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We try to pack everything you could possibly need to know into
The June Letter!
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Dear Porkers,
We want you to have most everything in one document, and that’s why we created The June Letter, your RAGBRAI travel guidebook for Pork Belly Ventures. It’s a reference document, so please take a moment to decide how you will save this letter and where you'll keep it for the future. Downloadable in PDF format, this letter is intended to answer the lion's share of questions about shuttling with us, about spending the week with us, about the last day of RAGBRAI, and more.
We will save much of the “fun” information about entertainment, food vending in camp, and our catered suppers for inclusion later in “Our Week in the Corn” update.
Reading this letter—or at least reading those parts that are relevant to you—is the BEST way to avoid making mistakes like missing the bus or forgetting to reserve services we provide. We’ve made a concerted effort to condense the instructions and reduce it to bullet points wherever we can.
Still, it’s long. Nobody needs to read every section of this letter. We know that everyone receiving this email has a unique RAGBRAI plan. Nobody needs all parts of this letter, but be sure to read the parts that are pertinent to your situation. If you're not on the Omaha Shuttle or the East/West Shuttle, for instance, skip those entire sections. The June Letter is mostly chronological, except for some of the later sections. The Table of Contents will be your friend. We will provide you with links to download the entire document as a PDF, each chapter separately, and have also laid out the letter in this email for those of you who prefer a more visual experience.
Besides reading your June Letter, how can you stay informed? Make sure to open our updates during June and July and scan the topics to determine whether they are relevant to your RAGBRAI experience. You can always reference the year’s historical updates on our website at https://pkbelly.com/content/emailedUpdates.
If you don’t have the Pork Belly App, get it today. The updates are also available there.
Keep this letter for reference. Re-read as needed. Print the parts that apply to your experience, and mark up a copy with a highlighter. Your June Letter will also be posted online at www.pkbelly.com under "June Letter."
Ready? Carve out some time, grab a cold one, a comfortable seat, and begin reading...
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Table of Contents
(download individual chapters by clicking on titles)
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From this point below, we have included details from the most broadly applicable parts of the contents of The June Letter, in our usual emailed Update format - as well as all the links to chapters again. Feel free to keep scrolling if you prefer to read it in this format, or just download the PDF(s) above.
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The Detail Form - Complete it Right Away!
We opened up the Detail Form in May, and requested completion by June 15th. If you haven’t done so yet, please complete this form now. We use this information to build our shuttle rosters and for our meal counts. Every rider using our services needs to complete this form. It is your responsibility to record your official RAGBRAI registration number on your detail form. (If you don’t have this yet, a confirmation number will work as a placeholder)
- You must login at www.pkbelly.com. Do not click “Edit” unless you need to add services.
- Scroll down and look for the green tab across from your name, labelled Detail Form.
- Another way in… Use the link at the top of your PBV email confirmation, “Click to Continue the Application.” This link allows you to bypass the login process.
- On the Detail Form, provide your registration number for RAGBRAI (bib or wristband number), dietary restrictions, and bike info, and then pre-RAGBRAI shuttle details. Answer those and be sure to save changes.
- Partial-week riders may enter the words “day passes” into the RAGBRAI Registration field.
- Should you have an accident on the bike or should RAGBRAI take possession of your bike for any reason, Pork Belly Ventures cannot provide any assistance in retrieving your bike without your six-digit RAGBRAI wristband number (on the Detail Form).
- In addition to entering your RAGBRAI registration number in the field for your official RAGBRAI wristband number, you must wear your RAGBRAI wristbands to check-in with PBV. We’ll check your weeklong wristband or day passes before providing you with the PBV bracelet.
- Only for those using our Rental Tent Service and arriving in Onawa on Friday: Extra Night (7/17 in Onawa) in Your Rental Tent On the Detail Form, you may select an extra night in your rental tent (Friday 7/17) – this is in Onawa, not in Dubuque. The price is $50. This option is for those who are using the Friday E/W Shuttle or who are being dropped off in Onawa. None of our other shuttles from Omaha or Des Moines run on Friday.
- Thanks in advance for completing your Detail Forms!!
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Payment is Due Now
- Our payment deadline is May 15th.
- Small balances at this point are fine—if you’re still adding our extras. But if you have 90% of your services outstanding, please settle up right away.
- We are cancelling applications with large balances due.
- You may login and pay balances by credit card.
- At this writing, June 25, you can still mail a check, but please write to us and let us know that you’ve done so.
- All balances must be settled before we see you in Iowa.
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Order Optional Dinners Soon
We recently published our optional dinner menus. The cut-off for these orders is July 5th. The caterers must know all numbers, including dietary restrictions, in advance so that they can get their products ordered. If you don’t have your Detail Form with dietary considerations completed by July 5th, you won’t be on our list for those Vegetarian or Gluten-Free meal options. We do not expect these caterers to prepare for much larger numbers than what has been ordered in advance. If you don’t pre-order, you may not have a chance at our optional dinners. Declining our dinners means that you’ll use our food vendors in camp or leave camp to find supper elsewhere in town.
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Massage Appointments
- We have eleven therapists on our team, and if you’d like to book appointments early, complete this Massage Form: https://doxieworks.wufoo.com/forms/p1hrnlqk0t1qykw/. After July 15th, please write to Ashley at ashley@pkbelly.com. Ashley is managing the appointment book for our therapists. Full disclosure: she has been taking appointments for months, and prime-times may be scarce.
- You pay your therapist directly.
- Do take these appointments seriously. Remember them, and keep your appointments with our therapists. If you’re sure you can do that, book away!
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Availability of Services
- Our Weeklong Support and Partial-Week Support are available at this writing. If you know someone interested in joining us, please advise them to sign up sooner rather than later.
- The Rental Tent Service is SOLD OUT and has a long waiting list. Please wait to see if you clear the list. If we get enough cancellations, Kay can begin contacting people on the list.
- The E/W Shuttle is available, and we have not closed any of the departures at present, but the 1:00 PM Friday shuttle is nearing capacity.
- You can still sign up for the pre-RAGBRAI Omaha and Des Moines shuttles of PBV. And if you do, please complete the Detail Form immediately.
- All of our post-RAGBRAI shuttles (to Omaha, Des Moines, and Quad Cities airports) are available at this writing, but some have more space than others. Watch updates for current availability.
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PBV Cancellation Policy, Protection, and Process
Pork Belly Ventures Cancellation Policy Before June 15th, you could cancel part or all of your PBV services and receive a 90% refund. We have reminded everyone of our cancellation policy in many of our email updates. The entire policy is always posted at the top of our home page under "Cancellation." If you opted to not choose our Cancellation Protection, then on or after the 15th of June, we make no refunds. See Cancellation Protection below.
