 80 miles.

The mercury's upward march was already well underway by Friday morning, with heat indexes expected to reach 110 or more across Iowa.

Yet, there they were, 40,000 or more bikers stretched along the countryside, as the Register's Great Annual Bicycle Ride 50th anniversary edition endured its third straight scorcher of a day while making its way from Tama-Toledo to Coralville.

More: From Sioux City to Davenport, the Des Moines Register's Courtney Crowder covers RAGBRAI 50

Marje Duray said even training under the merciless sun of her hometown, Naples, Florida, couldn't prepare her for the intense Iowa heat and hills.

"When you're talking about flat, old Florida, I ride bridges over a canal, you know, that's how I get my elevations," Duray said.

Long line at SAG wagon stop

She was one of the nearly 30 people hoping to catch a ride to Coralville, the Day 6 overnight town, from the meeting town of Marengo, joining the crowd about 10:30 a.m. at the designated stop for the ride's support-and-gear vehicles, or SAG wagons.

She had been in line for 10 minutes when one of the buses RAGBRAI has requisitioned to help it deal with the heat arrived at Iowa Valley Junior-Senior High School. Others told Duray they'd been waiting for an hour.

"Yesterday was a tough day, I think tougher than anyone expected," she said.

More: RAGBRAI riders near Colfax not sure they agree that 'The Gravel is Worth the Travel'

Duray, a first-timer, said she felt "pretty good" through Wednesday, when the heat wave began, and survived 62 miles of Thursday's almost 90-mile ride before getting picked up by her charter.

She started riding at 5:30 a.m. Friday, trying to beat the heat. But by the time she got to Marengo, she said, it was taking its toll.

"I just started feeling my respiration was up and I should probably just take it easy, because I want to finish strong tomorrow," she said, looking ahead to the ride's final stretch Saturday from Coralville to the Mississippi River tire dip in Davenport.

Even so, she said the experience of an Iowa summer at its worst won't discourage her from coming back.

More: What's it like to be an Iowa State Trooper on RAGBRAI? We spend a morning with one

"I think Iowa is one of the most beautiful states I've ever seen," she said. "I'll be back at probably another RAGBRAI, but I've got to watch the climate."

Janice Stanley, of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, also sat on the grass at the Marengo SAG pickup area Thursday morning.

Stanley, who has completed RAGBRAI twice, said this was her first time "sagging," as veteran riders call hopping on a SAG wagon before the day's ride is complete.

"I'm tired," she laughed. "Who says Iowa doesn't have hills?"

Compared with previous years, the route overall has been harder, with its challenging climbs and high mileage.  And after Wednesday's ride, Stanley said, she felt depleted.

"I got to a point where I couldn't eat anything, so I was running on empty the whole time," Stanley said.

More: Need a shower? RAGBRAI riders in Tama-Toledo find car wash is just the place

Despite a good night's sleep, she decided to cut herself off after 40 miles Thursday to conserve energy for the last push Saturday.

"I'm not going to miss that," she said.

Unlike Wednesday's route, she said, Friday's terrain was "wonderful."

"If today was yesterday, I would have been doing the whole route today," she said. "It's just, those hills took us out today."

Mobile clinic following ride helps take load off ERs

Staff from the Dubuque's MercyOne Mobile Medical Unit said more than 400 people had sought care on Wednesday during the RAGBRAI Day 4 ride from Ames to Des Moines.

The mobile unit, which typically provides health care services such as COVID-19 vaccinations and health screenings in Dubuque, has followed along with RAGBRAI riders over the past two years' rides, said nurse Michelle Arensdorf, the unit coordinator.

By providing them free care, it helps to ease the load they could put on hospital emergency rooms and care centers, she said.

That likely showed as Des Moines hospitals reported only a few dozen RAGBRAI emergency room visits Wednesday and Thursday, though they reported they weren't seeing many patients with heat-related ailments on Friday, either.

While last year's riders experienced some cooler weather, "this year was a different story," because of the heat and volume of people, Arensdorf said.

She said the mobile unit's staff saw patients back-to-back Wednesday as riders finished the day in Des Moines, many coming in with heat exhaustion and chest pain.

More: For RAGBRAI riders, decorating roadkill is a lively tradition on the 50th anniversary route

The following day in the meeting town of Newton, the unit saw about 150 patients. Staff included ER nurses and physical therapists who helped sore riders.

Arsendorf said the staff had a gallon of sunscreen available for riders, who were "bathing in it." They also reminded passersby to drink plenty of water.

"It showed how hard RAGBRAI can be because of the elements," she said. "It's fun but exhausting."

"I'm glad we were there. It's nice to be able to provide support across the state."

Friday route delights riders as RAGBRAI's end nears

While some riders were suffering Friday, others were enjoying the scenic trip through the Iowa River valley despite the oppressive heat, buoyed by the knowledge that the ride's longest, hardest day, Thursday, was behind them.

Amy Shoe, of Austin, Texas, called the Friday route, which included a stop in the historic German village of Amana, "the perfect ride."

"Today was good," Shoe said. "Yesterday, I didn't think the hills would end."

Sheila Duggan, of St. Charles, Illinois, said she and her first-timer friend have been conservative about their approach to the ride, and it's helped them make it through.

More: Lynyrd Skynyrd calls out RAGBRAI 50 crowd for not being loud enough. That changes by the end.

"We were good about fueling, rehydrating, resting ― we actually took a nap in Grinnell" before completing Thursday's ride to Tama-Toledo, Duggan said. "So I would have to say, I feel great."

As she looked ahead to the final day, she said, she was vacillating between being excited to finish and being sad that the ride is coming to an end.

"It depends on what time of day. At the beginning of the ride, I'm feeling good," she said. "I feel like, 'Oh yeah, this was worth it.' Then when the day's done, I'm like, 'Wow, will I be able to get up and do this one more time?'"

Duggan, who has done RAGBRAI three times before, said the people keep her coming back.

"It's really about the people," she said. "It's a spectacle of humanity."

Wife-husband duo Mabel Wong and Bob Storelli, of Carmichael, California, made a pit stop in Marengo at 10 a.m. before continuing the route.

"Today is a little flatter," Wong said. "It's been a nice ride."

"We looked up and said, 'Whoa, it's Friday already.' It's gone fast," Storelli said. "It's different. Where else in the world can you do this?"

Staff writer Francesca Block contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Scorching heat continues as RAGBRAI 50 travels to Coralville on Friday