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HomeEventsAnyone besides us doing RAGBRAI XLVIII? (Not a PFW Event...)

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Anyone besides us doing RAGBRAI XLVIII? (Not a PFW Event...)

When:
Sunday, July 25, 2021, 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM
Additional Info:
Event Contact(s):
MICHAEL VALAZZA
Category:
C+
Registration is recommended
Payment In Full In Advance Only
No Fee
In the beginning, when a few friends got together for a casual bike ride across Iowa in 1973, no one imagined that a tradition would be born, let alone that it would become the longest, largest and oldest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.<br /><br />The Register’s bicycling tradition began with an idea (a kind of a challenge) between Des Moines Register feature writer/copy editor John Karras, an avid bicyclist, and Don Kaul, author of The Des Moines Register’s “Over The Coffee” column. Karras suggested to Kaul that he ride his bicycle across Iowa and write columns about what he saw from that perspective. Kaul, also an accomplished rider, lived in Washington, D.C., and wrote his column from The Register’s Washington Bureau.<br /><br />Kaul liked the idea but issued the challenge that he would ride across Iowa if Karras rode with him. Karras agreed. Coordination of the ride was assigned to Don Benson, public relations director, and the RAGBRAI trio was formed. <br /><br />Kaul and Karras then invited ‘a few friends’ (the public) to ride along. The route was laid out on maps and readers were told that the ride would start in Sioux City on August 26 and end on August 31 in Davenport. Overnight stops were scheduled in Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Ames, Des Moines and Williamsburg. (Year One’s overnight towns had the largest average population of any RAGBRAI through RAGBRAI XXIV.) The ride was informally referred to as ‘The Great Six-Day Bicycle Ride’ and was scheduled to tie in with a Register and Tribune circulation sales meeting in Des Moines.<br /><br />An estimated 300 people showed up for the start of the ride in Sioux City. By actual count, 114 riders made the entire distance that first year. The number swelled to 500 riders on the stretch of the route between Ames and Des Moines. Kaul’s and Karras’ articles were responsible for the growth of the ride. It&#39;s been going strong with over 10,000 riders in recent years.
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