RAGBRAI 50 - How Does PBV Do It?, Part 2

[@rickb3612]

You all have no idea, just how much your videos mean to the rest of the world. Thank you for everything!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Rick, Thanks so much for the kind words, this kind of feedback is so great to hear and motivates us to keep putting the work into new episodes. Sorry we haven't posted a some weeks but we are getting back on track now. Our latest episode from this morning provides some explanation. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@HelloIAmJo]

PBV should pay y'all for this pair of videos. Very well done!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Jo, Thanks for the compliment on these videos, we appreciate it very much. We love our friends and PBV and they take good care of us during the week of RAGBRAI and we are happy to have had the chance to attempt to document the logistical magic they perform everyday. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@TL243]

This is so amazing!!!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Howdy, Yes, Pork Belly really is an amazing operation. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@TL243]

Good stuff!!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Thanks and thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@stevederr4927]

OMG! I was having withdrawal symptoms since last Saturday! 😂. Great videos, really helps to appreciate all that PBV does to provide for us campers! At some point I hope to take part in some of the other events they support!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Steve, Sorry to put you through that pain and agony. :) Totally agree. It's actually amazing all the things PBV does for our benefit. We'd also like to try out some of there other events. Something for the "list" of future rides. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@juliemomof5]

Whew!!! I’m exhausted after watching all of that!! Amazing job you two documenting this process thank you so much! Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Julie, Exactly....it is exhausting to think about all the big and small tasks that have to be done to have camp ready for all the riders everyday. As riders/customers we are so thankful they have figured out how to get this done so we can relax and enjoy the evening after riding all day. Thanks for watching and we are so happy to hear you enjoyed it. Enjoy the Ride

[@briantruck2284]

That's crazy luggages

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Brian, YES!! It's amazing how quickly the riders can stack up a ton of bags. Seeing it all in one place gives a great perspective on what it takes to provide support to all the RAGBRAI riders. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@GreerSaechao]

I wish we had such food options at the Ragbrai campground!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Greer! Having good and convenient food options is definitely one of the many advantages of using Pork Belly Ventures. Their entire operations is a wonder of logistics and planning. So fun to watch. Thanks for watching, we're so glad you enjoyed it. Enjoy the Ride

[@cdmiller51]

I have a few friends who lived in those "suitcase" looking dorms during their freshman year at ISU. 🙂

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Craig, That's a pretty good analogy. I lived in a small dorm room in college but it had a bit more space for a desk, etc than the Pork Belly hotel rooms. But for the week of RAGBRAI, these rooms would be awesome. Now I just have to figure out how to get on the list. :) Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@cdmiller51]

@@BBB_Adventures LOL I made an assumption that you knew that I was talking about the ISU dorm buildings in the background of where PBV was setting up. There are two ISU dorm buildings that, with the a/c units on the roof, look like twin suitcases. 🙂 I have a couple of friends who lived in those dorm buildings during their freshman year. I wasn't referring to the PBV "hotel" rooms, though they are small. 🙂

[@BBB_Adventures]

@@cdmiller51 That's funny. We had no clue what that building was and I figured you were talking about PBV's hotel trailers. So funny.

[@denniskazimer2284]

Awesome logistics. Very well orchestrated! Thank you to you and Marybeth for taking all of us behind the scenes.

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Dennis, PBV really has developed an excellent method of managing the massive logistics of tearing down, moving and setting up their camp every day. Thanks for watching and we very happy to hear you enjoyed our attempt at documenting their operation. Enjoy the Ride

[@katherinefisher6847]

I live in Ames so it was fun to see how the familiar territory was transformed. Thanks for the behind the scenes tour. Terrific job! (FYI-I spotted a couple typos in your commentary that you might want to correct.) That trumpeter would drive me crazy in the am!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Katherine, Thanks for watching and thanks for pointed out the typos. Mb and I have established a process over time to fix this but with all that was going on with us, we failed for follow it. The only way to fix it would be to take down the original posting and repost the video with the corrections. I have a corrected version at this link but don't want to loose the momentum and comments from the original. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6vSoqB8gbt1ebs Thanks again for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@jtelvis3]

This series is absolutely fascinating!!! The logistics that go into setting everything up, breaking it all down, moving it to the next overnight town and doing it all over again for the entire week....amazing! I've always wondered what Pork Belly was all about and how they do what they do and y'all have answered all of my questions. Very informative and entertaining series. I really enjoyed your previous RAGBRAI videos but these are my favorite! Great work!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Tim, Thank you so much for the comment and we are super happy you enjoyed the video. The Pork Belly operation is truly an amazing feat. It's great to hear we answered all your questions about PBV. Thanks for watching and for the support. Enjoy the Ride

[@frankmarchetta2120]

Logistics are amazing. You are now journalists :) Great job GHS

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Frank, I think your bar for "journalists" is too low. :) Thanks for watching and we are glad to hear you enjoyed this episode. Enjoy the Ride GHS

[@speterson6292]

Great job with this series. In part 1 the PBV recharging station was mentioned. Does PBV also have a charging station for ebike batteries? BTW I enjoy all you videos, just like sitting, talking with friends.😁

[@BBB_Adventures]

Howdy, We are happy to hear you enjoyed our PBV series. The charging trailers are intended for devices such as phones, bike computers, cameras, etc. One of the trailers has larger lockers big enough for laptops. However, they do offer ebike battery charging which I believe happens in a different place in camp. You just need to tell them you have an ebike when you are signing up for their support. Thank you so much for the feedback on BBB Adventures. It pleases us very much to hear you feel like you are talking with friends when watching!!! That's exactly our goal. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@Raveler1]

Truly impressive! That groundsheet maneuver alone - wow!

