Tim Haeffner doesn’t remember hitting the ground. He came to being loaded onto a gurney, with EMT’s asking, “What’s the other guy’s name?”

“Lance,” Tim mumbled. “His name is Lance.”

In his mid thirties, Tim Haeffner, along with a helper named Lance, who was unresponsive, were attaching their team flag pole to a stop sign so that RAGBRAI riders with their team would know where their camp was. The aluminum flag pole came in contact with an overhead power line. Ker-blewee! It was lights out for Tim and Lance.

In the Bloomfield hospital they were told they were lucky to be alive. With entrance burns on his hands, and exit holes on his feet, Tim believed them. Fortunately, Tim and Lance survived. The year was 2003.

Because of their near-death encounter, RAGBRAI literature now has a warning about erecting team flag poles. “Always look up!”

Tim, a sixth grade math teacher and coach from Danville, had wanted to ride RAGBRAI, but had been talked into helping a charter service that shuttled riders and baggage from one town to the next. He ended up buying the company. Now his family, that includes wife, Lynne, and three adult children, Danielle, Kaleb and Style, are heavily involved in a charter company called Out of Staters’ Bicycle Club (OOS). The Haeffners recently moved from Danville to Mt. Pleasant and OOS has expanded its services and grown in size. They now own two separate charters and employ in the area of 30 workers during the ride.

Danielle is 26, a teacher, married to Drew, a graphic designer and a technology team member for the Mt. Pleasant School District. Danielle is the operations manager for OOS and handles drink sales. She gets up at 4:30 every morning while on RAGBRAI to drive to the next town. She then drives the route backwards, putting up signs (mindful of overhead power lines) to direct team riders to the OOS campsite. Drew designed the team’s tee-shirts and logo. RAGBRAI is Danielle’s favorite week of the year. And this, the 50th Anniversary of RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa), she’s thinking will be the best yet.

Kaleb is 24 and in charge of his dad’s new charter company, Anywhere Cycling Experience (ACE), which has 450-500 riders. Kaleb has also stepped out in a big way and converted two 53′ semi trailers into traveling shower trucks for the riders. The 16 shower stall trailers will debut for RABRAI’S 50th Anniversary. He calls his company, “Washed by the Well.”

Style is 20, a junior in college and will be getting married in September. Starting as a little tyke, carrying riders’ baggage, he advanced to helping the riders set up and tear down tents. Style now has a crew of 10 working for him, and rents out, sets up and tears down 125 tents at each stop-over town. RAGBRAI has been the highlight of his life (next to getting engaged). “It’s all about building relationships,” he says. “I’ve known some of these people, from all over the world, for years.”

Lane Weirather, of Montrose, is the Haeffners’ right hand man. In his late sixties, he is a retired school teacher and coach from Central Lee, and is Lynne and Tim Haeffner’s brother-in-law. He keeps things running smoothly and takes care of any little and big problems when they arise. If a “sagger” needs a ride, Lane arranges which crew member they will ride with. If someone has lost a bag, he helps them find it. Operating on sometimes less than four hours of sleep a night, Lane makes sure the riders’ “vacation” is a memorable one.

Jakin Bunnell, from Mt. Pleasant is 17. This is his third year helping out the Haeffners with RAGBRAI and he loves it. Jakin is on a crew that helps support riders with their tents and luggage. It’s a constant rhythm of packing and unpacking, setting up and tearing down. His day starts at 5:00 am when they set up breakfast and begin loading bags. He helps serve breakfast and tear down tents, then it’s on to the next town, where he helps set up again. His day ends at 10:00-11:00 pm. He wouldn’t have it any other way. Working RAGBRAI is the highlight of his summer.

Lynne Haeffner, Home School Coordinator for Mt. Pleasant Community School District, is Tim’s wife. Make no mistakes, Tim may be the boss of OOS, but Lynne is central dispatch. She gets things done.

What’s the future for the Out of Staters’ Bicycle Club? Is RAGBRAI their one shot of the year or is there more? Well, they were all ready to do a Katy Trail ride in Missouri, but COVID put the kibosh on that. They may resurrect the Katy Trail fall ride. There’s an Eastern Alleghenies Pass ride called the Gap Trail that they have some interest in. And people have talked to them about organizing a bike Tour of Colorado. There’s plenty to do or not. A lot of it depends on how they feel after RAGBRAI. Then there’s the brain teaser of a cross-country ride. If they went from west to east, they could possibly hook up with RAGBRAI for the ride across Iowa. The only limits are their imagination (and coordination/organization/stress management skills.)

So, with a 440 volt power jolt that now recharges electronic devices and powers CPAP machines, OOS, ACE and the whole RAGBRAI entourage has ridden a successful path, sometimes stony, sometimes smooth: from the original ride in 1973 with Donald Kaul, John Karras and the legendary, pith helmeted, ladies Schwinn bike riding, long underwear wearing, Clarence Pickard, to mobile showers and workers who pack your camp for you. Who would have thunked it? The Haeffners of Mt. Pleasant are all part of it and they love it. Reach them at their website: www.oosbicycleclub.com.

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Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com.