Sharon Wurst, on left in white top, and Pam Howard, next to her, prepare to climb aboard their bikes and travel the grueling 450-mile ride across Iowa, the RAGBRAI

by Terri Bahne

     It's 5 a.m. on a cold, April Saturday. You don your long pants, gloves, and moisture-resistant windbreaker and head on out the door. To work? Of sorts, because what you're embarking on IS hard work, yet you'll not be monetarily paid. Instead, you pay a price for clicking off mile after mile - mentally as well as physically. After all, you've decided to train for one of the biggest events of your life - The Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in July - or better known as RAGBRAI. And before you pedal one tire rotation across that great "flat" land of Iowa, it's suggested that you put between 500 and 700 practice miles under your belt. Being the somewhat casual bikers that they are, Sharon Wurst and Pam Howard (two Gowandanites, as well as sisters-in-law), and after reading an article in the Buffalo News on Sept. 15, 2002, decide to participate in RAGBRAI.

     Wurst stated, "We read the article thinking, 'Let's do this before we retire.' [But] we were tired of saying, 'That would have been fun.' So we decided to do it. Besides, Iowa's flat. How bad could it be?" How little they knew ...

     Of course, that's what life is all about - living and learning, which is what Howard and Wurst were about to experience first hand. Going to the official RAGBRAI web site (www.ragbrai.org), as well as purchasing "River to River, Year After Year: RAGBRAI Through the Lens of Register Photographers" by the Des Moines Register, helped these ladies educate themselves for the journey of a lifetime.

     First they needed to commit themselves fully to this undertaking. After a little research, Wurst and Howard decided to go with Overland Touring Company, out of Waverly, IA as opposed to trying to enter the lottery selection themselves (8,500 week-long passes are up for grabs with the Overland Tour Company never being turned away their 20 or 30 spots). Investing a little bit more than most of the throng of participants meant having their luggage make it to the "overnight town" (where people set up camp for the night), and NOT have their bags dumped into a huge heap and then digging through. It also meant that they had slightly nicer places to camp (on people's front lawns, for example, sometimes even offering the bikers select indoor facilities).

     RAGBRAI is an annual event, its roots stemming from two journalists in 1973 challenging all those who dared cross Iowa's terrain by bicycle, west to east, as a means to experience the spirit of the state. Participants young and old, experienced and not, famous and not, first time or seasoned, could be seen then and now. And many things about RAGBRAI change from year to year - especially the route ... which is not published until February of the year in which it occurs.

     Not knowing what lay ahead of them, yet wanting to be involved, Wurst and Howard booked their tour far before February's publishing. They would find out later that their route would be called, "The Devil's Washboard," with the 450 miles spanning over seven days, 16,100 feet of climb and an elevation difference of three miles from start to finish. Did I mention that Iowa is not flat?!

     Next in line for preparation was gear. Wurst went on-line to find a local bike shop ("Shickluna" on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo) where she and Howard were fitted with the proper headgear, shorts, gloves, and of course, bikes. They needed other supplies as well - like a tent. This would prove interesting seeing as the ladies were not the outdoorsy types. "Pam had never been camping before, and I [may have camped with the] Girl Scouts," stated Wurst, so they practiced setting it up in their living rooms until they became good at it.

     And they definitely needed to become good at riding bikes for long distances. Entering themselves in the Tour de Cure May 31, and riding 62.5 miles in the rain helped prepare Howard and Wurst for what was yet to come. Additionally, they would traverse the countryside from Gowanda to Hamburg (stopping at Tim Horton's for a much-needed hot cup of coffee) and back to Gowanda on various Saturdays to clock the many miles they needed to accumulate in order to prepare for July 20 - the first day of RAGBRAI.

     Traditionally, the event begins with a dipping of one's back tire in either the Missouri River or the Big Sioux River (depending on where the route starts) and ending with the front tire being dipped in the Mississippi River. Wurst and Howard, who were supportively driven to western Iowa by their husbands, somehow missed the "first dipping," instead entering the tour a short time after. That first day began under pea soup-thick fog, hiding the many hills the ladies would encounter. As the day wore on and the fog lifted, Wurst was 'discouraged and not sure if she would ever make the first day' (as written in the daily log that she kept).

     Days two, three, and four were the same - hills, hills and more hills. "I think I was very naive," stated Wurst. "I thought it would be this leisurely bike ride," but Howard was the optimist, reassuring with a "we-can-do-this" attitude.

     "We're not on a race," Howard told Wurst. "If we have to stop for an hour, then we will."

     Pushing on day after day, mile after mile, the women were stretched physically and mentally - the hardest part of it all being mental - willing oneself up yet one more hill.

     They worked hard to accomplish their goal of finishing the tour, yet had fun as well. Every town they passed through was decorated in some fashion, usually offering some kind of home-style food (pork was big on the menu, as well as cinnamon rolls) and/or entertainment. The event could be as serious or as fun as they chose to make it, they were told. Judging by the team Dead Road Kill, who would literally dress up the dead animals on the side of the road with beads and sun glasses to entertain the riders along the way, fun came in many forms.

     When the last day came and the end was in sight (the Mississippi River), the townspeople lined the streets cheering the bikers on. Wurst and Howard could not help but feel like they had accomplished something huge. It was certainly something they had never done before and when asked if they would do it again, Howard answered, "I wouldn't mind doing something like this again. But not Iowa." Wurst added, "The best part was feeling that we did it."