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Lucus, Thanks. Yes, the groundsheet process is fantastic and is a good example of the innovation that PBV has development to optimize their process over the many years of supporting RAGBRAI. Thanks for watching and for the comment. Enjoy the Ride

[@Minnesota_Matt]

All I can say is WOW! This might be your best (pair of) video, and that’s saying a LOT since it was your 2022 RAGBRAI series that first convinced me I could even attempt RAGBRAI. VERY well done. Excellent footage and seamless editing. PBV lucked out when you decided to use them as a subject, talk about highlighting the varsity team! This video was well worth the wait and I hope things went as good as they could with the family stuff last week.

[@dfriz8513]

Well said

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Matt, Well, we will just say WOW back. We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this short series as well as hear that we helped inspire you to ride RAGBRAI. WOW! We are really happy our circumstances worked out so we could spend the time filming the PBV operation. We got a ton of cooperation from the PBV crew which really helped. It was super fun for us and we are glad we were able to edit the footage into something reasonable when we got home. It's always a concern when you attempt something like this that you didn't get what you needed to tell the story. My Dad is now on the other side of the issue he was having that was unrelated to his cancer battle and we are once again focus on the cancer. Thanks for asking. Thanks for watching and for the great comment. Enjoy the Ride

[@dfriz8513]

@@BBB_Adventures you chucked that bag pretty far.

[@dfriz8513]

Hoping things got better at home. Great video and as others have said "Wow!!!!". I don't remember if pork belly cost more than the charter I used but the service was a step or two higher. Be well you two and thanks.

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Dave, Thanks. Things are progressing on the home front. We got Dad through the issue he was having that was unrelated to his cancer. We are now 100% focused on the cancer treatment now. Glad you liked our view of PBV's process. I do think they are on the higher side in terms of cost but I think are ahead of many charters in terms of value since their service is really top notch. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@dfriz8513]

@BBB_Adventures i am not sure they were much more than the one i used.

[@dfriz8513]

@BBB_Adventures glad the hone life is getting back on track and "F" cancer.

[@cecillenadela3752]

I did my first ragbrai , 2nd time for my hubby this July 2024 .I had so much fun with the ride unfortunately I did not survive the tent life . I had to call it a day by day 4.We use the tent service of PBV and we were assigned a tent number. the entire week . The issue was we were surrounded with tent that the occupant practically snored throughout the night depriving me precious sleep / rest needed for the following day, the ear plug did not work.I’m now exploring other option for next year of maybe not using the tent service instead do our own tent so we have the option to move it to another spot as desired if that is even possible otherwise it was a fantastic ride and I had so much fun that I want to do it again

[@BBB_Adventures]

Howdy, Thanks for watching and for the comment. It's so great you enjoyed your first RAGBRAI enough to want to do it again. For us, it's always one of the highlights of our year. Yes, as you mentioned, when you use PBV tent service, everyone gets the same tent # everyday which makes it easy to find your tent each day. Sorry to year one of your tent neighbors snoring disturbed your sleep. I can see how that might bother some people more than others. Fortunately this has not been a problem for us over the last 10 years with PBV. If you enjoyed the other amenities PBV offers, I think your idea of bringing your own tent is a good one as it might allow you to get more distance between you and the other tents. Thanks again for watching and we hope to see you in Iowa in 2025. Enjoy the Ride

[@RonMagaw]

Does she have any groupies..nice vid

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Ron, Sorry for the slow response. I'm sure she has lots of groupies. :) Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@juliemomof5]

Questions: “they decided to sag today”. Remind me what is sag? “Note to pvc-ers” ? “Use the same bags”. What’s a “pvc-er”?

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hi Julie! SAG is an acronym for Support And Gear. Which encompasses many things on a ride such as RAGBRAI. But in this instance, I meant they didn't ride their bikes to Ames that day, they took the bus and loaded their bikes on a Pork Belly truck. I hope I said "Note to future PBVers, use the same colored bags." PBVers = "Pork Belly Venture-ers" - people who charter with Pork Belly Ventures. Thanks for watching!

[@briantruck2284]

This like a circus

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Brian, That is a good analogy. Pork Belly really does set up a huge infrastructure the same way a traveling circus does. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@tjellis1479]

Tarpe Diem 😁

[@BBB_Adventures]

TJ, Very cleaver. Those folks are masters of the tarp the way they slide them under the tents after the tents are up but before the stakes are pounded. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@lasauto]

How much does it cost for the whole week ?

[@BBB_Adventures]

Hey Jeff, PBV Pricing for 2023 was $499/person for the weeklong support which includes baggage transport from town to town, 3 of the catered dinner meals, full camp access including entertainment and beverages, shower access, etc. That's pretty much everything except a rental tent. The tent rental is an additional $565/tent for the week. You are also required to be a registered RAGBRAI rider to use the PBV service. There are various optional costs such as additional catered dinners and bus transportation across the state before the ride starts. For us, the cost has always been easy to justify given the level of service and the huge benefit of not having to worry about nightly accommodations. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride

[@tjellis1479]

Shitter is NOT FULL!!

[@BBB_Adventures]

TJ, At least not when they put the KYBOs out at the beginning of the day. However, after all the riders show up and start recycling beer, the shitters do get full. :) We are happy you got our reference to one of the best holiday movies of all time. Thanks for watching. Enjoy the Ride