Several years ago I had heard about a massive bike festival in Iowa called RAGBRAI which is an acronym for the Register’s annual great bike ride across Iowa. For those of you who don’t know, this ride started in the 70s by a few journalists for a newspaper company called the Des Moines Register that thought it would be fun to ride their bikes across Iowa and document the experience. Little did they know that tens of thousands of people would be doing the same ride decades later.
Although the ride sounded interesting, I was never immediately drawn to it since I thought it would be a bit too crowded for my liking.
Years later I finally decided to suck it up and do the ride. As one of my largest fears of bike touring is the dangers of collisions with cars on the road, I figured having the roads car free would be a major plus. Also I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to explore a new place and surround myself in a community of like minded individuals that share a common interest.
I managed to convince my friend Jeremy to join me so the two of us flew out to Omaha, Nebraska and from there took a bus to the start of the ride near Sioux City, the northwestern part of Iowa just along the Missouri River. Over the next 7 days we’d pedal across the state averaging 60-70 miles per day, camping in parks and school grounds along the way with 17K other bike riders (30K if you include support/vendors etc).
Immediately upon arriving at start I sensed the energy of the crowd that we’d have the rest of the week. The little town we arrived in was absolutely packed with people. We put our belongings into a tractor as it towed us along the sea of tents to an open patch of grass where we set up camp.
Most people were very friendly and we often found ourselves making some conversation with other folks on the ride. We came across a couple of folks from Kansas who said it was their first time doing the ride too.
After setting up our tents and making sure our bikes were in good condition to ride, we checked out the local food/entertainment scene. As with every overnight town on RAGBRAI, there is a stage set up with bands performing around the clock. We checked out the band but tried to get back to camp at a reasonable time to make sure we got off to a good start of the week.
As with most mornings my friend Jeremy woke up well before me in preparation for the day and got an earlier start as I slept in a bit more than him. As he took off, I packed up my stuff, ate some breakfast, and waited in line to put my belongings in the RAGBRAI semi truck that hauls between overnight towns.
As we would soon discover, almost everything in RAGBRAI has a line so I waited about 15 minutes or so to put my things on the truck. Shortly afterwards I embarked on the journey.
Right off the bat I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people doing this ride but was definitely able to find my lane and pass those who were slower than me. All was well for the first 20 minutes or so until we came across a traffic jam. Everyone had to get off their bike and start walking them. After walking for about 10 minutes we finally arrived at the source of the traffic. It was the first “stop” of RAGBRAI, a little town where vendors set themselves up with food and drinks available for purchase. Since we’d just started the ride I was in no need for replenishment and continued walking past them where the jam shortly cleared and we were all able to get riding again.
It was at this moment that I started to question what I’d signed up for, since having to that walk my bike that frequently would kind of take away the fun of doing a bike tour.
Fortunately the scenery starting making up for the crowded start. The beautiful rolling hills with pleasant farmland scenery was a great combo and I finally I started to enjoy the riding.
Shortly after embarking I started realizing how much of a “party ride” this really was. Beer stops were set up all throughout the route and folks seemed to be more in the mindset of having a good time then putting their head down and crushing miles. The fun along the way went beyond just the drink but had some creative activities that were free of charge. For example one pit stop had a giant slip and slide, another had a trampoline next to an above land swimming pool. There were even stops for petting zoos, dunk tanks, and a bull ride (more of just sitting on top of a an old steer than what you’d picture in a rodeo).
The food along the way was one of the highlights. Healthy options were slim here and guilty pleasures were bountiful as riders including myself often abandon traditional healthy diet principles and ate a bunch of junk using the ride as justification.
Although it is hard to choose a favorite probably the favorite thing I ate on this trip was smoked Mac and cheese. Following customary RAGBRAI style, there were makeshift signs starting about 15 miles from the destination advertising this cheesy delight. I usually try to avoid things like this especially a high dairy food in the middle of a bike ride on a hot ride but I figured I’d live a little. By the time I got to the smoked mac and cheese stop I wasn’t necessarily starving given I was succumbing to other treats along the way but the dish did not disappoint. The combination of the cheesiness and smokiness was unreal. It was also set up in a giant state of the art barn with probably a hundred picnic tables inside of it. It was quite the delight to get out of the sun and enjoy the meal.
Each day thereafter pretty much resembled the same thing with some slight variations along the way. For example one night there was a free open air WWE type wrestling event. Another day there was Scottish bagpipe band playing for us. At the end of the century day a band called Sugar Ray was in town that played some classics followed by a surprise drag show. I was a bit surprised at first that such a performance would take place in “the country” but Iowa is a bit of an exception to the traditionally red conservative states as it suprisingly has a good amount of liberals and is a swing state. Also I think cyclists tend to swing on the blue side anyways so a drag show was definitely welcomed although we didn’t stay long and preferred to get some sleep towards the end of the evening especially after finishing a century earlier that day.
One of my favorite encounters along this trip was a grotto in seemingly the middle of nowhere Iowa with an amazing display of quartz, rocks, and other types of gems. The pictures don’t do it justice but was really a sight to see.
Throughout the trip I often found myself trying my best to pass lots of people without seeming like an asshole. I even had people yell at me to tell me to slow down but honestly I think I just enjoy riding at a challenging pace and enjoy the speed. I often found myself trying to squeeze by people and trying my best to notify them “on your left!” without coming across as rude. I joked that next time I’m bringing a “on your left” button that would project a soothing voice notifying the riding ahead that I’m trying to squeeze by.
Although I passed many people I certainly wasn’t the fastest rider. At one point at the beginning of the century I was riding and a group of a about 4-5 riders wizzed past me. Instincts kicked in and I sprinted to catch up on their wheel where I asked if it was alright for me to jump in and they accepted.
