July 25th, 2024 | by Keaton Smith
Jaab and I had heard SO much about RAGBRAI 2023 from Robby, who had worked the event the year prior. It sounded like one of Robby’s favorite events he attended, so Jaab and I were pumped to represent Bivo this year.
RAGBRAI is an annual, 7-day ride across the entire state of Iowa. For the ride’s 51st year, the route for RAGBRAI meanders along the Southern part of the state, and cyclists travel West to East. This year, the event kicked off in the small town of Glenwood and all the riders’ spirits were high.
We set up the Bivo tent in the closed-off streets, next to Nuu Muu dresses and across from the Iowa Children’s Hospital booth. Jaab was worried about the weather; before the expo officially opened, it was raining hard and a current of water washed over our feet as we set up. Eventually, the rain faded and the sun managed to push through the clouds.
Between 11am and 12pm, riders slowly descended on to the small town to dial in their setups, reunite with friends, and get the party started.
We learned from people who stopped by the booth that this is one of the shortest routes ever, but it is also one of the hilliest, which people did NOT stop talking about throughout the expo day: 424 miles total with 18,741 feet of climbing.
I slowly pickled up that RAGBRAI riders aren’t riding to compete, they’re in it for FUN.
I learned so much from RAGBRAI riders, getting a better sense of the spirit of RAGBRAI but also, importantly, what kinds of questions and concerns riders had when considering Bivo bottles.
Jaab and I had heard SO much about RAGBRAI 2023 from Robby, who had worked the event the year prior. It sounded like one of Robby’s favorite events he attended, so Jaab and I were pumped to represent Bivo this year.
RAGBRAI is an annual, 7-day ride across the entire state of Iowa. For the ride’s 51st year, the route for RAGBRAI meanders along the Southern part of the state, and cyclists travel West to East. This year, the event kicked off in the small town of Glenwood and all the riders’ spirits were high.
We set up the Bivo tent in the closed-off streets, next to Nuu Muu dresses and across from the Iowa Children’s Hospital booth. Jaab was worried about the weather; before the expo officially opened, it was raining hard and a current of water washed over our feet as we set up. Eventually, the rain faded and the sun managed to push through the clouds.
Between 11am and 12pm, riders slowly descended on to the small town to dial in their setups, reunite with friends, and get the party started.
We learned from people who stopped by the booth that this is one of the shortest routes ever, but it is also one of the hilliest, which people did NOT stop talking about throughout the expo day: 424 miles total with 18,741 feet of climbing.
I slowly pickled up that RAGBRAI riders aren’t riding to compete, they’re in it for FUN.
I learned so much from RAGBRAI riders, getting a better sense of the spirit of RAGBRAI but also, importantly, what kinds of questions and concerns riders had when considering Bivo bottles.
Here are a few of the top questions RAGBRAI riders were asking:
RAGBRAI riders are used to the heat and are used to plastic insulated bottles that can’t really withstand it. An insulated metal bottle for cycling isn’t something many riders were used to! We explained the double-wall vacuum insulation technology and shared stories many of you have told us about riding in Texas with ice in your bottles for hours!
Insulated bottles that work was something riders were slightly skeptical about at first. But one woman from the Iowa Children’s Hospital tent across from us was actually our best salesperson in the end! She came across the road to our tent with her personal insulated Bivo, rattling the ice in her bottle, showing everyone how the ice she had put in it this morning was still there, hours later! Thanks to her, we were able to show many RAGBRAI riders that yes, your water will stay cold all day. We promise.
Here are a few of the top questions RAGBRAI riders were asking:
RAGBRAI riders are used to the heat and are used to plastic insulated bottles that can’t really withstand it. An insulated metal bottle for cycling isn’t something many riders were used to! We explained the double-wall vacuum insulation technology and shared stories many of you have told us about riding in Texas with ice in your bottles for hours!
Insulated bottles that work was something riders were slightly skeptical about at first. But one woman from the Iowa Children’s Hospital tent across from us was actually our best salesperson in the end! She came across the road to our tent with her personal insulated Bivo, rattling the ice in her bottle, showing everyone how the ice she had put in it this morning was still there, hours later! Thanks to her, we were able to show many RAGBRAI riders that yes, your water will stay cold all day. We promise.
For riders who have been biking with standard metal bottles for a while, a main gripe is that the bottles are hard to put in and out of cages. Many people stopped by the Bivo tent to ask how hard it is to put Bivo bottles in and out of cages.
Of course, we shared details of how we tested hundreds of cages while designing the first Bivo bottle. And how our bottles are tapered at the bottom to make it easy to slide in and out of cages.
But the most effective way to answer the question was to let riders test it out for themselves. Whenever someone came by the tent to ask this, I always let them use my bottle to test on their own bike.
(Spoiler alert: yes, it was easy 😂)
For riders who have been biking with standard metal bottles for a while, a main gripe is that the bottles are hard to put in and out of cages. Many people stopped by the Bivo tent to ask how hard it is to put Bivo bottles in and out of cages.
Of course, we shared details of how we tested hundreds of cages while designing the first Bivo bottle. And how our bottles are tapered at the bottom to make it easy to slide in and out of cages.
But the most effective way to answer the question was to let riders test it out for themselves. Whenever someone came by the tent to ask this, I always let them use my bottle to test on their own bike.
(Spoiler alert: yes, it was easy 😂)
At RAGBRAI, bright and zany kits were the vibe. Many riders showed up to the booth with magnetic horns attached to their helmets that they had purchased from a neighboring booth.
So many folks were drawn to the brightly colored Bivos and picked out dirt caps in complementary colors. While some riders wanted a sleek, all-black look, buying black Bivos to match their all-black bikes, most people who stopped by were drawn to a pop of color.
One man was so excited to buy a Mango bottle, because it perfectly matched his fanny pack. 10 minutes after he bought his first bottle, he came back to buy a second, Capri bottle, because the blue tones matched the blue zipper accents on his pack.
Overall, we had such a blast at RAGBRAI, meeting so many cool riders from all over the country. My favorite people I met were a man who was riding with his 75 year old mom. Both of them were so cool and so psyched to ride RAGBRAI for the 15th time!
Until next year, RAGBRAI!
At RAGBRAI, bright and zany kits were the vibe. Many riders showed up to the booth with magnetic horns attached to their helmets that they had purchased from a neighboring booth.
So many folks were drawn to the brightly colored Bivos and picked out dirt caps in complementary colors. While some riders wanted a sleek, all-black look, buying black Bivos to match their all-black bikes, most people who stopped by were drawn to a pop of color.
One man was so excited to buy a Mango bottle, because it perfectly matched his fanny pack. 10 minutes after he bought his first bottle, he came back to buy a second, Capri bottle, because the blue tones matched the blue zipper accents on his pack.
Overall, we had such a blast at RAGBRAI, meeting so many cool riders from all over the country. My favorite people I met were a man who was riding with his 75 year old mom. Both of them were so cool and so psyched to ride RAGBRAI for the 15th time!
Until next year, RAGBRAI!
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