June Letter

THE JUNE LETTER
June 29, 2023
OF PORK BELLY VENTURES

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 and decide how you will save this letter, where you'll keep it for the future.

We will save much of the information about food vending in camp and our catered dinners for inclusion later in “Our Week in the Corn.”

Reading this letter—or reading those parts that are relevant to you—is the BEST way to avoid making mistakes like missing the bus or missing out on services we provide. We’ve made a concerted effort to condense the instructions and reduce it to bullet points wherever we can.

Nobody needs to read every section of this long letter. If you're not on the East/West Shuttle, for instance, skip the entire section. The June Letter is mostly chronological, except for later sections.

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.

If you don’t have the Pork Belly App, get it today.

Keep this letter for reference. Re-read as needed.

Top Priorities Right Now
East/West Shuttle, Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22
Finding Us in Sioux City, July 22
Omaha to Sioux City, July 22
Des Moines to Sioux City, July 22
The Week with PBV
Our Exit and Enter Shuttles, July 25 and July 26
Our “Early-Finish” Shuttles on July 26 and July 27
The Last Day of RAGBRAI, July 29
Shipping Bikes to/from RAGBRAI
Between Now and RAGBRAI
Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport
The Pork Belly Mobile App

TOP PRIORITIES RIGHT NOW

The Detail Form

We opened up the Detail Form (formerly the June Form) in early May. Every rider using our services needs to complete this form. (Many have not—instructions below.)

When we opened it, no one had his/her RAGBRAI registration number yet. The RAGBRAI Team has notified riders of their registration numbers, and it is your responsibility to record your number on your detail form.

Here’s How to Complete Your Detail Form Right Away.

There is NO TAB at pkbelly.com that says DETAIL FORM.
You must login. Do not click “Edit” unless you need to add services.
Look for the green tab across from your name, labelled Detail Form.
Another way in… At the top of your PBV email confirmation, find a link: “Click to Continue the Application.” Use this link to bypass the login process.
On the Detail Form, provide your registration number for RAGBRAI (same as bib or wristband number), dietary restrictions, and bike info, and then click on the town where you’ll be meeting us and/or our shuttle. For those meeting us in Omaha, Davenport, or Des Moines, a specific list of questions related to your particular shuttle will appear. Answer those and save changes.
If you don’t have a RAGBRAI registration number, type “later,” and come back to enter it later. This is your responsibility. Partial-week riders may enter the words “day passes.”
Do not email your Detail Form info, but if you forgot your login credentials, email Tammy@pkbelly.com. We’ll send your login info.
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).
If you are riding a partial week, you may enter the words “day passes” in the field for your official RAGBRAI wristband number. Wear your wristbands to check-in with PBV. We’ll check your day passes before providing you with the PBV bracelet.
Extra Night (7/21 in Sioux City) in Your Rental Tent On the Detail Form, you may select an extra night in your rental tent (Friday 7/21) in Sioux City, not in Davenport. The price is $50. This option is for those who are using the Friday E/W Shuttle or who are being dropped off in Sioux City. None of our other shuttles from Omaha or Des Moines run on Friday.
Thanks for completing your Detail Forms.

RAGBRAI Registration

Pork Belly Ventures cannot provide support for anyone who is not registered for RAGBRAI.
RAGBRAI wants us to be able to retrieve the registration numbers of our riders—help us, please, by completing the Detail Form.
Note that you must be wearing your RAGBRAI wristband when you check-in for PBV Weeklong Support in Sioux City.

Last Chance to Make Sure Group Names Are Identical

Apologies to those who do it right every time! Here’s a last reminder. We’ve had occasions where people check in for our support and learn that their tents are not together, and sometimes they get upset. They see our published rosters and seem indignant when their group members are not assigned to the same coach. Soon, it will be too late to fix these situations. If you want to be on the same coach with your group members, or if you want your rental tents to be near each other, you must have identical group names on your applications.

Dave often asks me to mention that if one person types “Team George” in the group-name field, and another types “George’s Team,” we won’t catch that. It will not sort properly. These folks will not be assigned to the same coach or next to each other in Tent City. So make sure to use identical group names on your applications, please.

Even if two people are on the same application, the group name helps us. This is the last time we’ll make this plea.

Payment Is Due Now

We asked for balances by May 15th.
We are cancelling applications on which only the deposit has been paid.
Believe it or not, there will STILL be opportunities to add extras, and you need to pay for them right away.
When you login in to complete your Detail Form, please check to see if there’s a balance due. If so, please make payment right away.
It’s too late to mail a check. You may login and pay balances by credit card.

Availability of Services

Our Weeklong Support and Partial-Week Support have been sold out, and this year, we will need see a lot of cancellations before we could accept another rider. (If you haven’t been able to join us for 2023, we hope you can join us next year!)
We are sold out on Rental Tents, but we may end up being able to provide tents for some folks on the waiting list, depending on cancellations. We don’t know yet. We’re always surprised at the number of late cancellations.
Please do not write to us about waiting lists. We’ll notify you if/when you clear a list.
The E/W Shuttle is sold out at the website, but we do have a little space. Write to us if you need this shuttle. It’s a help if you set up and SAVE a profile at pkbelly.com, so we can add the shuttle.
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.

EAST/WEST SHUTTLE Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22

Basic E/W Shuttle Info:

From end town to start town, Davenport to Sioux City, on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, 7/21 and 7/22
5.5 hour trip
Departures at 1:00 (currently full) and 3:00 (currently full) on Friday. We have waitlists for the Friday shuttles.
Departures at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 am on Saturday are available at this writing.
We'll use comfortable coaches, restroom-equipped and air-conditioned. Your bags will go into the compartments under the bus and your bike will be loaded on a trailer. [See section on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport, and see "Bike Transport" below.]
Coaches WILL BE FULL.
Anything you carry on board the coach may be in your lap throughout the trip. (Some coaches have an overhead shelf and some don’t. This is beyond our control.)
We allow two bags per person under the coach and one bike per person on our trailers. Keep reading for more about extra bikes on the E/W Shuttle.

Location/Parking in Davenport

In Davenport, Pork Belly Ventures will be located at the Rogalski Student Center on the campus of St. Ambrose University, 518 W W Locust St, Davenport, IA 52803
We will publish a map in July (or as soon as we can).
We will load bicycles and board the coaches in our staging area (hours below).
Davenport is emailing parking assignments this week. (Any T-shirts you ordered will be sent by snail mail soon.)
Davenport is assigning the St. Ambrose parking spaces on the basis of WHEN people reserved. So the St. Ambrose spots may run out, and those who ordered long-term parking at St. Ambrose later may be assigned to another parking area. If you chose or are assigned to one of the other parking options in the Davenport area, the community will be running shuttles between parking facilities. Just allow extra time for shuttling.
Pork Belly Ventures will include some, but maybe not all, of the Davenport parking facilities on our map of Davenport, but you should rely on information/addresses that are mailed to you by Davenport. AND…
Please use Davenport’s map and other info at their comprehensive website: https://www.davenportragbrai.com/riders
On Saturday, July 29, we will be located in the same location, at St. Ambrose University. See later sections of this letter for details about the last day of RAGBRAI.

Groups on Coaches

If two members of the same group requested different departure days/times, we have granted each person’s request, and you will not ride across the state together.
If you wished to be together on a bus with others, you needed a common group name, AND requests for the same preferred departure time on your Detail Forms.
The Detail Form is our essential tool for making bus assignments on our bus-departure-management software at the website. Several of our team members work on bus assignments for our shuttles. Don’t assume that all of us know who is with whom. Your group name tells us who should be riding with whom.
In short, we are WAY into making bus assignments and may not have the flexibility to grant late requests. Naturally, we need Detail Forms from everyone, and we’ll do our best. Wait for the publication of the E/W Shuttle rosters, please, and then you’ll be able to request changes. We will see whether or not we can accommodate those changes. We always try.
We’ll publish rosters in early July, so you can know/see to which bus you’re assigned.
If you don’t have your group’s name on your application and if you haven’t completed a Detail Form, please don’t assume we can take apart our bus assignments to move you. This affects other people.

