Jefferson
The Monday night stop is a town of 4,366 and hosted RAGBRAI in 1976 and 1989.  The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower is located in Jefferson where you can see 10 cities from the top of the tower.

Fun Fact:
Nicole's cheerleading team, the Badger Allstars, won their division at the National Jamfest Competition in Indianapolis in January 2007.




 

Question and Answer

  1. Why should we use your charter?
  2. What are the different options for the charter?
  3. This is my first RAGBRAI experience, what do I do?
  4. What happens once we arrive at Le Claire before the ride?
  5. Can I join you if I park in Missouri Valley for the week?
  6. What happens during the week?
  7. What happens when we finish the ride?
  8. What do we do if we are joining you for camping for the week?
  9. How do you transport our bikes?
  10. What should I pack and is there a baggage limit?
  11. Who are your helpers during the week?
  12. What is your daily towel service?
  13. Why do you charge more for a recumbent bicycle?
  14. Do we have a way to charge electronics during the week?
  15. How do we find food and entertainment during the week?
  16. How do I find a shower?
  17. Do you assist us in acquiring a RAGBRAI wristband?
  18. Can I bring my own vehicle during the week?
  19. How do I ship my bike?
  20. What about refunds?

Why should we use your charter?

To make your RAGBRAI experience more enjoyable!  

The trip across the state is on an air conditioned charter bus and your bikes will be transported by a professional bike packing company with over 25 years of experience. 

For those of you that stay with us for camping we go out to all the overnight towns ahead of time to select preferred campsites.  In the majority of cases this is away from the main group of 5,000 riders but close enough if you want to spend some time in the main campground. 

Once arriving at our campsite after biking you will have your luggage waiting for you along with canopies set up for you to relax in.  This area will have numerous coolers stocked with a wide range of cold beverages.  There will also be papers available that describe what is happening in town.

A generator will be set up for those of you that need to charge an electronic device and we will have a bulletin board with information and maps of the town that you are spending the night in.

We try to locate all of our campsites within a few blocks of a shower facility.   

Our staff has several years experience with running the charter and are available to assist you.  We limit the number of campers we charter to keep the group size manageable.

Our goal is to help make the ride an enjoyable and memorable experience for you. 

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What are the different options for the charter?

Option 1 ($225) SOLD OUT:   Charter transportation along with daily baggage service. This provides bus and bike transportation from Le Claire to Missouri Valley on July 19th and daily baggage service for the week.  The bus ride will include movies and free beverages.  With the daily baggage service we will provide the following items:

  • A separate camping area when available
  • Dry luggage in case of rain
  • Canopies with chairs to relax in
  • Drinks including water, sports drink, pop, and an assortment of beer
  • Flashlights and bike pumps
  • Itinerary of the evenings activities for each town
  • Limited sag service

Option 2 ($140):   Transportation for you, your bags, and bike, from Le Claire to Missouri Valley on July 19th.  On the bus we will have movies and free drinks.

Option 3 ($125) SOLD OUT:   Daily baggage service along with the camping for the week.  No bus ride from Le Claire to Missouri Valley.  The daily luggage service will include the items listed under Option 1.

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This is my first RAGBRAI experience, what do I do?

By joining us you can make your trip easier.  Just follow these steps:

  1. Register with RAGBRAI for the ride.
  2. Sign up with Brancel Charters.
  3. Get a week parking pass from Le Claire (when it is available.)
  4. Drive to Le Claire and join us, and we will help you out the rest of the week.
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What happens once we arrive at Le Claire before the ride?

You will park your car at the RAGBRAI designated parking area and then find Brancel Charters.  We will notify you in our letter sent out in early July of our distinguishing features so you can easily find us.  The Le Claire typically has camping, food, showers and week-long parking.  The parking will be available near the charter departure site.

Le Claire website link

You drop your bike off with us on Friday from 2:00 PM until 10:00 PM.  Then Saturday morning you drop off your bags at one of our air conditioned busses and get ready for a relaxing ride across Iowa.  The busses will leave at 8:15 AM.  The ride will go by quick as you will watch movies, talk with other passengers and enjoy complimentary beverages.

Once we arrive at the Missouri Valley in mid afternoon we will unload your bikes and we will set up our camp site for the night.  There will be an expo going on and the RAGBRAI opening ceremonies. 

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Can I join you if I park in Missouri Valley for the week?

Yes! You can join us for camping during the week (Option 3.) Then if you need a ride back to Missouri Valley after the ride you can join a separate charter. You can get a parking pass for the week by going to Missouri Valley's website, after it is available.

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What happens during the week?

Each morning you will load your luggage on our truck to be transported to the next town.  You can then take your time riding to the next city.  When you arrive at the end city for the day we will have signs up as you enter the city pointing you to the location of our camp site for the night.

Once you arrive at the camp site, we will have canopies set up for you along with cold drinks in a cooler.  The drinks will be there for a small fee.  We will also have bike pumps and flashlights available.  We will provide limited sag service for passengers that need it.  In case of rain we will keep your bags dry during the day.  We will also provide carts to help you transport your luggage to your camp site. (Sore muscles appreciate assistance with even the shortest distance.)

