Pork Belly Update-The Detail Form!

...And other information, including:

• Account balances now due
• Who should complete the Detail Form, and Why
• What we ask for on the Detail Form
• How to find the Detail Form
• FAQs about the Detail Form
• Deadlines: Payment, Cancellation, and How to Cancel if you must
• Group Names
• Availability of Services
• Do you have the App?

Account balances are now due!

Just a friendly reminder that your account balances are due in full by May 15th. You may pay your balance via credit card by logging into your pkbelly.com account. If you'd like to save the credit card processing fees, you're always welcome to mail us a check! If you will be sending a check and it won't make it by the 15th or if you need to make any other arrangements, please write to us at info@pkbelly.com so we know you're still planning on joining us. If there are small charges hanging out there for indoor sleeping additions or optional meals (coming soon) you have a little more time on those. Thanks!

Who should complete the Detail Form, and why?

The Detail Form collects some simple but important info that we need in order to better serve you! This is important, friends, and we appreciate you reading these instructions carefully and completing your form by June 15th.

EVERYONE receiving this email should complete the form

Everyone who uses any services of Pork Belly Ventures - even if it's only a shuttle - completes at least some of the form. (You will not have your RAGBRAI Registration number now, but you will complete this part when you do have it.) Depending on what services you are using, some questions may not apply, and that's fine. More on that below...

Attention to detail helps us all!

Our web administrator has created software that we can use at the site for counting bike types, assigning riders to coaches on our various shuttles, and producing reports on things like dietary restrictions. Your detail form, completed on time, helps us serve you in MANY WAYS! We couldn't manage without it.

What we ask for on the Detail Form

RAGBRAI Registration Number

You may not have this number yet. Please complete this portion of the Detail Form as soon as you receive your number. It must be completed by every person who is using any service of Pork Belly Ventures. If you don't have your registration number yet, you can enter the word, "Later" - but remember, you must be registered with RAGBRAI and provide us this number to use our services.

Extra Night in our Rental Tent

If you already have the rental-tent service of Pork Belly Ventures, and if you plan to arrive at our Onawa campsite via our E/W Shuttle or by private transportation on FRIDAY, July 17, you may reserve this extra night in your rental tent for an additional charge. (The tent service covers seven nights--Saturday, July 18, to Friday, July 25.)

If you're on our tent waiting list, please wait until you clear the list and we can put the tent service on your application, and only then, you can select the extra night.

Our shuttles from Omaha and Des Moines operate only on Saturday. Don't select this option if you are on these shuttles or arriving on Saturday.

We provide rental tents on Friday, July 17, only in Onawa, not in Dubuque. (In Dubuque, you can sleep in air-conditioning, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, only $25 - write to kay@pkbelly.com to add this).

Dietary Restrictions

For those using our support, we do not want this part of the form to be misleading. There are limits to the variety we can provide for our included evening meals (and the optional meals). We have learned that we cannot promise a strictly vegan option. Sorry to say, we cannot handle every food allergy or dietary restriction. We do make a concerted effort to provide a meatless alternative to the entree and a GF alternative to the entree. Sometimes we can do better, and we'll try. We will offer these alternatives for each of our three included evening meals, and we will make every attempt to offer these alternatives for the optional evening meals as well. We will publish the menus as soon as we can, probably in the later part of June.

NOTE: If you have a dietary restriction, we understand that you may have questions about food options. We will address this topic--regarding our evening meals and our in-camp vendors--in our June Letter (your travel guide for PBV) published in June, and/or in our update called Our Week in the Corn. Please bear in mind that you may need to hit the supermarket during RAGBRAI or bring a little stash of nourishing, non-perishable foods/bars you like and can eat. If you have a severe allergy, please let us know and we will talk through some considerations.

Bike Info

On the detail form, we ask whether you'll have a bike for us to transport with you on our shuttle (or not), whether you're shipping the bike (BikeFlights), or whether you and your bike will arrive some other way.

