ASI cycling team stops in Red Oak

On July 21, a cycling team associated with Adaptive Sports Iowa (ASI) made its way to Red Oak as one stop in the week-long, 424 mile RAGBRAI ride.
Hannah Bowman, the director of ASI, said that as the only full-time member of the organization’s staff, her role is to be a “jack-of-all-trades” in helping to prepare for big events like RAGBRAI. However, she mentioned that there are many other part-time staff members that she works with regularly.
“Essentially, I run all of our programs, including our cycling team,” she said. “We run around 12 different programs throughout the year.”
Bowman’s inspiration to help facilitate athletic participation for those who are impaired or disabled first began during an internship in Colorado, which she did as a college student majoring in therapeutic recreation.
“[I] worked at a place called the Adaptive Sports Center,” she said. “Out there, I was teaching extreme sports to people with disabilities, so mountain biking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, all those kind of sports out there. [I] absolutely fell in love with it and knew that I kind of wanted to do something in that realm.”
Following her internship experience, Bowman discovered a job opening with ASI, and she immediately jumped at the opportunity. She has been working with the organization ever since.
“So Adaptive Sports Iowa, we provide sports and recreation opportunities for Iowans with physical disabilities and visual impairments through non-competitive and competitive sports and recreation,” she said.
Bowman explained that ASI was first established in early 2011, and the previous director had always been quite enthusiastic about helping individuals to participate in RAGBRAI.
“The cycling team was one of the very first programs that the previous director started,” she said. “He rode RAGBRAI, loved RAGBRAI, and wanted to have an adaptive cycling team for anyone who wants to ride RAGBRAI who has a physical disability.”
This year’s RAGBRAI cycling team is composed of around 60 members. Some of these individuals call Iowa home, while others travel in from other states to participate.
“We sponsor all of our riders, so they don’t have to pay a dime to come on RAGBRAI, except for obviously their meals and any souvenirs and stuff,” Bowman said.
Although she is enthusiastic to have 60 cyclists participating this year, Bowman said that this number is low compared to previous years as a result of various injuries. However, she said that there is no doubt this team of both new and returning riders will make lasting memories together.
Bowman continued, stating ASI staff members will also be present to serve as an available resource to the riders along the way, though the riders will primarily be making this journey independently.
“All of our riders are completely expected to ride the entire route, just like anyone else,” she said. “We [staff] just happen to be there along the way if they need to, say, pause at the meeting town to get out of their hand cycle or something and rest for a little bit.”
In order to complete a 424 mile bike ride in a single week, Bowman agreed that quite a bit of training must be done in advance. She said most of the ASI team members train on their own time.
“Everyone’s kind of in charge of their own training, just like any other RAGBRAI rider,” she said. “So RAGBRAI themselves, with their blog, they put out a training schedule, which kind of looks similar to if you were training for a marathon … so we really push our riders to follow that training schedule.”
Along with the training schedule released by the RAGBRAI organization, Bowman said ASI has a Facebook page in which the riders can support one another as well as provide updates on their own progress.
“Our team just has an absolute blast,” she said. “We are just kind of like a giant family. We’re very tight knit … so it’s never a dull moment. We’re always just having a blast out on route and meeting new people and just having fun.”
Bowman has heard multiple different forms of feedback from the team members thus far. She said that though they are all excited to take part, some are worried about all of the hills they will have to ride over. However, Bowman said they each have a forward-looking mindset and are ready to take this challenge on.
“Especially for the returners, it just feels kind of like a family reunion,” she said. “They’re excited to see all their friends and just get back out on the road and have a blast cycling with 10,000 of their other best friends.”
Bowman said that perhaps the biggest challenge of this year’s RAGBRAI preparation was seeing the number of riders take a hit due to injuries as well as saying goodbye to retiring volunteers. However, she also emphasized how grateful she is for the new volunteers who have stepped in and for the riders who are participating this year.
“Our number one supporter and sponsor is our presenting sponsor, which is Iowa Farm Bureau,” she said. “They have been incredibly, incredibly generous to us throughout the years, basically since we started.”
Another sponsor Bowman gave thanks to was Fareway. She then acknowledged others who have made ASI’s participation in RAGBRAI possible this year.
“There’s kind of a culmination of multiple people who are making it happen,” she said. “Whether it’s sponsors or those volunteers, it’s definitely a group effort.”
Overall, Bowman said she sees RAGBRAI as an opportunity for riders to enjoy both beautiful scenery and the company of others.
“It’s kind of a twofold thing where they’re (RAGBRAI) able to provide an incredible experience to the riders, but also a great experience to the towns that we’re going through and helping [to] hopefully bolster their economy,” she said.
Though the ASI cycling team has since made its way through Red Oak, the riders are working their way forward and are now around the halfway point to completion. More information about ASI and the cycling team can be found at adaptivesportsiowa.org.