R17 30 Guest Blog from Pochy: The Great Rollout Reorganization of 2017

Greetings Beaver Buddies, it's Pochy, bringing you stories from the other side of the start of ragbrai 2017.  While The Boss, The Mayor, and Norman were having a great old time riding their bikes, drinking beers, and chatting up small town folks, the rest of us in the real world were battling with one of the most chaotic and complex rollouts of Team Beaver history.

As many of you know, handling complex logistical nightmares usually brings me great joy.  This year was no exception. Ragbrai 2017 presented 6 interesting challenges:

1. The Deb took a year off from driving to work on some house projects
2. No Deb = No Beaver Arc 
3. Multiple vehicles carrying multiple bikes
4. Pochy's car needs to be in Clear Lake, full of super secret surprise stuff
5. Everyone needs to pack light... for real... no joke, we have one minivan for all the stuff
6. Included in all the stuff - the biggest piñata of all time

As the Rollout Boss, it was my responsibility to make sure everything was perfect, so on Saturday morning, L and I took the dogs to doggy-day-camp and headed over to Smitty's to supervise and micromanage. My memory might be a little fuzzy on this, but here's what I recall: nearly every person in this group heard the words "pack light" and translated that into, "bring everything, including coolers, lawn chairs, and 15 changes of clothing in the largest bag you can find."  Then we all stood back and watched Smitty try to Tetris everything into the van.

Chillin with this handsome pupper while everyone else packs

It took a lot of sweat, muscle, and acrobatics to get all the bags, bikes, and people tucked away, but finally, we were off!  This was by far, the strangest rollout experience I have ever had.  I felt all the usual excitement of a ragbrai rollout, but there I was, alone in my car, with only my oversized beaver piñata for company.  I played my music as loud as I could, I sang, I danced, I honked at all the other vehicles on I-35 headed to ragbrai, but I couldn't drink... because I was driving... and I was alone.  It felt off. 

Lonely Rollout

I had to drive my car alone because I had to make a stop in Swaledale at my mom's shop to stuff her fridge with about 200 jello shots, and then I had to leave my car parked in Clear Lake full of all the goods I would need to host a baby shower in CL the day after ragbrai (why, oh why did I think that was a good idea?!)

Once in Clear Lake, I met up with L, Too Much, and Bandit.  We decided to converge there so they wouldn't have to drive all the way to Des Moines and then promptly turn around to drive North again.  And then we were off - zig-zagging West on smallish roads that we ride on our bikes later that week.