Pork Belly Ventures Cancellation Protection If you took this option when you registered for our services, then you have extended your 90% refund period from June 15th through July 15th at 10:00 p.m. You can click on "Cancellation" at pkbelly.com to read more.
Cancel by Email If you must cancel, please notify us by email at info@pkbelly.com so we can see the date and time that you notified us. Please don’t leave a phone message. (If you have our protection and cancel before July 15th, you may have a refund coming—so please include an address where we may mail your refund check). It’s important for us to be able to easily reference your cancellation if needed, and email allows us to do this.
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July Communication with PBV
Please be willing to read for your answers, folks. In July, we’ll be trying to answer over 200 new emails every day. This makes it difficult to even find the emails from our caterers, musicians, hosts, and food vendors. We will do our best to promptly and completely answer any emailed questions we do get, but please do your best to look for the answer in the information we’ve provided, and understand if there’s a delay.
It's best to email us at info@pkbelly.com, where we have multiple sets of eyes on that inbox. We check email quite a bit, but it is likely we can get behind on phone messages. If you have a matter that needs to handled with a phone conversation, Pete is at 402-681-2613 (cell).
Different crew members may specialize in different aspects of our charter, but they may not know answers to all of the questions. If you don’t find answers in this letter, it’s best to address them to the info@pkbelly.com email address unless we’ve otherwise directed you to contact a specific crew member.
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Email Updates
- From here on in, it's getting more important that you receive and read some of these updates. Delete what does not apply to you.
- Our Mobile App keeps track of updates for you, with a handy archive at your fingertips.
- If you realize that you're not getting our updates, write to info@pkbelly.com to get on our distribution list. Spam filters make it tough sometimes.
- In July, updates will include the host town maps showing our campsite locations, bus assignments and departure times, and anything else that comes up!
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The Pork Belly Smartphone App
Go to your app store and use search words "Pork Belly Mobile App" to download our FREE app. The App has become one of the BEST ways of keeping current on RAGBRAI info, PBV information, and host-town info-- thanks to the diligent work of Katy Fletcher, our app developer. On the app, you can access all PBV email updates of the 2026 season. RAGBRAI announcements are at your fingertips. Rider route maps and PBV Host town maps are very popular features. And BEST OF ALL, daily notices during RAGBRAI, letting you know What’s Waiting for You in Pork Camp Today! The app is available to any RAGBRAI rider – or even your friends/family at home who want to follow along!
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks. If you are using any of our shuttles and transporting a bike, be sure to read this!
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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We will begin with some expectations, and move on to the Check-in Process. Weeklong Porkers, be sure to read this section, or at least scan the headings.
What does PBV Expect of Porkers?
• Our most important expectation is that you be courteous to our hard-working crew.
• We may need your patience at times. This is an operation with a zillion moving parts.
• We have promised to give you extras, comforts, conveniences, and luxuries, and yet you just won't always be 100% comfortable when you’re living outdoors for seven days. Prepare yourself mentally for some physical hardship. You have signed on for a week of biking and camping in the elements. Prepare to cope with it, deal with it, roll with it.
• Things can feel like they are going wrong sometimes, and the heat and physical exhaustion exacerbate this. Take a breath and ask us for help. A lot of times we can end up laughing, or crying, or both, together. Our crew can usually find a lost bag in a matter of minutes, so let us know if something seems to be missing. RAGBRAI is defined as an event where 10,000 people slow down, smell the roses, and stand in line for just about everything. We'll do our best to keep things moving, but in the morning, unless you rise before the sun, you will wait in line for the kybo.
• Each rider with PBV may bring two bags, and you should be able to lift each of them above your head and count to three.
• With short days this year, deadlines in the morning to be out of Tent City or have your luggage on the trailer – as well as not entering Tent City until our crew is ready – are extremely important this year.
• Folks who bring their own tents, please get your bags to our Stupidity trailers by 7:00 AM. We can’t hold the baggage trailer.
• Folks who rent our tents, please be out of your rental tent (and out of the rental tent area) by 7:00 a.m. Please don’t make us come and ask you to leave Tent City in the morning. We have five hours to strike camp, move the whole operation down the road to the next site, and set up for your arrival. Please don’t delay the crew by standing in Tent City putting on your helmet. Move out of the tent area before 7:00 a.m. Then put on your helmet. It’s just common sense, we know, and we’re sure you’ll be lovely and cooperative, but we speak from a few troublesome experiences. We have rented you a tent with this mutual understanding.
• Pick up your own trash. About six of us will circulate each morning with huge trash bags, taking your rubbish as you break camp. It's not okay to leave a pile of trash where you took down your tent. If you miss us when we sweep your area, do your part and place your trash in a receptacle.
• Be quiet after 10:00 pm and before 5:00 a.m.
• Our crew needs sleep. Do not wake them. If you leave your phone on the charging trailer after 10:00 pm, if you have a question or problem after 10:00 pm, go to bed. You can fix these things in the morning. Do not wake the crew.
• Never wake a napping PBV crew member. They work hard for about 18 hours per day, and if they're sleeping in the afternoon, it's because their duties are covered and they need rest. Find someone who is awake to help you with a problem. Except for true health emergencies, most problems that occur between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. can wait.
• Before RAGBRAI, read your updates and do what they say. Some updates are optional reading just for fun, but some (like this one) are critical, so be an attentive reader and know what you're doing.
• LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS. This is a surefire way to have a wonderful time in any situation. We will always try to under-promise in order to manage expectations, but we do hope to surprise and delight our riders in as many ways as we can. If you have a special need, come to us at the Front Desk and we will certainly try to help.
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No Personal Vehicles
No personal vehicles in our campsites. No exceptions. This little detail can cause big problems with our months of planning.
Your Friends Who Are Not with PBV
We MUST know how many people we are serving. Those who “hang out” in our campsites must be wearing our weeklong PBV wristband. We cannot deliver for those who have PAID to be with us, if limited resources are being consumed by people who have not paid to be with us. For the sake of fairness and common sense, please know that our campsite is not a place for your friends who are not Weeklong Porkers to rest and relax.
In some overnight towns, our showers will be the most convenient place for neighboring groups to access shower facilities—and we welcome our neighbors (and in some cases those on town shuttles) to walk up and buy a shower. (RAGBRAI standard for portable shower vendors is $10 per person, plus $2 for the towel.). You do not need to be wearing a Pork Belly wristband to use our showers in most towns, but they will need to pay for this service.
Our crew will check wristbands and baggage tags, and also check the parking lots to see if personal vehicles need to be towed. Sorry to have to do and say these things.