Bike Type/Packing

We will ask you to select from a menu of bike types and let us know whether the bike will be boxed or unboxed when we transport it on the shuttle.

Omaha Shuttle Folks

Please give us complete information so that we can get you assigned to the coach/departure you prefer. Every year, lots of Omaha Detail Forms are incomplete, but we hope this year will be different. We need to know your airline, flight number, arrival time, PLUS your preferred departure time for Onawa. For instance, you may arrive on Friday night, but hope to sleep in and board your coach at 10:30 AM on Saturday. Please be sure you complete your Detail Form by June 15th, when we need to create and publish our rosters. This information is especially helpful when there are airline delays (there always are) and we can look up flight information so we don't leave someone behind or let buses go with empty seats.

How to find and complete your Detail Form

You Must Login to your www.pkbelly.com account

You can access your account with the username and password you created when you originally registered, or by finding your PBV confirmation email and clicking on the "Click to Continue the Application" link. This will bypass the need to enter a username and password. If you've tried those and are striking out, email us at info@pkbelly.com for assistance!

And then where is it?

You will not find a tab on our website that says "Detail Form." You will first need to login (or use the direct link) and find the button within your own PBV registration. Then, you'll scroll down and see the view below.

Please look for the green tab across from your name, labeled Detail Form. No matter which way you access your account, you'll see this view (with your own unique information) and can click on the Detail Form.

FAQs about the Detail Form

Do I need to choose Preferred Departure Times?

Not everyone needs to choose a departure!

• If you are using our E/W Shuttle from Dubuque to Onawa, you should have already chosen a departure time on a drop-down menu on the PBV application form, so you can disregard this part.
• If you are using our Omaha airport shuttle to Onawa, please enter your arrival info (airline, flight number, and when you arrive, or for those who drive, your ETA). In addition, please choose a preferred departure time between 7:30/8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. WE BUILD THIS DEPARTURE SCHEDULE AROUND YOUR ARRIVALS AND PREFERENCES. You may select First Available, meaning that you want the first available shuttle departure after your arrival. (Trust us to allow time for you to claim baggage and transfer to our hotel from the Omaha airport.) If you arrive on Friday and select First Available, we'll do our best to assign you to one of our earliest departure times. Omaha passengers, you can complete this form anytime between now and mid-June. (We caution riders about arriving in Omaha on Saturday afternoons. Arrivals after 3:00 PM, even with little delays, would likely miss our last departure.). Later on, we'll advise you on the free airport shuttle that will transfer you from Eppley Airport to our hotel parking lot.
• If you are using our Des Moines airport shuttle to Onawa don't need to choose a time (but you need to answer the other questions on your Detail Form). All coaches depart at 9:15 AM.
• If you are using only our post-RAGBRAI shuttles do not need to choose a departure time. On the last day of RAGBRAI, July 25th, all coaches to Quad Cities airport depart at Noon or 1:30 PM. All coaches to our Omaha airport hotels depart at 2:15 PM, and all coaches to our Des Moines airport hotel depart at 2:30 PM. We will have a separate update that explains and describes the last day of RAGBRAI.

How soon should I complete the Detail Form?

It's a good idea to do it sooner rather than later. By mid-June, we'll hope to provide our caterers with numbers on dietary restrictions, and we will begin even earlier creating shuttle rosters (early birds would have an advantage on Omaha bus assignments). Everyone should shoot for completion by June 15th. Thanks!

What if I'm on a group application?

If you're on an application with other people, each person needs to complete a Detail Form. If you didn't create the login, then you'll need to have your group leader share the login credentials or the direct link with you, or you can provide the group leader with your responses to each question on the form. It might be worthwhile to have a phone call with your group leader for the purpose of completing your detail forms.

How We Can and Cannot Help

We can send login credentials to your group leader.

If you're having trouble, we can help you find the tab for the Detail Form.

