RAGBRAI director celebrates first half of route: 'Past Wednesday, it's all downhill.'

On a shady corner in downtown Madrid, RAGBRAI Ride Director Matt Phippen wanted to know if a tired cyclist from New York had eaten. And when the rider's bike club teammates from Florida rolled up, Phippen asked them if they’d had enough water. Maybe they should have a little more, he suggested.

After planning for more than a year, Phippen has reached the halfway point of RAGBRAI 50. And in addition to thinking about the large-scale logistics of moving more than 20,000 people across the state on scorching hot days, he’s worried about every individual biker’s energy and mood.

Just call him RAGBRAI’s official dad.

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“Wednesday is always that day where everybody's been riding, so they're tired, they haven't slept very well, their muscles hurt,” he said. “But once you get past Wednesday, it's kind of all downhill.”

“The other thing, too, is their vacation’s half over. It's like they start to process that they are going back to life,” he added.

The ride from Ames into Des Moines, RAGBRAI’s first stop in the capital city in a decade, was the day Phippen stressed most about because “it had so many eyes on it early on,” he said.

There was “so much of, ‘This is gonna be so devastating. The roads are going to shut down. These towns are getting crippled. There's too many people. There's another bike route that's going somewhere else that’s gonna cause problems,’” he said. “And I don't want to jinx this, but we're rolling really good right now.”

RAGBRAI ride director: 'We need to grow this ride'

Before headliner Hairball performed Tuesday night in the host town of Ames, Phippen took the main stage to tell riders to make a plan for their safety Wednesday. RAGBRAI would have additional support-and-gear SAG wagons and super sags semi-trailers out, as it did on Tuesday, he said, and would continue to pivot operations and make changes to their flow as demand requires.

“Every day on route this year, we've listened, we've learned from things, and we've made adjustments,” he said. “And today was another one. The SAG team made some adjustments this morning, and I think what we did is helping the state patrol out, it's helping the roads out, it's actually getting riders that need to get into town faster.”

Some longtime RAGBRAI riders and more experienced cyclists have grumbled about “newbies” on social media and over beers at the campgrounds this year.

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But every year there are people who overestimate their skills and have a difficult first few days, Phippen said. And without new riders, RAGBRAI won’t live on for another 50 years, he added.

“At the end of the day, we need newbies,” he said. “We need to grow this ride. We need to bring down the age level, too, so as RAGBRAI nation does age out a little bit, there's this younger demographic pulling in right behind them."

Phippen's advice for 'scorcher' days: 'Know your limits'

During RAGBRAI, Phippen spends most of his time following the tail end of the ride. He stays until pass-through towns close and slowly makes his way to the overnight stop. And his favorite moments have been being in those small communities at the end of their day when their RAGBRAI planners are looking at each other and celebrating a big win.

“I think every town had some level of, 'Holy crap, this is so awesome,'" he said.

The rest of the week promises to be very hot, “truly a scorcher,” Phippen said. Just as he’s been standing on this particular corner in Madrid, the temperature had risen two degrees to 98.

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After many years of riding RAGBRAI before joining the team full-time, Phippen’s advice is pretty simple: Hydrate, eat and rest.

“Know your limits,” he said. “If you think you could push forward and your body is acting funny, there’s a chance that your body telling you that you need to slow down and you need to stop, so listen to your body.”

“Like I’ve always said this is not a race, it’s a ride and you’ll get there in the end.”

COURTNEY CROWDER, the Register's Iowa Columnist, traverses the state's 99 counties telling Iowans' stories. She co-directed, "Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary," which is currently playing in movie theaters across Iowa. You can reach her at (515) 284-8360 or ccrowder@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter @courtneycare.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RAGBRAI 50: Matt Phippen celebrates successful first half in Des Moines