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The Check-In Process for Weeklong Porkers
• Check-in takes place at our Front Desk in Onawa on Friday evening, July 17, 5:30 to ~9 PM (we will check in folks who arrive on the later Friday shuttles), and on Saturday, July 18, from about 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• We'll send you a whole separate update about check-in.
• Please be prepared to show identification at the Front Desk on Saturday. One person cannot check in for a whole group. Each individual must check in.
• You must show your RAGBRAI wristband before you can put on a Pork Belly bracelet or receive your baggage tags. Pork Belly Ventures does not provide services to unregistered riders. You must show us that you are a registered RAGBRAI rider—wear the wristband.
• Don’t lose your Pork Bracelet. If it breaks, save it and bring it to the Front Desk. It’s worth a boatload. Do not lose it.
• To receive our services---to have us carry your baggage, to partake of beverages and meals, to use our massage therapists, to have our mechanics help you with your bike, to drink your morning cup of coffee, to charge a device, and much more---you must be wearing a Pork Bracelet.
• At check-in we will distribute special souvenir Pork Cups for Pork beverages. Please keep track of your Pork Cup, as we will issue only one per Porker. (Don’t lose it. If you lose it, there is a fee to replace it.)
• Upon check-in, you will receive your new Pork team shirt. We hope you like it!
• You will receive a meal card, do not lose it! This will grant you access to our included meals and any optional meals that you have purchased. Keep this in a safe place that you can access in the evenings before you get in line for your meal – you will need it, even for included meal nights.
• As you check in, you will have the opportunity to purchase PBV extras, like a beverage punch card, our mid-week laundry service, and (if they are still available) our optional dinners in camp. You'll need cash for these items, as we don't accept checks or credit cards once the ride begins.
• Please settle your balance now, and don’t leave it till check in. Any small balances due must be paid in cash at check-in.
• Rental Tent Baggage Tags: If you are using one of our rental tents, you will get two PBV baggage tags per person at check-in with your tent number in bold numbers on each tag. Attach the tags securely to your two bags immediately. Place your bags inside your tent on Saturday. We will handle your two bags per person throughout the week.
• Veterans, remove any previous PBV baggage tags, please. More than one year, we have had some baggage delivery problems due to old tags on bags – you won’t receive the same tent number that you had in previous years.
• Baggage Tags for PBV Campers Using Their Own Tents: If you are in the majority of Porkers who are setting up your own tent in each Pork Campsite, you will be given two business-card-sized tags at check-in with a space for your name and cell phone number. Complete the information on the tags, and then attach these durable tags to your bags. In case your bag is lost (if you do a home stay, a hotel stay, or accidentally place your bags on the truck of a neighboring charter), it will be apparent to the finder that you are with our charter. The finder can call you immediately. If we notice a bag that doesn’t have one of our PBV baggage tags, we’ll hold it in a different location, so please make sure to attach the tags!
• Your Own Baggage Tags: It's always a good idea to put your contact info on all of your bags. Make a point of putting tags with your name, address, and cell phone number on them. Suffice it to say that if the bag is somehow in the wrong spot before our tags get attached or after our tags have been removed, your own identifying tag will allow people to contact you without rifling through the contents of your bag.
• Trucks Roll Daily at 7:00 Sharp. For those who set up their own tents, your two bags must be on our Stupidity Trailer by 7:00 a.m., when our first caravan rambles on to the next host town. For those renting tents from us, you must leave your two bags packed up inside your tent and be out by 7:00, because those tents are coming down. We don't wait. In five short hours, we have a lot of work to do. We have sent an update especially for Tent-Renters, to stress the importance of time on this short week.
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Pork Maps and Other Ways to Find Us Daily
• One of the unsung heroes of PBV is Pork Cartographer, Bob Rebach. Bob is completing our Host Town Maps again this year – thanks Bob!
• Our maps have to be approved by each town and get RAGBRAI’s seal of approval, and sometimes that causes us to be delayed in getting them to you, but as early as we can, we will publish all eight final host-town maps in PDF format.
• You can download them, print, and laminate if you like. These maps will show you where our campsites are in relation to the bike routes into and out of town and other attractions in the host town. They will also give you the daily ride elevations and statistics. We will not provide you with printed versions of these.
PBV GPX Files
• For the first time last year, we were happy to have the assistance of Daniel Leinbach and our friends at RAGBRAI to create or modify Ride With GPS routes. These GPX Files will help riders get to camp using their Garmin or their smartphones. Be safe, please. It’s no big deal if you have to pull over and orient yourself once or twice on your way to camp. We’ll be waiting with all the feel-good stuff!
PBV Locations Card
• You’ll receive this card at check-in, with all Pork locations listed on it, complete with addresses.
• Please carry this laminated card on your person or zip-tie it to your bike. Glance at before you ride into town.
• If you’re looking for us in Marshalltown, you can ask a local person, “Where is Marshalltown Community College?” Don’t search. Refer to your Pork Locations card. Ask a local whether you’re headed in the right direction.
PBV Route Signs
• As with last year, PBV and all other charters are forbidden to post signage in the overnight towns. Please depend on your maps, location card, and GPX Files to guide you.
YOUR BEST BET FOR FINDING PORK CAMP
• We will be working to make sure all of our tools for finding Pork Camp are on our Mobile App.
• Use the PBV GPX Files if you have a navigation device.
• Be sure to glance at our daily host town map, or snap a photo of tomorrow’s map at our Front Desk (by 8:00 PM).
• We are creating QR Codes (to be posted and published everywhere we can think of) to help you access the GPX files.
• Carry your laminated PBV Locations Card, so that you can ask directions to our campsite if needed.
• Because of sketchy internet service, download the GPX files and screenshot our PBV maps and store them on your phone well before you need them.
• As you bike into town, it's so simple to ask a local volunteer, "Where is Indee Junior/Senior High School, please? Am I headed in the right direction?"
• Don’t ride without the Pork Belly App for smartphones, available to Android and iPhone users in App stores, and created by our App Developer Katy Fletcher.
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Pork Sites
In our upcoming letter to everyone, “Our Week in the Corn,” we’ll provide campground descriptions. For now, here are the addresses.