Hours in Davenport

PBV Bike loading in Davenport, on Friday, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
PBV Bike loading in Davenport on Saturday: 6:00 AM to 8:30 AM
Davenport’s St Ambrose Parking Lot Friday: 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Davenport’s St. Ambrose Parking Lot Saturday: 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Davenport’s Shuttle Friday: 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Davenport’s Shuttle Saturday: 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM

What To Do Upon Your Arrival in Davenport

Find us at our staging area and unload your bike and baggage.
Depending on your chosen departure time, you may wish to park your vehicle right away and shuttle back to our staging area.
Regardless of what departure you have chosen, Friday or Saturday, you may certainly load bikes on Friday. In fact, we encourage you to load bikes on Friday, if possible.
Expect a little congestion in Davenport, more so on Saturday morning than on Friday.
Expect a little congestion at long-term parking areas.
Volunteers may be directing those parking their vehicles.
Needless to say, do not rush into town at 8:15 AM Saturday and expect to find us, get your bike loaded, park your vehicle, shuttle back, manage your baggage, and board your bus by 9:00 AM.
Budget your time. Arrive plenty early. Allow for delays. Give yourself a smooth start to your week.
Right in our staging area, you’ll be able to claim any meals you’ve ordered in Davenport.
Crew members will check you off as you board coaches.
We depart on time.

Have You Signed Up for Long-Term Parking in Davenport?

We have published info about Davenport and Long-term Parking. The price of parking goes up as we get closer to July 21. Here is the link again: https://www.davenportragbrai.com/riders

Our Davenport Schedule and Crew

Crew Chiefs Rob Boes and George Dougherty will handle this shuttle, along with Ashley Guillaume, Bart Dvorak, Martina Werner, Mary Spurlock, and several other Pork Crew Members.
The crew will load bikes on Friday (hours above) and supervise the departures of several Friday buses at 1:00 and 3:00 PM.
The crew will return to our staging area at 6:00 AM to continue bike loading and supervise the boarding of our Saturday buses departing at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 (several buses at each departure time).

One Bike Per Person on E/W Shuttle

As we plan for truck space, we assume one bike per person.
If a member of your group is using a different PBV shuttle, then you can bring his/her bike to be transported on the E/W Shuttle, but we need to know about it now.
We don’t charge anything for transporting your fellow Weeklong Porkers’ bikes, so long as they are using one of our other shuttles.
If the owner of the extra bike is not using another PBV shuttle prior to RAGBRAI, we charge $75 per bike for transporting more than one bike per person.
If you will have more than one bike per person for loading in Davenport on the 21st or 22nd, you must write to Kay@pkbelly.com. This will help us make a plan for adequate truck space. (Some of you have already done this. No need to do it again.)

Sleeping Options in Davenport on Friday, 7/21, Prior to RAGBRAI

Hotels are pretty plentiful in the Quad Cities area. If you have not booked, we advise you to search online and make your reservation. (We don’t make recommendations on the east side of the state.)
Indoor Sleeping—we could not find a partner this year on indoor sleeping.
For those who prefer to tent-camp, you may set up tents in a campground at Centennial Park on the Mississippi River.
No Rental Tents in Davenport Though PBV rental tents are available in Sioux City on Friday night (for an additional $50), they are not available in Davenport.

Bike-Loading Details

On both Friday night and Saturday morning, we'll provide handlebar tags and markers. Please label your bike with your name before handing it over.
Please don't leave your bike unattended: wait patiently with it until one of our crew can take it from you.
Please don't climb into a truck or trailer, just hand your bike up.
See section at the end of this letter on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport.
If you have CARBON WHEELS, it’s your responsibility to let our loaders know at the time they are loading bike. We don’t hang carbon wheels, if we know your bike has them. (Carbon-framed bikes may have alloy wheels.)

Bus-Boarding Details, and Departing the Bus in Sioux City

All buses will stage about 30 minutes prior to departure.
Please stand back and let the earlier departures get loaded and boarded. When they roll, move on up and get ready to place your bags in the compartments under the coach.
It’s your job to place your bags in the compartments under your bus.
Be available to board your coach about 15 minutes before departure.

The buses are not likely to stop on the way to Sioux City, so it’s a good idea to have food and drink on the bus.
Our coaches are restroom-equipped and very comfortable.
On arrival in Sioux City, when you step off the bus, remember to pull your bags out of the bus compartments.
Our Sioux City crew will direct you to the bike trucks, so you can claim your bike as it's being unloaded.
They will also direct you to check-in at our Front Desk if you are spending the week with Pork Belly Ventures.

Arriving in Sioux City on Friday Night

Those who take the 1:00 and 3:00 Friday shuttles from Davenport will arrive in our Sioux City campsite at about 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. respectively.
You can check-in for PBV Weeklong Support on Friday night.
For those who are not using our Weeklong Support, we’ll have a designated camping area for you. Welcome!
Our crew will direct folks to their rental tents.
Some of you will set up your own tents after check-in.
We’ll have a great food vendor in Pork Camp on Friday night—and everyone who camps with us is welcome to patronize our vendor after your long shuttle ride.
Around 10:00 p.m., our crew will go to bed and rest up for a busy Saturday.
On Friday night, there won’t be much in the way of services until morning—but there’s a swimming pool with showers nearby—the distance of a couple blocks within the huge park.
Our showers will be up and running Saturday morning.
Everyone who uses our shuttles is welcome to visit our breakfast vendor in camp!
Dave will be brewing coffee on Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. (For the rest of the week, he brews coffee from about 5:00 to 7:00 a.m.)

Pork Belly Ventures AND Other Charters, Location in Sioux City

PBV and many other charters will be located north of town in Riverside Park, 1301 Riverside Blvd, Sioux City, Iowa, 51109.

This park is a perfect location for dozens of buses and bicycle trailers to exit I-29 and circle through the park and unload. (Given the narrow roads along the riverfront, this would be impossible in and near RAGBRAI’s main campground in Sioux City proper.)

Riverside Park is beautiful, with tall trees and lots of shade, and the refreshing swimming pool. There’s a Casey’s and a Dollar Store on the park perimeter. And the park is connected by a safe bike path to the main campground, the dip site, and riverfront area. Also, the town of Sioux City WILL be running shuttles from Riverside Park to the festivities.

Sioux City Saturday, Festivities and Bike Expo

On Saturday, the huge RAGBRAI Bike Expo will be at the Tyson Events Center, around 3+ miles south of our campsite. You can use the town shuttle or the beautiful and safe bike path along the Missouri River. These locations will be noted on our map.

Arriving in Sioux City on Saturday:

We will check you in for our Weeklong Support as quickly as we can, but remember that you don’t necessarily have to get in line for check-in first thing.
We’ll have a food vendor in camp, and please watch updates for a list of his offerings. There’ll be music on stage for a few hours in the afternoon, and a lot of fun stuff going on.
Please don’t leave camp without checking in and doing your chores; however, you're free to go set up your tent, claim your bike, eat a bite, and wait to check in at our Front Desk until the line has gotten shorter.
If it’s hot, remember that you have a swimming pool close by.

To non-Porkers on the E/W Shuttle

Thanks very much for using our shuttle, and we wish you a great RAGBRAI.

We will take you from Davenport directly to our Sioux City campsite north of town in Riverside Park, 1301 Riverside Blvd, Sioux City, Iowa, 51109.

You should unload your baggage there and claim your bike.
The general or main RAGBRAI camping area is three miles south by bike path or by shuttle. It’s a very beautiful site on the Missouri River.
Some folks on the shuttle are with a different charter—not PBV—for the week. We don’t know where every charter is camping in Sioux City, but some of them are with us in Riverside Park—which makes it easy for you to ride your bike and move your bags to your weeklong hosts. Do your research now and find out precisely where your charter will be camping.
We'll have a couple of four-wheelers and a pickup truck, and we'll try to give folks some assistance getting your bags to your weeklong charter or to the RAGBRAI general camping area. But given the size of our shuttle and our charter this year, we cannot promise this assistance.
Perhaps, ask if your weeklong charter can come and pick up your luggage while you ride your bike to their campsite.
In July, we'll send you our host-town map of Sioux City, noting our campsite, in case your weeklong group can assist with your transfer.