Of course, we can answer questions about your shuttle or other aspects of our services.

We CANNOT fill out the forms for you. We kindly ask you NOT to email us with information that belongs on your Detail Form in lieu of completing it. It is something you will have to do, as individuals or as groups.

Payment Deadlines

Today is our payment deadline. On May 15th of each year, full payment of balances is due. By then, we need to know who's in and who's out.

If you're having trouble finding your login credentials and you intend to make payment online with your credit card, please look for the link in your confirmation email or write to us at info@pkbelly.com and ask for some assistance.

Or - you can mail a check and SAVE a little on credit-card processing fees. Send your check to PBV LLC, 412 Forest Glen Drive, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503.

If you need a little more time, one more paycheck, whatever, please let us know. We need to know that you're planning on us, but we CAN be flexible on the deadline if it helps you. Write to us: info@pkbelly.com with your request.

Cancellation Deadlines

We remind you of our Cancellation Policy and Refund Deadline, so that there's no misunderstanding. June 15th is the last day to cancel and get a 90% refund, for any reason. After June 15th, we don't make any refunds, unless you took our cancellation protection when you initially registered. If so - then you have extended your 90% refund to Wednesday, July 15th at 10:00 PM CST. If you have our protection and cancel by email by 10:00 PM on July 15th, we will make a 90% refund by check (mailed to you after RAGBRAI). After July 15th at 10:00 PM, we're sorry, we cannot make any refunds in any instances.

If you need to cancel services: Please send us an email!

If you need to cancel services, simply write to us at info@pkbelly.com. If you're due a refund, you can include your mailing address in the text of the email. An email establishes the date of your cancellation. It makes it possible for us to look you up by name, or if the name is very common, we can look you up by email address. And it allows us to copy members of our team on the reply and keep everyone in the loop. We are scouting and traveling to other events between now and RAGBRAI, and we don't promise that we will receive voice messages. Email is the way to cancel some or all services on your registration.

Do not go into your registration form and remove all services, please. This complicates the process on our end, causing us to search for confirmation emails and reconstruct your registration to determine whether a refund is due and the amount. Simply write us an email, and we'll take it from there.

Group Names - For Shuttles & the Tent Grid

We'll keep reminding you until sometime in June, when we need to go forward with the rental tent grid and the shuttle rosters.

If you wish to be assigned to the same coach with other folks in your group, OR if you would like your rental tent to be set up next to someone else's rental tent, YOU MUST HAVE A COMMON GROUP NAME ON ALL APPLICATIONS. If someone types "Team Cycologist," and others type "Cycologists," then we will sort alphabetically and NOT know who is supposed to be together. If one group member types "OFWCC," and another types "Old Folks with Credit Cards," we will sort alphabetically and NOT know who is supposed to be together. Type exactly identical common group names on all applications of your group members, please. Even if two people are on the same application (even if you have the same surname), the common group name helps us a great deal. Thank you! You're helping us serve you better!

(And just saying, friends, at check-in, we'd like to avoid anyone getting upset because their tent is not near their friends' tents. This happens, and by then it's too late to fix it. Please USE AN IDENTICAL COMMON GROUP NAME on the applications of ALL OF YOUR GROUP MEMBERS.)

Availability of Services

Trying to talk your best friend from college into joining you on RAGBRAI? Maybe you feel guilty for not inviting your brother? Did your daughter finally take up cycling? Decide you want to add on to your shuttle package and push the 'Easy Button' instead of navigating RAGBRAI's Main Campground? We still have some room! While the Tent Service has been sold out for some time, we have spots open for our Weeklong Service and at least 5 indoor sleeping options this year. We'd love to have you (or your friend, brother, daughter, neighbor...) join us!

We'll be in touch when we have more news to share, friends! Thanks for joining us on RAGBRAI this year.

Cheers, from all of us here at Pork Belly Ventures!