2026 PBV Campsite Locations
Friday 7/17 & Saturday 7/18 in Onawa
Onawa Country Club, 1825 235th Street, Onawa, IA 51040
Sunday 7/19 in Harlan
Iowa Western Community College, 1901 Hawkeye Avenue, Harlan, IA 51537
Monday 7/20 Guthrie Center
Guthrie County Fairgrounds, 408 West State Street, Guthrie Center, IA 50115
Tuesday 7/21 in Boone
Grace Community Church, 625 South Division Street, Boone, IA 50036
Wednesday 7/22 in Marshalltown
Marshalltown Community College, 3700 South Center, Marshalltown, IA 50158
Thursday 7/23 in Independence
Indee Junior/Senior High School, 700 20th Avenue SW, Independence, IA 50644
Friday 7/24 Dyersville
Beckman Catholic High School, 1325 9th Street SE, Dyersville, IA 52040
Saturday 7/25 in Dubuque
Andersen Windows, 2045 Kerper Boulevard, Dubuque, IA 52001
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Pork Nights
• We’re planning great menus every night.
• We’ve told you a little about our entertainment on the Optional Meal nights, and soon we’ll reveal all of the live music we’ve booked. It’s shaping up to be a wonderful week.
• We will offer a meatless alternative entre?e for all dinners, included and optional. We can make some accommodation for GF folks on all dinners, included and optional. We’ll publish optional dinners soon, and all menus in Our Week in the Corn!
• Each day, come to our Front Desk and read our announcements/reminders. We will always include the menu and the timeframe when dinner will be served.
• Depending on your cycling mileage, our dinners may be served for a two-hour window between 5:30 and 7:30 PM on shorter cycling days or between 6:00 and 8:00 PM on longer cycling days. We serve for two full hours in order to accommodate everyone who is entitled to dinner.
Food Vendors in Camp
• We are arranging for LOCAL breakfast vendors to offer Grab-and-Go breakfast items beside our coffee trailer every morning from 4:30 to at least 7:00 AM. The most common items will be yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, muffins or donuts, bananas, and chocolate milk. Possibly instant oatmeal, cheese sticks, and/or granola bars. On most mornings, our vendor will offer hot breakfast items, too—such as a breakfast burrito or hot breakfast sandwich. You might need to get up early to score these hot items, as they are usually limited in numbers. The vendors can’t do a lot of speculating on those. (Lots more about our breakfast vendors coming soon.)
• Our PBV riders are accustomed to getting something in their stomachs before they leave camp—perhaps getting them a bit further down the road before their first stop.
• We have lined up great LOCAL all-day food vendors to set up in camp, so you’ll find something to eat when you ride in hungry from the road. Their wonderful offerings will be published soon.
• The cost of breakfast and lunch is not included in your Weeklong Support, but it is very convenient to have these options available right at your home base. In some cases, our vendors will have sandwiches, salads, sweets and snacks. When possible, they will continue vending through dinner and into the evening.
First Thing: Check the Boards and the COB!
• When you ride into camp, make a habit of checking our Announcement Boards and the Campground Orientation Board (the COB) at the Front Desk for what's happening in camp tonight or tomorrow night.
• We have created the Campground Orientation Board (the COB), a large diagram/map of our campsite with moveable magnetic pieces, to show you where to find all of our equipment each day: showers, kybos, vending, phone-charging, massage, catering, bike mechanics and everything else that PBV offers in camp.
• No need to stand in line in the hot sun, waiting to ask where things are!
• By all means, come to the Front Desk for a cold drink or to ask questions. But to find what you need in camp, you can go straight to our COB at the end of the Front Desk. Snap a photo of it! Then feel free to ask any questions!
Yoga in Pork Camp
Your yoga teacher, Gracie, is planning Sunset Yoga this year, from 7:15 PM to 8 PM, when things are winding down. This is a chance to relax your mind, stretch your muscles, and recover from your day on the bike. It also helps you avoid injury. Check the COB each day. We’ll let you know where yoga will be happening each day. Yoga will take place Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (no yoga on Saturday or Tuesday).
Entertainment on Stage
Please watch updates, watch the daily announcement board of PBV (near our front desk), and watch our notifications via the Pork Belly App. We’ll let you know who is on stage each night. We’re planning entertainment on seven nights, starting on Saturday in Onawa.
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“Lost” Baggage
A word about claiming other people’s baggage: It’s so nice of you to grab their stuff, but do they know you’re doing it? When someone else claims bags, the owner of the bags may engage our crew in a futile search for their “lost” belongings. (In the Pork Glossary of Terms, we refer to this as a “False Duffalarm.”). Please be sure that your friends and family know that you’re helping them by claiming their bags.
Our Midweek Shuttles
You’ll find this section next, after The Week with PBV.
Baggage Limit
• You get two bag tags, so plan on two duffels per person total, with tent and sleeping bag enclosed inside. A bag is defined as the stuff that fits inside the zipped bag.
• Don't strap a bunch of stuff to your bag—your stuff will come unstrapped. In fact, don’t strap anything to a bag. Zip things inside your bags.
• Rule of thumb: If you can't lift your bag above your head and count to three, it's too heavy. Our baggage loading team will handle those bags fourteen times. Please be nice and pack sensibly.
• Those Rubbermaid tubs will not hold up to RAGBRAI, and we've seen the handles tear right off of suitcases. A heavy-duty, no-nonsense canvas duffel bag is your best bet, one for camping gear and the other for clothing and toiletries. Remove any detachable straps.
• Several Porkers have offered suggestions for packing—they suggest putting each day’s clothes into plastic bags (freezer bags or ziplock storage bags) inside your duffel. Dew on the grass can make your duffel damp, and packing clothing in ziplock bags keeps clean clothes nice and fresh.
• On YouTube, we hope you can find the how-to video of Brently and Marybeth Cooper of BBB Adventures. These veterans have excellent and logical suggestions on packing for RAGBRAI. They truly make it look easy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JIZsjf1QE&feature=youtu.be
• The clever Porker will mark his/her bags somehow-with colorful tape or even paint to make them easy to spot in our pile. Can you imagine how many black duffels we’ll have? How many blue duffels? How many army-green duffels? You won’t regret marking your bag!
• It's fine to bring a camp stool or chair if you can get one into your duffel and still lift it over your head – just don’t try to attach it to the outside of your bag.
Chairs and Camp Stools
We'll have several hundred stackable chairs out under our canopies, and we'll spread blankets on the grass when there's music. You don't HAVE to bring your own chair or stool, but if you want to have your own seat when and where you want it, bring one.
PBV Suggested Packing List
You'll find our Suggested Packing List under Details at pkbelly.com.
https://pkbelly.com/content/detail/suggested_packing_list
No Good Stuff
No good luggage, good clothes, good anything. See "Charging Trailers" below regarding laptops and iPads, but do remember that Iowa is a warm and humid place in the summer, not the best habitat for your valuable electronics. RAGBRAI is very hard on your belongings. Think jewelry, fine clothing, anything expensive. If you like it, best to leave it home.
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Massage Therapists in Camp
- PBV will have eleven talented massage therapists working in camp.