FINDING US IN SIOUX CITY, Friday or Saturday, 7/21 and 7/22

If you are driving to our campsite in Sioux City, our first RAGBRAI campsite is located north of town in Riverside Park, 1301 Riverside Blvd, Sioux City, Iowa, 51109.
Pete Phillips and over half of the Pork Crew will be waiting for you in there.
We will publish a map of Sioux City in July, showing our location in relation to the Expo and festivities, which will be held three miles south at the Tyson Event Center.
Friends and family who drop off riders to spend the week with us, please make note of this request. Because we’ll have around 20 buses arriving throughout the day and needing space to unload and get out again, those arriving by private vehicles (dropped off by friends and family) must park away. You can park at a distance, unload your things, and walk over to camp, but you may not unload in our parking lots where buses are coming and going. When you arrive, please come to our front desk for check-in.
Friends and family are more than welcome to buy lunch from our food vendor and hang out in Pork Camp to see what this corny bike event is like. All we ask is that you park well away from the operation of PBV. Please make sure your parked vehicle does not impede the operations of other charters located in the park.
You can learn more about long-term parking in Sioux City at https://ragbraisiouxcity.com/long-term-parking-information/. PBV does not shuttle back to Sioux City at the end of RAGBRAI, so we don’t have much info on this topic.

OMAHA TO SIOUX CITY, Saturday 7/22

(This shuttle is not offered on Friday, 7/21.)

Basic Shuttle Info:

Loading and shuttle departure from the Candlewood Suites hotel parking lot at the Omaha airport to Sioux City, on Saturday, 7/22
Approximately a 90-minute trip
Departures about every hour throughout the day on Saturday, beginning at 7:30 or 8:00, with the last departure at 4:00 p.m. We are building our departure schedule around the preferences we receive from riders on their Detail Forms.
No departures after 4:00 p.m.
We'll use very comfortable coaches, restroom-equipped and air-conditioned. Your bags will go into the compartments under the bus and your bike will be loaded on a trailer. [See section on Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport, and see "Bike Transport" below.]

Omaha Airport Crew at Candlewood Suites Hotel

Tammy and Mike Pavich, Anne Weatherwax, Sara Tangeman, and about a dozen other Pork Crew members will greet you as you arrive to use our largest airport shuttle.

Omaha Airport Hotels

You don’t need an Omaha hotel room on Saturday night, 7/22. You will be camping with PBV in Sioux City—or if you’re not with us, you’ll camp in the Main Campground or with your weeklong charter or group.

If you need a room near the Omaha airport on Friday, 7/21, or Saturday, 7/29, these are the Pork Belly Ventures designated airport hotels which are right next door to each other, literally across a parking lot. Please note that by this point in the season, our blocks are full on some or all nights.

Best Western Plus, 2510 Abbott Plaza, Carter Lake, IA 51510 FULL
402-505-4900

The hotel is keeping waiting lists, but you can check to see if cancellations have opened up rooms.
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $132.
Hot breakfast served here (Candlewood guests will walk over for breakfast)

Candlewood Suites,
2601 Abbott Plaza
Omaha, NE 68110
402-342-2500

The hotel is keeping waiting lists, but you can check to see if cancellations have opened up rooms.
Mention our name to reserve your king or double queen room for $132.
Breakfast served next door, but great little convenience store in the lobby with CHEAP everything.
Shuttle departs from this hotel parking lot.

We do not have room blocks in other airport hotels. If you’re seeking an Omaha airport hotel on Friday, 7/21, or Saturday, 7/29, here are some recommendations. Though other hotels may be closer, we recommend these, a little further south along Abbott Drive, the main drag at the Omaha airport:

Country Inn and Suites
Hampton Inn
Holiday Inn Express

Wherever you stay in Omaha, it’s your responsibility to get to Candlewood Suites for your shuttle. At the end of RAGBRAI, our coaches drop off at Candlewood Suites.

Be considerate of the staff and respect the furniture and linens that belong to the hotel. If you need to work on your bike, the managers have said they can give you rags. Please don't use their bath towels. Do any bike work outside, not on their carpet, please. We don't mean to insult you with these reminders, but it has happened.

Here are Amenities Near These Omaha Hotels

Large convenience store (with beer/wine/spirits)
Subway sandwich shop
Perkins Restaurant right there (with breakfast all day and other options).

Airport Parking

Recommended for Parking: If you’re staying at the Candlewood or Best Western Plus, their staff will visit with you about their inexpensive weeklong parking in the hotel lots. This may need to be reserved in advance.
We have also used Budget parking, quite near the hotels, for $6 or $7 per day. They have a fenced lot, patrolled regularly. But allow time to walk to and from this facility, unless Budget will give you a lift in one of their vans. We do not arrange transfers to and from parking facilities.

If you fly into Omaha on Friday (7/21)

Walk out of the airport from baggage claim using Door #2, and cross to the commercial lane.
Board the next Stewarts van and tell them you're bound for Best Western Plus or Candlewood Suites, wherever you have a Friday night reservation. It's a short ride, and it's free.
Sleep well tonight!
By about 7:00 Saturday morning, we'll be set up outside on the north side of Candlewood Suites (the back parking lot).
About 30 minutes before your scheduled shuttle departure time, come out and check in for your coach.
For Dinner: We suggest a trip to Omaha's Old Market for dinner on Friday night. It's a fun place with great dining and entertainment. Our longtime favorite restaurant is Nicola's-Italian/Greek, very fresh, lovely outdoor patio. But we also like Upstream Brewery an awful lot. Have heard good things about Hiro Sushi and Japanese Cuisine. A lot of people love M’s Pub—a charming Old Market institution, rebuilt after a devastating fire, and exactly the same! Usually, the Dubliner will have some great Irish music and Guinness on tap, but remember to get some sleep Friday night! For fine dining, you can try V Mertz in the Passageway or Prime (for exceptional beef). Have a great evening in Omaha’s Old Market.)

If you're flying into Omaha on Saturday (7/22)

Our crew, wearing Pork Belly shirts and carrying signs, will meet you at baggage claim.
They will direct you to walk out of the airport using Door #2, cross to the commercial lane, and catch the first Stewart van. Tell the driver you're bound for Candlewood Suites. The drivers will probably carry you around back to us.
Our check-in desk and all trucks and coaches will be on the north side (the back parking lot) of the Candlewood Suites hotel. Shuttles from the airport on Saturday will probably bring you right around back to our area, but if for some reason they drop you out front, walk straight in the front door, through the lobby, and out the back door to check in for your departure.
When you've checked in with us for your bus, you can hang out in the hotel lobby (a/c and vending machines) until your departure.
There's a big convenience store across the street from Candlewood, and also a Subway sandwich shop and a Perkins Restaurant if you have a longer wait.

Summoning the Stewarts Airport Shuttle on Friday or Saturday

The Stewarts Shuttle is likely to be circling all day on both Friday and Saturday, from the airport to the hotels.
You should exit Door #2 at the airport (in the middle—not at the north end or south end) and cross over to the Commercial Lane. The Stewarts van will be waiting or it will come along shortly.
You can also call the hotel phone numbers and ask them to send the shuttle:

Candlewood: 402-342-2500
Best Western Plus: 402-505-4900

If you're driving into Omaha on Friday or Saturday (7/21 or 7/22)

If you arrive on Friday, park at your hotel and simply unload for your hotel stay. Decide whether to park your vehicle on Friday evening or Saturday morning well before your scheduled departure.
If you arrive on Saturday, please park at the front of the hotel or briefly (while you unload quickly) at the back of the hotel. We need the back parking for large coaches and bike trucks. When you have unloaded, you can move your vehicle, check in for your departure, and if you have time, get food or drink to take on board your coach.