We will have a separate camping area in the cities that provide this.  In other cases we will be with the larger RAGBRAI group.  In the times we are with the larger group we will still have a roped off area for us to camp in.  This is common for all the charters.  In the past four years, we were only with the main RAGBRAI group on one night.

RAGBRAI provides a list of activities going on in each city and eating places.  We will pick you up a copy of that so you can plan your activities for the rest of the day.

Each city has several places set up for showers whether they are high schools, parks, gyms or car washes.  We have never had a problem finding a shower facility and will make sure you have access to showers.

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What happens when we finish the ride?

You will locate Brancel Charters just like a normal day by following our signs and pick up your luggage to start a successful trip back home.

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What do we do if we are joining you for camping for the week?

In July we will provide you with our camping location in Missouri Valley. If necessary, contact Missouri Valley for week long parking information (after it is available.)

Missouri Valley website link

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How do you transport our bikes?

We use a professional moving company that has over 25 years experience in transporting bikes with excellent results.  They transport bikes each year for the two bike Wisconsin bike rides.  Each bike will be protected by a packing blanket.  We do not require you to disassemble your bike, if you would prefer to do so that is okay too. 

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What should I pack and is there a baggage limit?

Well you should definitely bring your bike!  Bring along your normal biking gear and camping items.  A few items you might forget but are nice to have are an extra tube and a patch kit, sunscreen, rain jacket, two bottle cages for your bike, a roll of toilet paper in a plastic bag and earplugs.  You will also need cash to buy food and drinks along your daily ride.  You can usually find an ATM machine in most towns.

We do not have a baggage limit as we would prefer you bring two small to medium sized duffel bags than one large, heavy bag.  If you are using the Register’s baggage truck (option 2 with us), you are allowed one bag to which you may strap your tent.

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Who are your helpers during the week?

Debbie and Bob rode RAGBRAI in 2002 and decided to start a charter.  We are both active in Ironman triathlons and other crazy endeavors.  Although our passion is RAGBRAI, Debbie has a job in insurance and Bob is a full time entrepreneur. 

Nicole, Bob's 16 year old daughter, will be a bus host and support during the week.  She is busy going to school and competitive cheerleading.  She is trying to get in all 50 States and is currently at 41.

Also joining us during the week will be Uncle Tom, a math teacher, and his son Tim.  Tim is currently 16 and enjoys playing soccer in Wisconsin.  Tom will be willing to assist on any math related problems people run into like how much easier is it to bike with the wind at your back.  Debbie's parents John and Linda and brother Joe assist with the first weekend and John joined us for the entire week in 2007.

Other helpers are Bob's nephew, Ryan, Nicole's friend Vanessa, and Tim’s friend, Charlie.

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What is your daily towel service?

This is an optional service where we provide a towel and then wash and dry it for you each day. This option is $15 for the week.  The towel service is limited to the first 180 people that pay for the service due to laundromat constraints.  We will post “sold out” on our application form when this option is no longer available.

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Why do you charge more for a recumbent bicycle?

The recumbent is more difficult to pack and takes up more room than a standard bike. 

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Do we have a way to charge electronics during the week?

Yes.  We have a generator available during the daylight hours to charge cell phones, ipods, and other small electronics.  We set it up so there are 50 outlets available for people to use. 

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How do we find food and entertainment during the week?

There are always ample places to find food and entertainment in each overnight town.  Every overnight town has spent a great deal of time preparing for the arrival of RAGBRAI.  They all do an outstanding job of making food / entertainment available.

We do not provide food and entertainment as part of our charter as we want to support the town and the efforts that they have put into making the event a success.

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How do I find a shower?

Each overnight town sets up several locations that have showers.  As we are traveling through each overnight town to select campsites one of our main goals is to get within a few blocks of a shower location.  We posts maps of each town on our bulletin board that show the locations of showers in that city.    Please keep in mind that shower locations have and can change up to the day before RAGBRAI arrives in town.

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Do you assist us in acquiring a RAGBRAI wristband?

Each person that uses our charter needs to send in an application to RAGBRAI for their wristband. 

In case someone does not get selected in the lottery we may be able to assist them in finding a wristband.  We sometimes have people that are signed up with us that need to cancel and we pair them up with someone that is looking for a wristband.  The wristband transfer then takes place between the two parties, we are no longer involved. 

You must still transfer the liability waiver with RAGBRAI.

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Can I bring my own vehicle during the week?

No. One of the purposes of a charter is to help limit the number of vehicles in the overnight towns. The towns allocate space for parking for each charter according to the number of vehicles we say we will bring. Remember, the towns have shuttles and many of them are small enough to walk to food and entertainment -- or you can even bike!  

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How do I ship my bike?

RAGBRAI publishes information about bike shipping in the booklet you will receive in May. 

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What about refunds?

We will provide a full refund to those passengers who are not selected in the RAGBRAI wristband lottery if we are notified before May 31st. 

We will provide refunds to our passengers, less a 10% cancellation fee, through June 30th. 

From July 1 to July 13 we will provide a refund, less a 20% cancellation fee, only if we are able to fill the spot. 

July 14 and after we have a no refund and no transfer policy.

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