- On Friday evening and all day Saturday in Onawa, you’ll find our massage therapists in a convenient location near check-in, ready to take your appointments for the following six days, Sunday to Friday. Due to pre-bookings prime times have filled on some days, but they still have plenty of availability at this writing.
- If you would like to book appointments in advance (now), please use the Massage Request Form (linked here: https://doxieworks.wufoo.com/forms/p1hrnlqk0t1qykw/, or) on the PBV Mobile App to contact Ashley. She will want to know the days, the time of day, and the duration of the massage you request (30 minutes/60 minutes). Most of our therapists are women, but let her know if you have a preference, male or female. After July 15th, please email Ashley at ashley@pkbelly.com instead of completing the form.
- If you find that afternoons/evenings are full, try booking later evening appointments, so that you can go straight to bed after your relaxing massage.
- If possible, bring a twin bed sheet or a towel for the massage table.
- Please be certain that you’ll remember and honor those appointments during your week in the corn.
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Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-Up
This service sold out early in the season.
From 1:00 PM to 7:00 AM, enjoy your rental tent from Pork Belly Ventures.
We published an email update with all the info on tent rental, but here are two or three important points.
The Tent Grid will be created soon, and after that all tent locations on the grid will be established. The address cards and baggage tags will be ordered.
If members of a group did not have their identical group names on their applications by the day when this work is done, we are not responsible for those members of the group being placed near each other or far from each other in Tent City.
Here’s the agreement we make with tent-renters:
• You may not enter Tent City until our crew is completely finished with their work. We aim for 1:00, but inclement weather and traffic problems can put us a little behind---not often, but it can happen. If you or your bike or your stuff get in the way of baggage delivery, you will slow down us down, and that's not allowed. This is especially important on a year with so many short days!
• Secondly, your tent mate must be named on your PBV application and on your tent address card. We must know the names of those who are using a tent, and they must also have PBV services. Please don't assume that you can have a roommate without informing us. We must know who is using each tent and how many bags will be in that tent. The address card includes the number of bags that belong in the tent. If you need to inform us about a tent mate, or if you have trouble logging in to add your tent mate’s name, write to bella@pkbelly.com.
• Finally, you will find out your Tent City address (tent #) when you reach Onawa Check-In.
PHAT Rooms
We will be writing separately to our PHAT Room occupants about the details of their stay.
Indoor Sleeping
If you have reserved Indoor Sleeping on the nights we have it available, you will be responsible for moving your gear to and from its location to your Indoor Sleeping space – with the exception of Saturday night in Onawa (details below). If you are in one of our rental tents, you may take only what you need for the night and leave your other bag(s) in your tent. Just be sure to have your luggage back in your tent by 7 AM the next morning. If you are a self-tenter, pick up your bags in the usual location and have them back to the Stupidity trailer by 7 AM the next morning.
In Onawa on Saturday night, the High School is located a few blocks from camp, so we will have a designated hour from 6 – 7 PM where we will have Pork Crew help you shuttle luggage to the High School (you may walk there earlier or Golf Course members may be available to help before that). On Sunday morning we will have separate locations just outside the High School for you to place your bags, depending if you are a self-tenter or in a rental tent.
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Your Daily Shower
• On all eight days, Saturday through Saturday, weeklong Porkers wearing a Pork Bracelet are entitled to one (or more) showers. Your wristband admits you to the shower.
• Our showers will be within our campsites or on the edge of camp in every host town.
• You may take one fresh towel from us (you may pay for an extra towel if you like) and return it to us on your way out the door.
• We provide liquid soap. The trailers are air-conditioned. You'll like this part of the Pork Infrastructure.
• Lines happen on RAGBRAI, and at busy times of the day you may wait a bit for a shower. In some spots, you might be able to sit under our shade canopy and watch till the line gets shorter. In some spots, you're better off jumping in and doing your waiting standing up.
• Here's what you can do to help with the wait situation. DO NOT WASH YOUR CLOTHING IN THE SHOWER OR IN THE SINKS AT THE SHOWERS. Our crew has installed laundry sinks at the back of one of our shower trailers. This is the perfect spot for rinsing out your garments.
• Outside our shower trailers, we have sinks for brushing teeth, shaving, and so on, we also have mirrors, electrical outlets, and a hair-dryer or two to lend.
• Showers will operate between Noon and 8:00 PM. Please note that dinner is served until 8:00 PM at the latest, friends. (On shorter cycling days, dinner may finish as early as 7 PM.) Manage your time so that you can get your shower and enjoy any dinners to which you are entitled.
• On July 25th in Dubuque, the showers are open until 2:00 PM.
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The PBV Sag Option
• A 56-passenger luxury motorcoach will carry any Pork Non-Riders and Pork Saggers from host town to host town, departing at 7:00 a.m.
• If you’re sure that you want to sag on a day of RAGBRAI, you can reserve it in advance by emailing us… kay@pkbelly.com.
• We can sometimes make a second runs with the SAG bus, if there's a surprising demand
• If you SAG, your baggage should still be transported by our baggage trailers, but you can bring a small shower bag on the SAG coach so you don’t need to wait for your bags to be unloaded when you get to camp.
• If during the week you want to sag, go to our front desk and ask about it. Bikes are hung on the Pass the Corn trailer. Make every effort to get your bike loaded the night before you sag. The price is $30 per day, and the motor coach will be available to board before 7:00 am. It rolls at 7:00 am.
• Our Pass the Corn trailer is open during these hours: 2:00 to 4:00 PM, 6:00 to 8:00 PM, and 6:00 to 7:00 AM. If you SAG, you’ll be able to claim your bicycle during these windows.
• You CAN reserve spots on the SAG on any day, if you're already sure that you won't ride. Write to kay@pkbelly.com. We have already heard from riders about taking a day off the bike.
• If for some reason you don’t make your decision to sag until morning, get your bike to Pass the Corn well before the 7:00 a.m. departure time. Please ask the crew at Pass the Corn if we have any more space available. Our sag bike trailer makes only one trip. So get your bike loaded well before 7:00 a.m. (By morning, we may not have space on the coach.)
• Once a sagger arrives in camp, the rest of the day is yours for resting, recovering, getting a massage. Some of our massage therapists will be set up by 11:00 or noon.
• Do remember that our crew will be engaged in morning chores until noon. At noon, we serve a crew lunch, and then crew members take turns at the showers. Most of our services, with the exception of showers, are not available until noon, and if you’re in a rental tent you might not be able to enter Tent City or get to your bags until 1 PM.
• If you sag, take a small bag with your shower-necessaries on the coach with you, and claim your bike around 2:00 PM in our next campsite.
