Old School Buses Never Die...They Go to RAGBRAI!

Colorful team buses are one of the special sights at RAGBRAI. These started their life as old school buses, but since state law in Iowa does not allow old school buses to remain yellow, they had to be painted. Teams not only paint them crazy colors, they also paint team mottos and other fun stuff on the sides. We started watching the slogans, and my personal favorite was Team Checkers – “If You’re Not Having Fun, Lower Your Standards!” Click on the image above to enlarge it - you'll see a stack of plastic chairs, laundry drying inside, duffel bags and bikes on top.

Some are also sponsored by beer or beverage companies. My favorite in this category was the Margaritaville bus. Although it was a small one, it had a colorful wrap and a back “porch” with one of the plastic yard Santas on the back.

Racks on the top hold the bicycles (and can cause problems on low clearance bridges!) Through most of the week, the racks were empty, so the team members set lawn chairs up there and enjoyed the evening. Some even had canopies and stereo speakers, pull-out awnings and showers included (see the black drums above, which hold water -the dark color absorbs sunlight during the day). Inside, the seats have been removed and either set along the sides to open up the center or replaced with luggage racks. Most team members camp in tents near their bus, but some do home stays. Although I never saw one, Bob said that some have bunk beds inside.

Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong foundation had a team bus, too. Although the King was riding in the Tour de France, his LiveStrong team participated in RAGBRAI. Lance has ridden segments of the route before.

Team Cow’s bus was one of our favorites. It was painted black and white (as was the bike on the top), with longhorn horns attached to the front. There was a shower attached to the back of the bus (with cow print shower curtains, no less!) and 55-gallon cow drums on top of the bus held water and provided water pressure. There was a sign in a side window that said, "Show Us Your Udders." Cows gone wild.

Then there was Team Kum and Go, sponsored by the convenience store chain. The bus had a spiral staircase on the back to reach the bike rack. Now that’s class!

The first bus to appear in RAGBRAI was Team Cockroach, which appeared in 1987. It’s still going strong (although who knows how many parts have been replaced). At a couple of the small towns, their old school buses were set out for sale. Is that next for Team OWBNID?

As we left Burlington, the road ahead was filled with team buses heading out. The top racks were crammed with bikes. This was the best indication of the size of some of these teams.

Once I asked the guys to start taking photos of buses for this blog, they went crazy. On each day’s ride, there is a halfway meeting point where riders can meet their buses and rest for a while. So they got lots of the different ones for your enjoyment. Click on any photo to enlarge for a better view.