There's a big convenience store across the street from Candlewood, and also a Subway sandwich shop and a Perkins Restaurant if you have a longer wait.

GIVE US A COURTESY CALL OR TEXT.

If your plans change on Saturday, if your flight is delayed, if you encounter delays while driving to Omaha, CALL or TEXT ME.
Candlewood front desk is 402/342-2500 and my (Tammy's) cell phone number is 808/375-8921.
We don’t promise to have seats for you on the next departure, but we can begin to think about reassigning you where we have open seats.
If you don't show, the crew will be looking for you in the terminal or we’ll be wondering whether you’re still coming.
If you arrive later than our last departure at 4:00, it’s unlikely that we can provide a later departure. We have contracts for coaches during a certain window. We urge you to hedge your bets and plan an early arrival in Omaha. No harm in asking, and of course we will try to help, but we cannot promise to shuttle after 4:00 PM.
(For much of the week, I will be unable to answer calls or texts, but I’ll be very attentive on Saturday. If I don’t answer, please text or call back.)

Groups on Coaches

If two members of the same group request different departure days/times, we will grant each person’s request, and you will not ride to Sioux City together.
If you wish to be together on a bus with others who share your common group name, we assume that you talked to each other about your departure time before completing your Detail Forms.
The Detail Form is our essential tool for making bus assignments on our bus-departure-management software at the website.
Several of our team do bus assignments for our shuttles. Don’t assume that all of us know who is with whom.
In short, we need Detail Forms from everyone in your group and identical group names on all applications.
We’ll publish rosters later on, so you’ll know to which bus you’re assigned.
We will also publish a list of names of those whom we cannot assign, due to the lack of information.
If you don’t have your group’s name on your application, or if you have chosen different departure times, please don’t assume we can take apart our bus assignments to move you. This affects other people.

Creating/Publishing the Departure Schedule

We will construct the departure schedule around the arrival information and preferences you have given us on your Detail Form.
Our first departure may be at about 7:30, and then we’ll have a bus departing every hour or two until 4:00 p.m. when our last bus will roll.
Your flight would probably need to arrive by 3:00 for you to make our 4:00 coach.
As usual, I'll send out a schedule and bus rosters for the entire day and try to minimize anyone having to wait around.

Bike Transport

We'll have bike trucks apart from the buses.
We will have adequate space for both boxed and unboxed bikes.
It’s possible that you may have a little time in Sioux City to set up your tent, check in, etc, before the bike truck rolls into camp.
[See Section entitled Protecting Your Bike for Truck Transport at the end of this letter.]

LAST WARNING ABOUT ARRIVING EARLY

If you’re scheduled to arrive Omaha in the late afternoon, you may want to give some thought to a plan B—what if your flight is delayed or a bag is lost? There are lots of Uber drivers in Omaha, and also cabs—but Sioux City is 90 minutes north. Hate to beat this dead horse once more, but arrive as early as you can for a smooth beginning.

DES MOINES TO SIOUX CITY, Saturday 7/22

Basic Shuttle Info:

Departs from the AmericInn hotel parking lot near the Des Moines Airport at 1920 Hackley Ave, Des Moines, IA 50315.
About 3.5 hours on the coach
Saturday morning, 7/22, 7:30 bike loading, 9:15 departure
FYI, we will have three coaches this year.

Crew: Usually two or three crew members will handle this shuttle.

One Departure Time

This shuttle is simple and smaller than our others. We’ll have three coaches departing at the same time, 9:15 a.m.
Folks on this shuttle may fly or drive to Des Moines. Many live in the Des Moines area.
The bike truck/s stage at 7:30 a.m.
As always, arrive early enough to give us your bike for loading and park your vehicle before boarding your coach on time.
The AmericInn Hotel offers its guests an inexpensive Park-and-Fly for the week. If you’re not staying at least one night at the hotel, you will need to check with them about parking. They may suggest other nearby options for you.

Des Moines Hotel Rooms and Parking

For a few days, before our release date, we still have rooms at the AmericInn Hotel in Des Moines, on Friday, 7/21, or on Saturday, 7/29. If you wish to make a reservation at the AmericInn, call 515-285-5180 and ask about Pork Belly Ventures room block. (It’s June 29th, and the rooms will be released in about a week.)
The hotel offers guests weeklong parking. Check with them.
If you are not a guest of the hotel, please use another nearby parking option.

Return on Saturday, July 29 At the end of the week, we'll have three buses designated for our passengers bound for Des Moines. We drop off at the airport AmericInn parking lot, 1920 Hackley Ave.

More about the return to Des Moines under The Last Day of RAGBRAI (keep reading).

THE WEEK WITH PBV

What Does PBV Expect of Porkers?

Our most important expectation is that you be courteous to our hard-working crew.
It’s been a wild and surprising season for PBV. Though we have been challenged to keep up in the months before the ride, and though we will serve about 8%-10% more riders than we ever have before, we have no reason to expect more than the usual numbers of bumps along the way, during Our Week in the Corn. We may need your patience at times, but that has always been true on 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. Take a breath and ask us for help. We can 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 gets two bags, and you should be able to lift each of them above your head and count to three.
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. I, Tammy, am a proud member of our morning trash crew, and about six of us will circulate each morning with huge trash bags, taking your rubbish as you break camp. But 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 with Pork Belly Ventures. We will always under-promise in order to manage expectations, but we do hope to surprise and delight our riders in as many ways as we can.

NO PERSONAL VEHICLES No personal vehicles in our campsites. No exceptions. We will check.

Your Friends Who Are Not with PBV. For the first time, we have published updates about this. We are the largest charter on RAGBRAI, and this year, we are larger than ever (looks like 8% to 10% larger). 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 $8 per person, plus $1 for the towel.). You do not need to be wearing our wristband to use our showers in most towns.

Unfortunately, we are enlisting our crew in checking wristbands and baggage tags, and also checking the parking lots to see if personal vehicles need to be towed. As a result of publishing an update on this topic, we’re told that many of our riders will also we paying close attention to these things on our behalf.

The Check-In Process for Weeklong Porkers

Check-in takes place at our Front Desk in Sioux City on Saturday, July 22, from about 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Friday evening, July 21, 6-8 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. (We simply cannot replace them this year. Don’t lose it. If you lose it, don’t ask.)
Upon check-in, you will receive your new Pork team shirt. We hope you like it.
As you check in, you will have the opportunity to purchase PBV extras, like optional evening meals, a beverage punch card, and our mid-week laundry service. You'll need cash for these items, as we don't accept checks 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. We had a recurring baggage delivery problem last year, due to old tags on bags.
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.
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'll be sending an update especially for Tent-Renters in this month.

Pork Maps and Other Ways to Find Us Daily

One of the unsung heroes of PBV is Pork Cartographer, Bob Rebach. Bob is hard at work on our Host Town Maps.
Our maps have to be approved by each town, and sometimes that causes us to be delayed in getting them to you, but as early as we can in July, 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.

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 Tama/Toledo, you can ask a local person, “Where is Corteva?” Don’t search. Refer to your Pork Locations card. Ask a local whether you’re headed in the right direction. And follow our signs.

PBV Route Signs

As ever, we will post our signs in each host town to direct you from the biking route to our campsites.
When you ride into each host town, follow the official RAGBRAI campground signs until you start seeing PBV signs on your right hand side.
We'll post on telephone poles, stop signs, any handy place we can find, arrows pointing the way to camp.
Lots of Porkers also keep an eye out for our big red-and-white striped canopies or for the big group of look-alike tents in Tent City.
(We shared a photo of our sign in the email update that included this letter.)

YOUR BEST BET FOR FINDING PORK CAMP

Use the PBV daily host town map and/or the locations on your laminated card.
WATCH FOR OUR SIGNS.
As you bike into town, it's so simple to ask a local volunteer, "Where is Fairview Elementary School, please? Am I headed in the right direction?"
Pork Belly Host Town Maps are a popular feature of the Pork Belly App for smartphones, available to Android and iPhone users in App stores, and created by our App Developer Katy Fletcher.