• Ours is a morning sag only, from host town to host town.
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Two Charging Trailers
• Charging can happen for most of the hours of the day, except when we’re driving town to town. Each night, the trailers will close at 10 PM and open at 5:00 AM – they will be locked between those hours, but you can leave devices in there and charging continues when the trailers are closed (locked) overnight.
• Except when they’re moving, the two charging trailers will always be plugged into a generator.
• The phone-sized cubicles are 6" wide and 8" deep. There are 720 of these in our main (white) trailer. The black trailer also has 80 of the phone-sized units.
• There are also 224 cubicles in our second trailer (the black one) that are 16" wide and 12"
deep. These larger compartments can accommodate tablets and laptops. (But this is not best environment for your devices. It’s humid. Ask yourself if you really need it, or if you should let it stay home in the A/C.)
• Each cubicle has a standard duplex outlet. We do NOT have USB outlets on the charging trailers - bring your block(s).
• See the COB each day, near our front desk, for the location of the charging trailers.
• Turn devices OFF while they are charging.
• Bring Padlock for Charging. The little luggage kind of padlock will work or something slightly larger. Big heavy ones for personal storage units are too big to fit.
• Be prepared to share your locking compartment with your companion. There are two outlets inside each locker.
• If you remove your devices from the trailer, take your padlock too.
• Please do not lock an empty compartment. You may use a compartment each day, but you can’t reserve a particular one for your use all week. Empty the compartment when you’re done charging, please. We may remove (cut) locks from empty compartments.
• There are places (not locking compartments) for charging larger things, too, like fans, lights, and the big CPAP batteries.
• ABOUT CAPACITY: We have more outlets than we ever imagined needing. And yet, people are bringing ever-more and ever-more devices to charge. We want you to be happy, but also be reasonable about what you charge each day. Perhaps bring a power-brick to charge, and juice up your devices in your tent. Please don’t hog the outlets and compartments. Live Like a Pig!
• Every year, we thank Pete & Tammy’s Dad, the late-great Jim Phillips, our Pork Electrician. He would be 94 on July 28th. For many years, he played a big role in building our charging towers, charging trailers, and wiring trailers for other electrical needs. Thank you, Dad.
Charging E-Bike Batteries
• E-Bike Battery Charging is located at the front desk on the Roll With It trailer.
• We have another location for batteries that do not detach from bikes (and for any excess of detachable batteries) near our PHAT Trailers.
• Please make sure your name is on your battery and charger.
• Crew members will supervise charging at the Roll with It trailer, but some areas are self-serve.
• Please don’t climb on board the Roll with It trailer yourself.
• You should get your battery charging as soon as you get in from your ride to give your battery time to charge. Please know how long it takes your battery to charge, and come back and claim it from our crew when it’s done charging. We will need to make room for others to charge up.
• Claim your battery by 10:00 PM for your ride the next day. Please, you must not disturb the Roll With It crew members who sleep on this trailer between 10:00 pm and 5:00 a.m. Also, early mornings can be quite busy and it may be difficult to get a crew member to retrieve your battery in the morning.
• Please do not use the phone-charging trailers for charging e-bike batteries.
• WE PROHIBIT AFTER-MARKET BATTERIES THAT POSE A SAFETY HAZARD.
Electronic Shifter Charging
• Shifter batteries are becoming more popular. Charge these batteries in compartments on our two charging trailers.
Battery and Power Source Safety
Many of you are bringing a spare e-bike battery, battery-powered CPAP, a portable power source, charging bank, external battery, or similar device. While lithium batteries are normally safe, they may cause injury if they have design defects, are made of low quality materials, are assembled incorrectly, are used or recharged improperly, or are damaged. Please read and follow these guidelines, referenced from: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/SHIB011819.pdf.
Manufacturer’s instructions provide procedures for use, charging, and maintenance that is specific to each device and necessary to prevent damage to the lithium batteries. For example, some batteries will overcharge if a charger is used that does not turn off when the battery is fully charged. Lithium batteries are generally safe and unlikely to fail, but only so long as there are no defects and the batteries are not damaged. When lithium batteries fail to operate safely or are damaged, they may present a fire and/or explosion hazard. Damage from improper use, storage, or charging may also cause lithium batteries to fail.
• Follow manufacturer’s instructions for storage, use, charging, and maintenance.
• When replacing batteries and chargers for an electronic device, ensure they are specifically designed and approved for use with the device and they are purchased from the device’s manufacturer or a manufacturer authorized reseller.
• Remove lithium-powered devices and batteries from the charger once they are fully charged.
• Store lithium batteries and devices in dry, cool locations.
• Avoid damaging lithium batteries and devices. Inspect them for signs of damage, such as bulging/cracking, hissing, leaking, rising temperature, and smoking before use, especially if they are wearable. Immediately remove a device or battery from service and place it in an area away from flammable materials if any of these signs are present.
• If batteries are damaged, remove them from service, place in fire resistant container (e.g., metal drum) with sand or other extinguishing agent, and dispose in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations. Contact a local battery recycling center for disposal instructions.
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CPAP Machines
If you’re thinking of bringing a CPAP machine on RAGBRAI, please make sure that you either have a battery or power source and understand the process, or write to becca@pkbelly.com right away.
• We hope that no CPAP machines will be transported on baggage trailers. We want to keep your machines out of the rough-and-tumble of the baggage trailers.
• The CPAP machine should be enclosed in a latching case and transported on Roll with It, our Front Desk trailer.
• Never board the trailer yourself. Hand your machine to a crew member and get it back from a crew member.
• You may bring your machine to this trailer and give it to a crew member between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM. You may claim your machine from the crew on our Front Desk Trailer between 1:00 PM and 10:00 PM.
• You will have more flexibility on where to camp if you have a battery for your CPAP machine. Batteries can be charged during the day.
• Without the battery, you would be very limited on where you camp (not in a rental tent).
Medications That Need Refrigeration
• On the “Roll With It” Trailer (at our Front Desk), we have a small refrigerator for keeping meds cold.
• Your medicine should be as small as it can be and clearly labeled with your name.
• Give the meds to our crew. Don’t board the trailer yourself, please.
• Bring or retrieve meds during these hours: 5:00 to 7:00 AM or between 1:00 and 10:00 PM
• Never wake our crew on the Roll With It trailer between the hours of 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM.
Other PBV Thingys (Equipment)
• The Pump Thingy, an air compressor with a manifold and pressure regulator for inflating your bike tires, will always be right near the charging trailers. In the morning, one of our mechanics will man the pump, so you can just walk by (with your valve stems unscrewed) and get pumped up.
