LANSING, IOWA, FRIDAY July 22, 2022
Natalie and I joined some friends in Iowa last week to participate in the RAGBRAI.
RAGBRAI is an acronym and registered trademark for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which is a non-competitive bicycle ride organized by The Des Moines Register. The ride goes across the state of Iowa from west to east, and draws recreational riders from across the United States and many foreign countries. First held in 1973, RAGBRAI is the largest bike-touring event in the world.
Riders begin at a community on Iowa’s western border and ride to a community on the eastern border, stopping in towns across the state. The ride is one week long, ending on the last Saturday of July each year, after beginning on the previous Sunday. The earliest possible starting date is July 19 and the latest is July 25.
RAGBRAI holds an annual lottery that selects about 8,500 week-long riders. The lottery is held beginning November 15 of the previous year and until April 1, with random computer selection determining the participants. Entrants are notified of the lottery results by email on May 1. Additionally, passes on a first-come, first-served basis is made available for 1,500-day riders; these are limited to three per person. Iowa bicycle clubs and charters, as well as teams and groups (many from out of state), also receive a number of passes for which members apply through those organizations. Despite the official limits, unregistered riders have on many days swelled the actual number of riders to well over the registered number count.
The length of the entire week’s route over RAGBRAI’s first 40 years from 1973 through 2012, not including the Century Loop, averaged 467.9 miles (753.0 km), with the average daily distance between host communities being 67.1 miles (108.0 km). Eight “host communities” are selected each year, one each for the beginning and end points, the other six serving as overnight stops from Sunday through Friday for the bicyclists. At the beginning of the ride, participants traditionally dip the rear wheels of their bikes in or near the starting community. A dipping spot has always been set up in either the Missouri River or the Big Sioux River. At the end, the riders dip their front wheels in the Mississippi River.
This year the route is a total of 462 miles and will travel from Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, Mason City, Charles City, West Union and end up in Lansing on the Mississippi River. Of course, there are many smaller “pass-through” towns we will get to visit along the way.
On Friday, July 22nd, Natalie and I drove to the Eastern part of Iowa to meet in Lansing, Iowa. During the drive, Natalie’s bike fell off the rack on the back of the car, only to be saved from certain destruction by the safety cable I initially forget to latch. We stopped about 25 miles into our drive and I asked Natalie to pull over so I could make sure the cable was latched. It wasn’t, but I connected it and we were on our way. If I hadn’t done that, we would have had to cancel our trip.
Lansing is the end town of the route, so we left our car in Lansing, camped out on a baseball field, and waited for the busses to pick us up in the morning for our long journey to the other side of the state. We paid a charter company to carry our bikes and us to the western part of the state (this year it was Sergeant Bluff). The charter company also arranges to carry our baggage to each sleep-over town making our life much easier. We essentially bike from town to town where we would find our gear, set up a tent, and enjoy the day and evening activities. The next morning we pack up our gear into duffles, throw them on a semi, and bike away towards the sunrise and the next overnight town.
We arrived around 7:00 PM and were met by my lifelong friend Lee, his wife Michele, their friend Jamie and Lee and Michele’s sons Conner and Evan. After our bikes were loaded up we headed over to the baseball field to set up our tent for the evening.
The night would have been serene had it not been for the railroad tracks and bustling locomotive action about 50 yards from our campsite. We fell asleep to the sounds of the baseball overhead loudspeakers playing 80’s rock ever so softly the entire night because evidently someone forgot to turn off the music….. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT TIME>>>>>>