“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.

Pork Sites

In our upcoming letter to everyone, “Our Week in the Corn,” we’ll provide campground descriptions For now, here are the addresses.

2023 PBV Campsite Locations

Sioux City: Riverside Park, 1201 Council Oak Drive (or 1301 Riverside Blvd) Sioux City, Iowa, 51109

Storm Lake: Frank Starr Park, Hwy 110, Storm Lake, IA 50588

Carroll: Fairview Elementary School
525 E. 18th
St, Carroll, IA 51401

Ames: Towers Recreational Fields (near Towers Dorms), 917 Welch Street, Ames, IA 50011

Des Moines: Waterworks Park near George Flagg Parkway, (and quite near the Izaak Walton property at 4343 George Flagg Pkwy), Des Moines, Iowa 50321. There is no specific address for our spot in the park. Stand by for our map, please.

Tama/Toledo: Corteva property (formerly Pioneer), 402 Amwood Drive, Toledo, IA 52342

Coralville: Iowa River Landing, 880 E. 2nd Ave., Coralville, IA 52245

Davenport: St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa 52803

Pork Nights

We’re planning great menus every night.
We’ve told you a little about our entertainment, 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 included dinners. We can make some accommodation for GF folks on the included dinners. We’re still working on the menus, but we hope to offer meatless and GF options on most of the optional meals. More to come.

Food Vendors in Camp

We are arranging for 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 and/or cheese sticks. In a few cases, we will have hot breakfast items, too—to be announced. (Lots more about our breakfast vendors coming soon.)
During this RAGBRAI where longer days are the norm, it’s an advantage to be able to get something in your stomach before you leave camp—perhaps getting you a bit further down the road before your first stop.
We learned from the folks in Tama-Toledo that there really won’t be much for breakfast on the road on Friday morning for many miles out from Tama. We will include reminders about this, so that you can remember to patronize our Tama-Toledo breakfast vendor in Pork Camp on Friday morning.
We have lined up great all-day food vendors to set up in camp, so you’ll find something to eat when you ride in hungry from the road. In at least two cases, we hope to have two food options in camp.
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. In one case, a fresh lobster roll! That is a first! When possible, they will continue vending through dinner and into the evening.
In some but not all cases, we will have other food options near camp—convenience stores, restaurants, or coffee shops, which we will note on our maps.

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. Snap a photo of it!

Yoga in Pork Camp: Please watch for Our Week in the Corn, when we’ll tell you more about our yoga teacher for PBV during RAGBRAI. (We don’t have a yoga teacher yet. Working on this.) Our teacher typically leads a group yoga session at 5:00 each day—possibly later on longer cycling days. If we can arrange it, this is a chance to relax your mind and take advantage of the benefits of yoga. Stretch those tired muscles. Avoid injury. Check the COB, and watch our notifications via the Pork Belly App. We’ll let you know if, when, and where yoga will be happening each day.

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 Sioux City.

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 driver/loader guys 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 soft 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.
In our recent Update #10, we linked you to the how-to video of Brently and Marybeth Cooper. These veterans have excellent and logical suggestions on packing for RAGBRAI. They truly make it look easy.
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. Mark 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.

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 fine jewelry, 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 beats the crap out of stuff. If you like it, leave it home.

Massage Therapists in Camp

PBV will have 13 talented massage therapists working in camp.
The massage tent is usually near the shade canopies and the band stage.
On Friday evening and all day Saturday in Sioux City, 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. However, due to pre-bookings their availability has narrowed quite a bit.
If you would like to book appointments in advance (now), please use the Massage Request Form on the PBV Mobile App to contact Julie. She will want to know the days, the time of day, and the duration of the massage you request (15 minutes/30 minutes/60 minutes). Most of our therapists are women, but let her know if you have a preference, male or female.
Prime time has really filled up—2:00 to 9:00 p.m. But we do get cancellations, and people have been booking later evening appointments.
Please be certain that you’ll remember and honor those appointments during your week in the corn.

Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-Up

This service sold out in February, and the waiting list is long. We’re sorry.

From 1:00 PM to 7:00 AM, enjoy your rental tent from Pork Belly Ventures.

We'll publish an email update soon with all the info on tent rental, but here are two or three important points.

Soon, we will print our tent report, sorted by group name, and begin making the tent grid. If members of a group do not have their group names on their applications by that time, we are not responsible for those members of the group being placed near each other in Tent City. We’ve published reminders over the season, and now we need to get to work.

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.
Secondly, Your tent mate should be named on your PBV application and on your tent address card. We must know the names of those who are using a tent. Just because the price for one or two occupants is the same, please don't assume that you can have a roommate without informing us. Before we draw up the tent grid with permanent tent assignments, before we print tent address cards, we must know who is using each tent and how many bags will be in that tent. Your tent mate should be named on your PBV application and on your tent address card. The address card includes the number of bags that belong in the tent. If you have trouble logging in to add your tent mate’s name, write to tammy@pkbelly.com.
Finally, you will find out your Tent City address when you reach Sioux City Check-In. Stay tuned for more on tent rental.

PHAT Rooms

We will write separately to our PHAT Room occupants about the details of their stay.

Your Daily Shower

On all eight days, Saturday through Saturday, weeklong Porkers wearing a Pork Bracelet are entitled to one or more showers.
Our showers will be within our campsites in every host town except Storm Lake and Des Moines. In Storm Lake, it’s a 2-block walk and stand by for our map. In Des Moines, you can walk or shuttle to our showers, quite near camp. Stand by for our map. All RAGBRAI portable shower vendors will be located in single spot in Des Moines.
You may take one fresh towel from us (and 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.

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE NEXT SEVERAL TOPICS.
WE HAVE MORE RIDERS THAN EVER, AND OUR RIDERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND
THAT THERE ARE LIMITS TO OUR CAPACITY.

YOU MAY NEED TO RESERVE THE SAG IN ADVANCE, NOT ON THE MORNING YOU USE IT.
YOU MAY NEED TO CHARGE SOME DEVICES ON ONE DAY, AND OTHERS ON DIFFERENT DAYS.
AND IF YOU NEED TO USE A CPAP MACHINE,OR IF YOU NEED TO REFRIGERATE MEDICATION, PLEASE FOLLOW OUR DIRECTIONS BELOW.

The PBV Sag Bus

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.
When possible, the driver may make some kind of food stop on the way to our next Pork Camp. It's up to the bus driver to scope out what's available on the town-to-town route.
We can sometimes make two runs with the SAG bus if there's a surprising demand (this has happened a few times).
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.
Soon, we will make it possible for folks to reserve the sag for $30 per person on two days, your 82-mile Thursday and your 80-mile Saturday. We expect the sag to sell out on these days.
You CAN reserve spots on the SAG now if you're already sure that you won't ride on a given day. Write to dave@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. You must ask if we have any more space available. Our sag TRUCK makes only one trip, even if the sag BUS makes two. 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.
If you sag, take a small bag with your shower-necessaries on the coach with you, and claim your bike soon on arrival in our next campsite.
Ours is a morning sag only, from host town to host town.