• Of course, the Shower Thingy or Water Thingy, a Formica table with five spigots and a mirror, will also be available to you afternoons and mornings until 7:00 AM.
Restrooms and Hand-Sanitizing
• You’ll love our restroom trailer—a popular thingy, with twelve flushing porcelain fixtures, six toilet stalls and six urinals. Some people call it the Six-Pack and others call it the Royal Flush. It is lighted at night with bulbs that don’t attract insects. This trailer also features vent fans, hand-sanitizer in each stall, and the sinks up front. At times, a bank of kybos may be closer and more convenient for you, but much of the time, you’ll enjoy the use of this trailer.
• Again this year, PBV is contracting for kybos during the week of RAGBRAI, about thirty in each campsite. There may be other banks of kybos nearby, and there may also be fixed restroom facilities in a park.
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Hotel Stays
We will send everyone using our hotel stays a separate update with clear instructions. Please stand by for that.
Nights Away from Camp
Some of you will use our hotel stays and/or opportunities to sleep indoors. If you are renting our tent, you can leave things in that tent overnight, when you are not camping. If you are using your own tent, then you may wish to load one of your duffel bags on our baggage truck before you go off to your overnight location with a single duffel. IMPORTANT: Just remember that you won’t have access to that bag when you return in the morning—it will be buried under a mountain of Pork Baggage. Make sure you have your bedroll, jammies, toothbrush, and tomorrow’s cycling stuff before we load that duffel.
Once We Load It, It’s Gone
To re-emphasize this point about baggage, please be sure that you have everything you need for the day’s ride BEFORE you hand over your bags for loading on the Stupidity trailer. In a matter of seconds, your bag will be buried under a world of other bags. Before you hand over that bag to our strong loader-guys, do a check of your body. Look at your feet. Wearing cycling shoes? Feel your head. Got those sunglasses. Check your pockets. Got that wallet? Where is your helmet? Once we load it, it’s gone.
Lost Property and How Not to Lose It
• You are responsible for your property, handing it to our truck-loaders, locking up your bikes overnight (see below), and keeping track of your stuff.
• Do things ever get lost? They do, but it’s usually temporary, and often it happens when somebody doesn't follow our instructions.
• One of our semi-trailers is adorned with the words, "It's not so much the HEAT. It's the Stupidity." That's your trailer for baggage in the morning if you're bringing your own tent. Don't make the mistake of tossing your bags onto the truck of some neighboring charter. This leads to head-scratching in the afternoon.
• In the morning on and around the Stupidity trailer, there will always be about eight strong crew members, and you'll get to know them. If there's any doubt, look for the word "Stupidity" and ask "Is this the Stupidity Trailer?"
• If in doubt, ask the loaders, “Is this a trailer for Pork Belly baggage?”
• Be sure the bag you drag into your tent is your own. Oh, the problems caused by people taking each other’s bags!
• Please claim your bags daily. Don’t assume that someone will re-load your bags if you don’t claim them. They won’t.
• For lost items, try our lost-and-found box on the Live Like a Pig trailer. There is usually a separate Tent City Lost and Found, for items left inside rental tents. There is also a lost and found for the shower trailers. You might check and see if something has been turned in at the front desk, too. (We often keep the valuable stuff at the Front Desk, or we give it to Pete.) It may not be necessary to say this, but please know that it's not acceptable to "go shopping" in the lost and found. We want things to get back to their rightful owners.
• If you sag, claim your bike that day in our next campsite.
• If you leave the ride midweek, do not leave a doggone thing with us.
• If you spend the night elsewhere, make sure any bags you’re leaving behind are placed on the appropriate trailer (or left inside your rental tent) before you go off to spend the night in your hotel, host home, or whatever.
• When you shower, check the hooks in your dressing area and the little shelves in the shower stall before you leave the shower trailer.
• We are not responsible for items that are lost or stolen, whether in camp, your tent, or a rental tent.
• You are responsible for your property. We are not.
Bike Locks
• One cable lock will do for two or three bikes.
• Overnight, lock your bike to something stationary, or lock a few bikes together. At the very least, lock the bike to itself, running your cable through the frame and wheels so the bike is not ride-able.
• Don't take our word for it, but many people tell us it is not necessary to carry your bike lock during the day. We hear reports that you can lay your bike on the grass in a pass-through town, go eat some pancakes, and find the bike waiting for you when you come back.
• If you have a super expensive, high-end bike, you obviously need to think further about this.
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Pork Wear
Be a Proud Porker and wear Pork Apparel from this year or previous years. We’ll even have new merch for you to purchase at the Front Desk. Feel free to participate in our special farewell:
• Aloha Friday: Sad to say Aloha, but flowered shirts make everybody happy. Anything tropical qualifies: grass skirts, loud shorts, coconut bras, sarongs, pareaus. We'll wear Aloha Attire at our Farewell Supper with an island-themed menu and entertainment on Friday in Dyersville. Join us!
Midweek Laundry Service
• This is an extra for which you can sign up at check-in in Onawa, and the price is $35.
• When you sign up, we’ll give you a tall kitchen trash bag with your name on it.
• On Tuesday afternoon, turn over your dirty duds.
• We hire an auxiliary crew for this big job. They will dominate some large laudromats, handle hundreds of loads of astonishingly smelly clothes, fold it all, give it back clean and fragrant.
• Please note that we'll wash everything on Cold, dry everything on Medium. The only special request we can handle is "Don't Dry Lycra," in which case your bike shorts and jerseys will be placed damp into a separate bag inside your clean laundry bag. You can request this by writing it plainly on the label on your laundry bag.
• With so many loads to wash, we don't have time to go through your pockets. Your wallets, cash, chapstick, ball-point pens, and other items ‘discovered’ when moving your clothes from the washer to the dryer will be placed in your clean bag in a little ziplock.
• Save your clothes from grease and stains. Empty those pockets, and enjoy the happiness of clean, fresh, folded clothes on Wednesday afternoon.
• We have a system. Your things are not washed or dried with other people’s things. But we can’t take a lot of time writing emails about how we do this. If you’re skeptical, just bring clothes for the whole week.
Our Cell Phones During RAGBRAI
• During RAGBRAI, we use our cell phones to make calls. We'll call caterers, city employees, our hosts, and our crew chiefs to make sure everything goes right in our campsites.
• We cannot keep up with incoming calls and texts during RAGBRAI. Being focused on doing the job we've promised you means not being focused on our phones.
• Please know in advance that we make no commitment to respond to phone calls, texts, or emails during the week of RAGBRAI. Our inboxes will fill up and stay full. If you can avoid it, please don’t text us during the ride. If you have a matter that needs attention, please visit us at the Front Desk.
