Pork Belly Update-Early Finish Shuttles

May 19, 2025

Dear Friends,

 

A single topic today...

the Early-Finish Shuttles

of Pork Belly Ventures.

IF THESE SHUTTLES DON'T INTEREST YOU,

FEEL FREE TO DELETE THIS UPDATE NOW.

 

We appreciate your happy notes and letters, and we're so glad that these shuttles will give some of you peace of mind about your Week in the Corn!

 

Please understand that we do have to make each update complete--else we get flooded with email questions. So we'll put the new info up front, and then re-publish some details below.

New Info on PBV

Early-Finish Shuttles

on Tuesday

and the Last Saturday

What Is An Early-Finish Shuttle?

These shuttles allow riders to leave camp in the morning, cycle approximately half of their daily mileage, and then meet up with our crew, load their bikes, and board a coach for a lift to our campsite or staging area in the next overnight town. In short, you ride half the day and have more time in the overnight town. If you're feeling a little unsure about the more challenging days of RAGBRAI 2025, consider using our early-finish shuttles.

 

Tuesday and Saturday, 7/22 and 7/26

For these shuttles, we have chosen the two days that we've heard the most concern about: Tuesday with 74 cycling miles, and the last Saturday, with 62 quite-hilly miles.

 

Shuttles ONLY for Those on PBV Support

These shuttles are available only for those on our Weeklong Support or Partial-Week Support.

 

Shuttle Pricing

We're glad we didn't try to guess at our expenses, because the bus prices came in on the high end. The shuttle prices will be $60 per person, including bike transport.

 

Further Planning Ahead

We'll spare you the details, but the result of this planning will be exact mileage that you will ride each day (approximately half of each day), and a precise location along your route where you will find our shuttle operation. We'll send maps of these locations. You can sign up now, and we'll be sending more detail later on.

 

How to Sign Up

Each of you may login to your PBV account, click EDIT beside your name, and select one or both of the Early-Finish Shuttles. Don't forget to scroll down and SAVE your changes. If you like, you can make your payment by credit card, incurring the processing fee. Or you can mail a check for your balance. We're working to offer more extras as soon as we can, and we can let these small balances ride for a little while, if you want to wait and pay for everything in one go. (Large balances should have been settled by May 15.)

Most everything below is explanation, which you may have read before. We include it for those who might have missed an update or two.

 

Thanks so much, friends, and we'll be on your screens again soon.

 

Take care,

 

Tammy and Pete

More Detail on

Early-Finish Shuttles

  • Our crew will be set up to load bikes at a pre-determined location in a town about halfway through your cycling day on Tuesday and on Saturday, the last day.
  • Prior to RAGBRAI, we will publish maps of our Early-Finish Shuttle location/s.
  • A motor coach will arrive 30 minutes prior to the published departure time.
  • Some riders have written to say that they plan to take these options as "insurance," and use them or not use them, depending on how they feel on that day. This is always the case for some riders, who hope to make it, but want that Plan B.
  • This service, an Early-Finish Shuttle, like all other services, is subject to our cancellation and refund policy. Therefore, after RAGBRAI begins, we will not make refunds if you change your mind about using your Early-Finish Shuttle.

 

Regarding Tuesday, 7/22:

  • Mileage on Tuesday is 74 miles with 1308 feet of climb. The shuttle would cut this milage approximately in half.
  • A Tuesday departure time would be about 1:00 PM, with a target arrival in Forest City about 2:00 PM, barring traffic.
  • Those who take this option would be transferred by our shuttle directly to our next campsite.
  • In the Forest City campsite on Tuesday, shuttle passengers may claim bikes and enjoy the rest of the day.

 

Regarding Saturday, 7/26:

  • Mileage on Saturday is 61 miles with 2341 feet of climb. We are not sure which pass-through town will be our pick-up point, but the shuttle would eliminate the last 25 or more hilly miles.
  • A Saturday departure time would be about 10:45 AM, with a target arrival in Guttenberg by about 11:40 AM, barring traffic.
  • Those who take this option would be transferred by our shuttle directly to our Guttenberg staging area.
  • In the Guttenberg staging area on Saturday, shuttle passengers may claim bikes and perhaps dip their tires. It is only a flat two-mile distance on a residential street to the dip site for those who wish to participate in the tire-dipping tradition at the banks of the Mississippi.
  • The Saturday Early-Finish Shuttle would help any riders who are concerned about arriving in Guttenberg, loading bikes, getting a shower, getting something to eat, and boarding their coach on time.
  • On Saturday, our Quad Cities shuttle departs at 2:30 PM.
  • On Saturday, the smaller early Quad Cities shuttle departs at 1:00 PM.
  • On Saturday, the Omaha shuttle (all coaches) departs at 3:00 PM.
  • On Saturday, the Des Moines shuttle (all coaches) departs at 3:15 PM.

 

Of course, we welcome you to write to us

with any questions

about our early-finish shuttles.

 

Pork Belly Ventures LLC 

Tammy: 808-375-8921 c, tammy@pkbelly.com

Pete: 402-681-2613 c, pete@pkbelly.com

 www.pkbelly.com