Two Charging Trailers

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.
Each cubicle has a standard duplex outlet.
See the COB each day, near our front desk, for the location of the charging trailers.
Charging can happen for most of the hours of the day, except when we’re driving town to town. The trailers will open at 5:00 am and close at 10:00 pm. Charging continues when the trailers are closed (locked).
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, we have more people on our support than we anticipated, and people are bringing ever-more and ever-more devices to charge. We want you to be happy, but this is getting out of hand, folks. We are not building a new trailer—and we ask you to 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 our Dad, the late-great Jim Phillips, our Pork Electrician. Dad would be 91 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.
Please make sure your name is on your battery and charger.
Crew members will supervise charging. Some areas are self-serve. Crew members may take your battery and charger to charge on the front desk trailer, "Roll With It." Please don’t climb on board the trailer yourself.
You should get the 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 9:00 PM for your ride the next day. Please, you must not disturb the Roll With It crew members who sleep on this trailer between 9:00 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.
If your battery doesn’t detach from your e-bike, roll your bike up alongside Roll With It, our front-desk trailer. We’ll drop a cord down to charge you up.
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, and we ask that you choose the appropriate place for charging, depending on whether your battery detaches.
IF THE BATTERY DETACHES FROM YOUR DERAILLEUR, use the two utility trailers with small charging compartments.
IF THE BATTERY CANNOT BE DETACHED FROM YOUR BIKE, do not bring a bike to the charging trailers for devices. We cannot have bikes on those trailers. Bring your bike to the e-bike battery charging area, and a crew member will direct you.

CPAP Machines

If you’re thinking of bringing a CPAP machine on RAGBRAI, please write to Anne@pkbelly.com right away.

We hope that no CPAP machines will have to be transported on baggage trailers. Please write to Anne@pkbelly.com with your name so that we quantify the space needed for carrying CPAP machines (enclosed in a latching case).
The CPAP machine should be enclosed in a latching case.
Anne will make a list of those who need us to transport the CPAP machine.
Anne will send you a letter describing what we can do for CPAP users, and what we cannot do.
You will have more flexibility on where to camp if you have a battery for your CPAP machine.
Rather than writing us with questions, please write to Anne@pkbelly.com, and she will send you our letter on this topic.

Medications That Need Refrigeration

If you have medicine that needs to be refrigerated during RAGBRAI, please write to Anne@pkbelly.com. Anne will make a list, so that we can quantify the space needed for refrigeration of medicine.
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: 5:30 to 7:00 a.m. or between 1:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Never wake our crew on the Roll With It trailer between the hours of 8:00 PM and 6:00 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.
Bob, Dave, and Mick have built hand-sanitizing stations to be placed near our kybos.

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? 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?"
Truth is, we will have an overflow baggage trailer this year, in addition to Stupidity, but the same instructions apply. Make sure you 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 a truck (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.
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.

Pork Wear Be a Proud Porker and wear Pork Apparel from this year or previous years. Wear it anytime. And these are our special days:

Ugly Tie Thursday: On Thursday, many of our crew members will wear hideous polyester ties. Bow ties, the full Windsor knot, or whatever: but it must be ugly. The Thursday ugly-tie tradition has something to do with Tom McCoy. You’re welcome to bring an ugly tie of your own and wear it on Thursday in Tama/Toledo.
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 on Friday in Coralville. Join us!
Wear Pork Belly Shirts and Jerseys anytime!

Midweek Laundry Service

This is an extra for which you can sign up at check-in in Sioux City, and the price is $25.
When you sign up, we’ll give you a tall kitchen trash bag with your name on it.
On Tuesday evening, 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.
With so many loads to wash, we don't have time to go through your pockets. Your wallets, cash, chapstick, and ball-point pens 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 more clothes!

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 or 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.

Shortening Your Days:

Cut Down Your Thursday and Friday

From 80+ miles to 50+ miles.

We have not yet announced these options, but this is a heads-up.

As soon as possible, we will announce limited-capacity Early-Finish Shuttles that can shorten your 80-mile days on Thursday and Friday of RAGBRAI. Each of these shuttles has a max capacity of 56 passengers:

From Grinnell to Tama at 1:30 PM, saving you approximately 25 of your 82 Thursday miles.
From Grinnell to Tama at 3:30 PM, saving you approximately 25 of your 82 Thursday miles.
From Amana to Coralville at 1:30 PM, saving you approximately 25 of your 80 Friday miles.
From Amana to Coralville at 3:30 PM, saving you approximately 25 of your 80 Friday miles.

We must hire an additional coach to provide these options. The cost per person will be $40.

Please watch for an update on these Early-Finish Shuttles!

OUR EXIT SHUTTLES, Tuesday and Wednesday Afternoons

We are not able to taxi riders to various locations in the middle of RAGBRAI. We CAN take you on our exit shuttles to one hotel at the Des Moines airport, where you could rent a car or catch a flight.
On Tuesday, 7/25, Pork Belly Ventures has a block of rooms reserved at the Des Moines AmericInn Hotel, just off of Fleur Drive. If you are using a midweek shuttle and would like to take advantage of our room blocks and rate, call (515) 285-5180 and mention Pork Belly Ventures for a reservation.

If you need to leave RAGBRAI for any reason, our exit shuttles on Tuesday and Wednesday are our best chance to help you!

“Enter Shuttle” on Tuesday, Des Moines airport to Ames

Shuttle operates on Tuesday afternoon, July 25th
Shuttle originates from AmericInn Hotel at the Des Moines airport, 1920 Hackley Avenue, Des Moines Iowa, 50315.
In the parking lot of the AmericInn hotel, we will load bikes for about 30 minutes prior to departure, from about 3:30 to 4:00 pm. 45-minute trip.
We depart from the Des Moines Airport AmericInn hotel at 4:00 p.m.
We arrive at Towers Field, our Ames campsite, at about 4:45 pm.
Riders may check in for partial week support at our front desk, or head off to find their campground or charter.
Price: $110 per passenger, bike and baggage transport included.

“Exit Shuttle” on Tuesday, Ames campsite to Des Moines airport hotel

Shuttle operates on Tuesday late afternoon, July 25
Shuttle originates at our Tuesday campsite, Towers Field in Ames.
At our campsite, we will gather bikes for loading, from about 3:00 on.
Coach will arrive at about 5:00 p.m.—please allow passengers to disembark.
We will board the coach at about 5:20 p.m. and depart for the Des Moines airport AmericInn hotel parking lot, 1920 Hackley Avenue, Des Moines Iowa, 50315.
We depart close to 5:30 p.m. for the 45-minute trip.
We arrive at AmericInn Hotel about 6:15 p.m.
Hotel Stays at AmericInn in Des Moines: Pork Belly Ventures has a block of rooms reserved at the Des Moines Airport AmericInn Hotel, just off of Fleur Drive. To take advantage of our rate, call (515) 285-5180 and mention Pork Belly Ventures.
Price: $111 per passenger, bike and baggage transport included.

“Exit Shuttle” on Wednesday, Des Moines campsite to Des Moines airport hotel

Shuttle operates on Wednesday, July 26, with 4:00 departure
Shuttle originates at our Wednesday campsite, Waterworks Park in Des Moines.
At our campsite, we will gather bikes for loading, from about 3:00 on.
Coach will arrive at about 3:30 p.m.
We will board the coach between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. and depart for the Des Moines airport AmericInn hotel parking lot, 1920 Hackley Avenue, Des Moines Iowa, 50315.
We depart at 4:00 and arrive at about 4:15 p.m.
Price: $51 per passenger, bike and baggage transport included.

If you need to leave RAGBRAI for any reason, our exit shuttles on Tuesday and Wednesday are our best chance to help you!

Emergency Exits from RAGBRAI

The best opportunity for exiting RAGBRAI (whether or not you are with PBV for the week) is to take one of our Exit Shuttles on Tuesday or Wednesday. We realize you can’t plan your emergency! But if you’re aware of a problem early in the week, consider using our SAG for a day, and then using an exit shuttle on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon to the Des Moines airport, where you can rent a car or catch a flight.
We are committed to providing service for our weeklong riders throughout the week, and generally, we need our entire crew and fleet of vehicles to accomplish each day’s work.
But should you or one of your companions have an emergency during RAGBRAI, please speak to me, Tammy, about finding other resources to help you. Sometimes this involves contacting one of our non-profit friends in an overnight town. Riders can sometimes make a donation to a non-profit in exchange for a lift from a volunteer to the nearest airport, hotel, or car rental location.
We want to help, and we’ll do what we can to assist you.
Knocking on wood. Let’s hope it’s a RAGBRAI without these kinds of emergencies.