Although I know they can be dangerous I’m a sucker to a good paceline and loved hanging onto their wheels on the back. I enjoyed riding about 5-10 mph faster than I would on my own for about 15 miles until we reached the next town.
After 7 full days of riding we arrived at the Mississippi River and enjoyed our accomplishment by dipping our front wheels and the river and celebrating over a drink in Lansing, Iowa, the finish town.
From there my friend headed on a bus to get to the airport, but I decided to stick around and check off another state off my bucket list as long as I was in the area: Wisconsin.
So that night found myself a nice place to set up camp, and the next morning headed off early to make it to Madison, WI. It was going to be a long ride and I was already pretty sunburnt with some chapped lips so got myself a mask to wear for the journey to protect face from getting roasted any further by the sun.
I have to say I was a bit nervous to start the ride as I would be crossing the Mississippi River on a not so bike friendly bridge. However, at 6:30am on a Sunday morning I pretty much had the entire bridge and roads to myself and enjoyed a safe rollout into Wisconsin.
The next part of the ride was incredibly scenic as I went south along the Mississippi. You’d think up North the Mississippi starts to thin out a bit but that wasn’t true at all. Even up here the river was incredibly wide and riding next to it was pleasant just overlooking its vastness.
Finally my turn was approaching and I heading east into the hills. The next 40-50 miles or so were anything but flat, but as comes with hills I got my reward: Views. It was along this road that I saw one of the most beautiful views of the trip in the highlands of western Wisconsin.
For around 3 hours or so I may have only been passed by 1 or 2 cars as I could tell this area was extremely remote. I did pass by some orchards but otherwise there were little signs of any other type of retail shop or even gas station until I reached Boaz, WI.
With the intention to get a few snacks to refuel, I headed into the gas station store and picked up a few things. The elderly lady behind the counter was super nice and asked me a few questions about my journey. I told her about the trip I completed and surprisingly she had never heard about RAGBRAI before. It’s funny how things change from state to state, as I believe everybody in Iowa know about RAGBRAI but as soon as you hit Wisconsin it becomes foreign.
As I was leaving the gas station I heard the old lady nearby cursing about something near the dumpsters. As I listened in I discovered there was a raccoon stuck in the oil pit. She had put a shovel into the pit for the raccoon to be able to climb out, however as soon as the raccoon climbed up and neared the opening, it fell back down as it was hard to get a grip being covered in oil.
The raccoon tried again and got halfway up the shovel when the lady tried to lift the shovel up, and with a little bit of help we were able to get the raccoon out of the oil pit. It was absolutely covered in grease and oil and looked very sad but scurried off into the woods.
“There you go, now go on and find your momma”, the old lady said to the oily raccoon.
“Thank you for helping me out”, the old lady told me as we were leaving the dumpster area after completing our rescue mission.
“It is I who should be thanking you”, I didn’t actually say that but I should have as it was she that initiated the rescue. Anyways it felt great to work as a team to help out the poor raccoon.
Sometimes bike riding can seem a bit pointless but when you have a charitable cause or find ways to improve things along the journey it starts to feel like the trip is worthwhile. In fact although much of RAGBRAI felt expensive and crowded, however many of the little town and communities benefit from about 30K riders rolling through. I’ve even heard stories of communities being able to fund a new school bus or improve some sort of communal infrastructure just by one day alone of selling something like bake goods along the route of RAGBRAI.
As I continued on the journey my route had finally converged with a more well known road. Although a state highway, it had a pretty solid shoulder with a rumble strip separating cars from bikes so felt fairly comfortable riding in it.
I continued trekking onwards until I reached a nice looking gas station pit stop. I encountered a couple of RAGBRAI riders there who were on their way to Chicago where the guy was about to see his granddaughter for the first time. This guy did RAGBRAI with who I assume is his girlfriend who was with us holding an entire pie and eating it with a fork. Sometimes riding long distances can work up an appetite worthy of eating an full sized entire pie.
As we began to chat telling our stories the guy explained how he’d done RAGBRAI on his recumbent bike. He seemed to be a recumbent enthusiast and said he’d offer to let me try it out if it wasn’t already all packed up in his car. It was nice having a bit of conversation with them and wished them well as I continued onto my journey.
At this point of the ride the highway I was on was starting to get more busy and was losing a bit of its shoulder but luckily there was a more quiet alternative route that ran pretty much parallel to the highway so I ended up taking that which brought me through some beautiful farmland surrounded by hills on either side in the horizon.
It wasn’t too long before I started finally gaining service on my cell phone which really wasn’t a given thing for the entirety of the trip thus far. The final 30 miles or so were pleasant conditions although a bit hilly as I got into Madison.
As I finally reached my destination I was relieved to have finished the journey which I call RAGBRAI+.
In retrospect I’m glad I decided to do RAGBRAI, although I can’t say I’m eager to do it again just since the crowds were a bit much for me. I’m glad I decided to do it and loved some of the nice scenery and safe riding conditions.
Although checking off a bucket list item here, I was able to add some more bucket list contenders as I discovered there’s a RAGBRAI equivalent for many other states. I’d definitely be interested in a more low key version of RAGBRAI through a state I’ve never been through: Bike ride across Georgia (BRAG) or Ride across South Dakota (RASDak) which sounds more like a stock exchange than a bike tour.
Anyways, all in all it was a worthwhile trip although a bit chaotic. Sometimes in life you have to take a risk and try something that is a bit outside your comfort zone. As the result of a google search for “taking risks quotes” informs me:
“Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.”