Calling the brave to bicycle

Fri February 02 2007
Posted Feb 1, 2007
7,407

Feeling brave? Feeling crazy? Then head to Perry Saturday for the 30th annual BRR Ride. It's a 23-mile round trip to Rippey and back. Some of us around the office have ridden several times. There have been years when it felt like a warm spring day and years where participants pedaled behind a snow plow the whole way. There was one icy year when riders were falling off their bikes, and another when blowing snow on the road engulfed a recumbent rider. "It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen," said RAGBRAI host Brian Duffy, "this guy fighting a low-level snowstorm." Yeah, what fun. What will it be like for this ride? Cold. Temperatures are projected to be around 10 degrees, but even if there's no wind, it will feel colder. And the faster you ride, the colder you might feel. According to the National Weather Service Wind Chill chart, if it's 10 degrees and you're creating a wind of 10 mph on a bike, it will feel like -4. Pump 20 mph and the wind chill will be - 9. But according to Wendy Goodale of the Perry Chamber of Commerce, the ride will go on no matter what. "We've never canceled," she said. That's the spirit. Put down the remote control, get out there and prove you can go the distance. It's only 23 miles. There's hot chocolate. And you have the rest of the weekend to thaw out.