LAST DAY OF RAGBRA

Location in Davenport

Your final day of cycling is 66 miles.
When you reach Davenport, you will be routed past the site where you can dip your front tire in the Mississippi River and then FOLLOW OUR SIGNS, and ride on to us another mile-plus.
We will provide a map of Davenport, showing our location at St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa 52803.
Our bus-staging and bike-loading area is along Lombard Street.
Showers will operate near our staging area, and our food vendor (almost confirmed) will be located in camp.
All of our shuttles will depart between 1:00 and 3:00 PM.

PLAN THIS DAY.

You have 66 miles to ride today. 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—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 Have To Do In Davenport.”

Shuttle Departure Times and Destinations

We operate three airport shuttles on the last day:

to the Quad Cities International Airport (minutes away on a good day), departing at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., with one departure at an undetermined time in between. 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.
to the Des Moines International Airport (2-plus hours on a good day), three coaches departing at about 3:00 p.m. We drop everyone in the parking lot of the AmericInn Hotel, quite near the airport.
to the Omaha International Airport (4.5 hours on a good day), with several coaches departing as they fill between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. We drop everyone in the parking lot of the Candlewood Suites hotel (next door to the Best Western Plus) very near the Omaha 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

The location of this shuttle hub is noted on our (upcoming) map of Davenport. You may also use the Davenport town map.
You want the UNION STATION, close to the riverfront in downtown Davenport.
From this station, Davenport will run shuttles that can accommodate people, bags, and bikes.
From this station, Davenport will shuttle you to St. Ambrose University, to use our shuttles or to ship bicycles after RAGBRAI on 7/29.

Chores You’ll Need to Do in Davenport on the Last Day

Some people will ride 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, too.
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 vendor (almost confirmed) who will be set up in our staging area.
Remember to allow time for your chores and be ready to board your coach about 20 minutes before departure.
Ask for help. Our crew will be all over the site, happy to help you find what you need.

Process for Bus Departure Sign-up

By all means come to the front desk and let us know you have arrived and ask for direction. We’ll point out where things are and to which bike truck you should take your bike. Other crew members in camp can direct you, too.
For our Des Moines and Omaha buses, you’ll need to get your chores done (hand off bikes for shipping, get your shower, etc) before you can sign up for the next available shuttle departure.
You can only sign up for yourself. You may not sign up for your friends who are not yet in from the road.

A Suggested Order of Chores on the Last Day:

At our front desk, read the boards.
Take care of your bike first, in one way or another—keep reading.
Produce your return shipping label (from your duffel bag?), and then claim your shipping container and hand off your bike for shipping at the appropriate (signed) trailer.
OR see your bike tagged with your name and loaded on the appropriate trailer for your shuttle (trailers will be signed).
OR for if you pack your own bike for shipping, take your bike to our UPS shipping area in our staging area;
If you're so inclined, drop a tip in the special coffee can or pickle jar designated for crew appreciation.
Shower, grab a bite from our wonderful vendor, and celebrate your completion of RAGBRAI L!
Sign in at our Front Desk for the next available departure.
Board your coach on time.
Our crew will be around to guide you, every step of the way.
If you’re running late for one of our shuttles, come straight to the front desk and ask us for help.
As you leave Coralville on Saturday morning, remember that this to-do list is waiting for you in Davenport. Plan this day.

Shipping Bikes Home

If you have ordered your shipping label online at BikeFlights.com, it will be emailed to you. Print it and pack it.
Don’t count on purchasing labels during the week or in Davenport. Internet connections are very unreliable.
A UPS trailer will stage in or near our staging area in Davenport to receive boxed bikes and other parcels that are ready to ship on the day.
As ever, we will have your flattened bike boxes, extra cardboard bike boxes for the taking, and your hard-shell bike cases in camp at Davenport on the last day.
We'll have tape, extra cardboard boxes, and markers.

Here are the TWO OPTIONS FOR SHIPPING BIKES HOME:

The first option for shipping your bike home is to box it yourself in Davenport, affix your shipping label, and hand the package over to our crew to load onto a UPS trailer immediately. Our bike mechanics will have some tools that you may borrow. This option requires no additional payment and includes very little assistance from our bike mechanics, but it is a great option for those who are accustomed to working on their own bikes.
The second option for shipping your bike home allows you to turn your bike, your shipping container, and your return-shipping label over to our crew or the bike mechanics for return shipping. Some bikes will be packed up on site in Davenport. Others will be transported safely to an air-conditioned shop, where our mechanics will package your bike for shipping. This option costs an additional $100, payable in advance. You have selected this option when you purchased your outbound shipping at bikeflights.com, or you can write to us and send payment for it between now and RAGBRAI. You can expect your parcel to enter the UPS system after RAGBRAI, by Tuesday, August 1.
Packing your bike for Airline Travel: anyone who needs assistance and must package his/her bike on the last day of RAGBRAI in Davenport for airline travel Omaha, Des Moines, or Quad Cities airports, please write to pete@pkbelly.com now and order this service. We need to know about it right away. The price is $100. Remember to avail yourself of this service well before 2:00 p.m.
For anyone who ships bikes to/from Iowa by some means other than bikeflights.com, we charge an $80 fee for providing the “ground game” at RAGBRAI. That’s $40 each way.

Bike Shipping Outside PBV

For those who are shipping bikes to/from RAGBRAI but are not using the services of Pork Belly Ventures--your shipping containers, bike mechanics, and all bike-shipping services will be in our Davenport staging area at St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust Street, Davenport, Iowa 52803. We will publish maps pretty soon.

Bike Transport Bike Transport is included with all PBV post-RAGBRAI shuttles. At our Front Desk, ask which truck is going to Quad Cities, to Des Moines, and to Omaha. You’ll take your bike to the appropriate truck, and our crew will load it.

Lag Time for Bike Truck on Omaha Shuttle

All bags and bikes will be unloaded outside the Candlewood Suites hotel on the evening of the 29th. Claim all of your possessions that night. We will unload bikes on a field out behind the Best Western Plus hotel, also very close to Candlewood.

Bike trucks will depart Davenport when they are full. The departure and arrival times of bike trucks/trailers will not necessarily coincide with the departure and arrival times of our buses. Plan to watch for the arrival of bike trucks/trailers in the field behind Best Western Plus. We will unload safely, as fast as we can. Bikes must be claimed on Saturday night, the 29th.

DO NOT CALL HOTEL STAFF AND REQUIRE THEM TO CLAIM YOUR BIKES. THIS IS NOT THEIR JOB. We are astonished that this happened last year.

Hotel Celebrations in Omaha

By the way, our hotel managers at Candlewood and Best Western Plus are okay with some congregating and celebrating in the hotels' hospitality areas on the night of our return. You can get beer at the convenience store right there, and then enjoy a little post-RAGBRAI celebration in air-conditioned comfort. But of course, we'll expect you to be good guests, keep the noise down, and clean up after yourselves.

If we're saying farewell in Davenport, remember to claim your bags before we clear out of town at 3:00 or shortly thereafter. Otherwise, your 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.

BETWEEN NOW AND RAGBRAI

Detail Form Hundreds of people haven’t started to complete this form, though we began asking for it on May 5. Please login and complete your Detail Form. It must be completed for each rider. Instructions appear at the top of this letter.

June/July Contact with PBV Please be willing to read for your answers, folks.

With over 200 new emails every day, it’s becoming difficult to even find the emails from our caterers, musicians, hosts, and food vendors. We are getting past the point where you can brain-dump into an email and expect us to spoon-feed answers to a long list of questions. But if you need to email questions…

It's a good idea to email both of us: tammy@pkbelly.com and pete@pkbelly.com going forward. We check email quite a bit, but we can get behind on phone messages. Tammy's home phone is 712/328-0161 and cell is 808- 375-8921. Pete is at 402-681-2613 (cell).

We have asked some other crew members (Anne, Kay, Dave, Sara) to handle aspects of our charter. They cannot answer your long list of questions. If you don’t find answers in this letter, please address them to Tammy or to Pete.