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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Please click above to download the link to the PDF for this section, as we know this does not apply to a majority of folks.
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Please click on the link to download the PDF and read the full document about the last day - but some highlights are included below.
Location in Dubuque
• Your final day of cycling is a short one - about 35 miles to our site with about 1788 feet of climb.
• We will provide a map of Dubuque soon, showing our location on the SW side of Andersen Windows, just across the street from the Long-Term Parking lot.
• When you reach Dubuque, you will be routed past the site where you can dip your front tire in the Mississippi River and then ride south on flat streets, about 1.5 miles along the river to our staging area.
• Our bus-staging and bike-loading area is in the parking lot of Andersen Windows.
• Showers will operate in our staging area, and multiple food vendors will be set up across the street from us, with convenience and fast food locations nearby.
PLAN THIS DAY
• You have 33.7 hilly miles to ride today, plus 1.5 more to our staging area. Please bear in mind these things as you ride.
• On the last day, everyone has a schedule to keep, so make your stops for hydration and food, for a stretch and a rest… but don’t get sidetracked at the stops along the route or at the river.
• Get into our staging area in plenty of time for your chores. Do you need help packaging your bike for air travel? More on this below. Get the bike loaded where it belongs, shower, grab some food for the coach, load up your bags, and climb aboard.
• SEE BELOW: “Chores You’ll Do In Dubuque.”
Shuttle Departure Times and Destinations
We operate multiple coaches to three locations on the last day, you will be notified via email of your assigned bus number ahead of time:
• NOON departures to the Quad Cities International Airport, 1.5 hours away on a good day. We drop everyone (and their bikes/luggage) at the departures area of the Quad Cities airport. From here, you can go to car rentals, take a shuttle to your airport hotel, or go directly to the gates.
• 1:30 PM departures to the Quad Cities International Airport, 1.5 hours away on a good day; however, this will be peak traffic time. Plan for a little slow down on our way out of Dubuque. We drop everyone at the departures area of the Quad Cities airport. From here, you can go to car rentals, take a shuttle to your airport hotel, or go directly to the gates.
• 2:15 PM departures to the Omaha International Airport (6 hours on a good day). We drop everyone in the parking lot of the Candlewood Suites hotel (next door to the Best Western Plus) very near the Omaha airport.
• 2:30 PM departures to the Des Moines International Airport (3+ hours on a good day). We drop everyone in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn at 6111 Fleur Drive, quite near the airport
• For all post-RAGBRAI shuttles, baggage goes under your coach, and bikes are loaded on the appropriate trailer.
In Order to Shuttle to PBV on the Last Day
• Our staging area in Dubuque is on the SW side of Andersen Windows, across the street from Long-Term Parking.
• Those who are shipping bikes with PBV can ride directly to our staging area. If you have luggage to get to us from another charter or RAGBRAI Main – please check those locations and compare with ours to make a plan.
Chores You’ll Need to Do in Dubuque on the Last Day
• It’s usually wise to come to our front desk, look at the COB, ask your questions, and allow us to direct you.
• Some people will ride directly to their car, load their bikes on their cars, then collect their bags at our staging area. They’ll grab a shower and a bite to eat, and be on their way.
• Some folks need time to claim bike-shipping containers and pack up bikes for shipping or airline travel before catching one of our shuttles. Crew members will be on hand to help you find YOUR container. Don’t take someone else’s cardboard box, which may fit their bike perfectly. We will have some extra boxes if needed, too.
• Some folks need help packaging their bikes for air travel. You must contact pete@pkbelly.com to sign up for the service in advance. It’s $100, and we will be prepared to serve those who are on our list – so we need to know this in advance.
• Some need to load bikes, boxed up or not, on the appropriate trailer for transport with our shuttles to Quad Cities, Des Moines, or Omaha airports.
• Most people will want a shower before taking off in their car or on a shuttle.
• Plenty of folks will be hungry sometime during this process and will find something to eat with our food vendors (across the street) who will be ready to serve you.
• Remember to allow time for your chores and be ready to board your coach about 20 minutes before departure.
• Our showers are open until 2:00 PM.
• Ask for help. Our crew will be all over the site, happy to help you find what you need.
If we're saying farewell in Dubuque
Remember to claim your bags before we clear out of town at 3:00 or shortly thereafter. We will be on site—just a few last crew members for bike shipping—until 5:00, when bike shipping is finished. Any remaining duffels will be placed in a likely area of the parking lot. (This is what RAGBRAI does with unclaimed baggage.) Before we depart town, we will call cell phone numbers on the baggage tags of bags left in our area. If you have any trouble finding them, check your phone messages, please.
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July Contact with PBV can become more limited
Please be willing to read for your answers, folks. In July, we’ll be trying to answer over 200 new emails every day. This makes it difficult to even find the emails from our caterers, musicians, hosts, and food vendors. We will do our best to promptly and completely answer any emailed questions we do get, but please do your best to look for the answer in the information we’ve provided, and understand if there’s a delay.
It's best to email us at info@pkbelly.com, where we have multiple sets of eyes on that inbox. We check email quite a bit, but it is likely we can get behind on phone messages. If you have a matter that needs to handled with a phone conversation, Pete is at 402-681-2613 (cell).
Different crew members may specialize in different aspects of our charter, but they may not know answers to all of the questions. If you don’t find answers in this letter, it’s best to address them to the info@pkbelly.com email address unless we’ve otherwise directed you to contact a specific crew member.
The Pork Belly Smartphone App
Go to your app store and use search words "Pork Belly Mobile App" to download our FREE app. The App has become one of the BEST ways of keeping current on RAGBRAI info, PBV information, and host-town info-- thanks to the diligent work of Katy Fletcher, our app developer. On the app, you can access all PBV email updates of the 2026 season. RAGBRAI announcements are at your fingertips. Rider route maps and PBV Host town maps are very popular features. And BEST OF ALL, daily notices during RAGBRAI, letting you know What’s Waiting for You in Pork Camp Today! The app is available to any RAGBRAI rider.
Email Updates
• From here on in, it's getting more important that you receive and read some of these updates. Delete what does not apply to you.
• Our Mobile App keeps track of updates for you, with a handy archive at your fingertips.
• If you realize that you're not getting our updates, write to info@pkbelly.com to get on our distribution list. Spam filters make it tough sometimes.
• In July, updates will include the host town maps showing our campsite locations, bus assignments and departure times, and anything else that comes up!
Thanks for hanging on to your June Letter, Friends, and for referring to it over the coming weeks. We will publish an update soon with All the Fun Stuff! We're rolling downhill now, toward Our Week in the Corn.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon,
Pete & the Pork Belly Ventures Crew
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