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." 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 19th at 10:00 p.m. You can click on "Cancellation" at pkbelly.com to read more.

Cancel by Email: If you cancel, please notify us by email 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 19th, you may have a refund coming—so please include an address where we may mail your refund check.)

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 2023 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.

Questions Things are going well, Friends. We want to help you, even late in the season. However, we will only get busier over the coming weeks. RAGBRAI itself is invigorating and wonderful, but as we often say, we'd rather dig a ditch than go through the weeks prior to RAGBRAI. Our To-Do lists are long, and it can become tough to respond to your questions. Read your June Letter first, and then call or email Tammy with any questions—sooner is better. We’ll do our best. (Questions about bike shipping should go to Pete.)

MAKE PAYMENT

Full payment has been due since May 15th, and thanks very much if you’ve taken care of it.
It’s too late to mail a check. Now you should login and pay by credit card.

Massage

We have thirteen therapists on our team, and if you’d like to book appointments early, please write to Julie at pbvmassage@gmail.com. Julie is managing the appointment book for our ten therapists. Full disclosure: she has been taking appointments since April, and prime-times may be scarce.
You pay your therapist directly, $40 for 30 minutes, or $80 for an hour.
Do take these appointments seriously. Remember them, and keep your appointments with our therapists. If you’re sure you can do that, book away!

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 pete@pkbelly.com or tammy@pkbelly.com to get on our distribution list. Spam filters make it tough sometimes.
Especially in July, updates will include the host town maps showing our campsite locations, bus assignments and departure times, and other important Pork info.

PREPARING/PROTECTING YOUR BIKE FOR TRUCK TRANSPORT

This info is available at our website, but we want the June Letter to be your complete guide to PBV. Here it is again.

NOTE: PORK BELLY VENTURES DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE TO BIKES THAT ARE NOT FULLY BOXED.

When transporting bikes on trucks, we've had only two mishaps in over 20 years--truck contents shifted and gouged the top tube of a beautiful, completely unprotected bike. Somehow, another nice bike got scratched in transit. Since then, we have recommended that all Porkers fully box bikes for truck transport. Keep reading.

ALSO NOTE: CARBON OR COMPOSITE WHEELS CAN BE DAMAGED BY HANGING AN UNBOXED BIKE FOR TRANSPORT. If you have carbon wheels, it's your responsibility to see that it’s loaded properly by doing these things:

Contact Dave Kennedy now at dave@pkbelly.com and let him know about your wheels.
Prepare a large handlebar tag for your bike that says “DON’T HANG THIS BIKE.” Present the bike for loading with your tag on the bars.
Remind us again at the time of bike-loading so that we will load your bike without hanging it.

Hanging System and Other Methods for Transporting Bikes

If for some reason fully boxing isn't possible for you, then here are some suggestions.

At any hardware store, you can buy cheap pipe insulation to protect your frame's tubing.
Tape it on the main triangle---top tube, down tube, and seat tube, forks, and chainstays.
Cover your rear derailleur and other fragile components.
Remove the computer or other accessories from your handlebars and frame.

Experience tells us that, in spite of our recommendation and because of limited car space, those of you on the East/West Shuttle will bring unboxed bikes to Lansing for transport on our trucks. Consequently, our semi trailers will be outfitted to transport bikes in various ways:

to hang unboxed bikes in rows--they're hung by a wheel, with the opposite wheel secured to D-rings in the truck floor by bungee cord
to wall off bikes with cardboard
to tie off bikes to the walls of the trailer
to carry boxed bikes and boxed tandems, unboxed tandems, trikes, recumbents, trailers, and whatever you plan to ride across Iowa!

Please take the above precautions to protect your frame and components. On your June Form, there's a place to note the type of bike we will be transporting for you, and whether it will be boxed or unboxed.

If you fly your bike to Omaha or to Des Moines, please do not take it out of the box until we've trucked it to Sioux City.

If you drive your bike to Omaha, you may not have car space for carrying boxed bikes. In Omaha, we'll have buses and trucks (not always semis) departing throughout the day. Though these trucks may not be outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, our crew will carefully load both boxed and unboxed bikes. We urge you to take the above precautions, protecting your frame and components, if you plan to give us an unboxed bike.

For our return to Omaha at the end of RAGBRAI, we'll have a semi outfitted to hang unboxed bikes, and other trailers for boxed ones, tandems, and recumbents.

Bottom line, we'll load your bike in whatever condition you like, but if it's not in a box, we assume no responsibility for damage.

Finally, if you take our advice and use pipe insulation or other packing material, plan to store it either in your hard shell bike case or in your duffel. We can't store it loose on our trucks. All bike boxes should be flattened for weeklong storage.

Thanks for hanging on to your June Letter, Porkers, and 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.

Until next time, we remain,

Your friends,

Tammy and Pete

June Letter

Table of Contents

TOP PRIORITIES RIGHT NOW

The Detail Form

RAGBRAI Registration

Last Chance to Make Sure Group Names Are Identical

Payment Is Due Now

Availability of Services

EAST/WEST SHUTTLE Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22

Basic E/W Shuttle Info:

Location/Parking in Davenport

Groups on Coaches

Hours in Davenport

What To Do Upon Your Arrival in Davenport

Have You Signed Up for Long-Term Parking in Davenport?

Our Davenport Schedule and Crew

One Bike Per Person on E/W Shuttle

Sleeping Options in Davenport on Friday, 7/21, Prior to RAGBRAI

Bike-Loading Details

Bus-Boarding Details, and Departing the Bus in Sioux City

Arriving in Sioux City on Friday Night

Pork Belly Ventures AND Other Charters, Location in Sioux City

Sioux City Saturday, Festivities and Bike Expo

Arriving in Sioux City on Saturday:

To non-Porkers on the E/W Shuttle

FINDING US IN SIOUX CITY, Friday or Saturday, 7/21 and 7/22

OMAHA TO SIOUX CITY, Saturday 7/22

Basic Shuttle Info:

Omaha Airport Crew at Candlewood Suites Hotel

Omaha Airport Hotels

Airport Parking

If you're flying into Omaha on Saturday (7/22)

Summoning the Stewarts Airport Shuttle on Friday or Saturday

GIVE US A COURTESY CALL OR TEXT.

Groups on Coaches

Creating/Publishing the Departure Schedule

Bike Transport

LAST WARNING ABOUT ARRIVING EARLY

DES MOINES TO SIOUX CITY, Saturday 7/22

One Departure Time

Des Moines Hotel Rooms and Parking

THE WEEK WITH PBV

What Does PBV Expect of Porkers?

The Check-In Process for Weeklong Porkers

Pork Maps and Other Ways to Find Us Daily

PBV Locations Card

PBV Route Signs

YOUR BEST BET FOR FINDING PORK CAMP

“Lost” Baggage

Pork Sites

2023 PBV Campsite Locations

Pork Nights

Food Vendors in Camp

First Thing: Check the Boards and the COB!

Baggage Limit

Chairs and Camp Stools

PBV Suggested Packing List

Massage Therapists in Camp

Optional Tent Rental and Daily Set-Up

PHAT Rooms

Your Daily Shower

The PBV Sag Bus

Two Charging Trailers

Charging E-Bike Batteries

Electronic Shifter Charging

CPAP Machines

Medications That Need Refrigeration

Other PBV Thingys (Equipment)

Restrooms and Hand-Sanitizing

Bike Locks

Midweek Laundry Service

Our Cell Phones During RAGBRAI

OUR EXIT SHUTTLES, Tuesday and Wednesday Afternoons

“Enter Shuttle” on Tuesday, Des Moines airport to Ames

“Exit Shuttle” on Tuesday, Ames campsite to Des Moines airport hotel

“Exit Shuttle” on Wednesday, Des Moines campsite to Des Moines airport hotel

Emergency Exits from RAGBRAI

LAST DAY OF RAGBRA

PLAN THIS DAY.

Shuttle Departure Times and Destinations