RAGBRI is not a brand of sports bra…it stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. A week long ride across the state of Iowa. Each year the route changes. You ride from town to town, and farm to farm, across the state. Most years they have 10,000 plus registered riders making this the oldest, largest, and longest multi-day bicycle touring event in the world.
This is not a just a ride. It’s best described as Woodstock on wheels. A week long rolling party across the state. Don’t go expecting to ride fast. Go expecting to have fun.
This was the 50th ride so they pulled out all the stops. There were 20,000 riders registered to ride the whole week, and up to 9,000 additional day riders registered for each day. In addition to the registered riders, thousands of riders bandit the event. They planned to set a world record the day we rode into Des Moines and expected 60,000 riders. That is a lot of bikes!
RAGBRI basics
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How much did is cost?
We paid to ride the full week. Early registration was $200 US each. The $200 includes transport from town to town of one bag per rider, maximum 50 lb (and they do weigh the bags).
In addition to the registration fee, we paid $100 US to park our car for the duration of the ride, and $205 US each for transportation for us and our bikes from the finishing town Davenport, to the start in Sioux City. We used ARGO- Riverbend
How far did you ride?
We rode 863 km (a little over 514 miles) in seven days of riding. This year’s route was officially 500 miles which is a little longer than usual because it was the 50th. We also chose to do the optional loop on century day. The average length is 468 miles. Daily rides were 90-163 km. Iowa is NOT flat.
What is the route?
We rode from Sioux City to Davenport but the route changes every year. It always starts somewhere along the western border on the Missouri River and ends on the eastern border on the Mississippi.
How much training do you need to do?
We had about 2000 km of mileage going into the ride. It was enough. It was the heat which made it harder. You also need to be confident of your ability to ride close to other riders and have the skills to do that safely.
The details
We drove to the end point of the ride, Davenport Iowa. It’s about a 15 hour drive from Ottawa so we stopped for the night on the way down, and the way back. The ride started on Sunday, but we needed to be in Davenport on Friday in order to get our bikes loaded for transport to the start. We had to be on a bus at 6:00 am Saturday so we parked our car on Friday and used the provided free shuttles.
We camped the first night and all of the other nights, for free in a public park along with many, many other people. You can pay extra for a charter service who will move your bags for you. The advantage is that you do not have to get your bags from the general transport trucks and you do not have to camp with the masses. Some of the charters will also put-up your tent, provide you with a tent, have showers, cold drinks and charging stations. The more you pay the more you get.
You can also find a friend and convince them to drive your stuff across Iowa for you. There is an official vehicle route and stops each day where you can meet up. There were lots of RV’s, vans and other vehicles doing this everyday.
There are also teams with team buses and, last but not least, there are moving bunkhouses in transport trucks.
We don’t mind camping and we were quite comfortable in our Big Agnes Blacktail 3 Hotel tent. The plus side to camping with the masses is that you are in on the action. The downside was lining up to get your bags on the truck and limited shade at the campsites because the people with drivers got there first. As we were carrying two 50lb bags, we needed to camp close to the baggage drop.
We had quite a nice spot along the edge of the Mississippi the first night and we met some interesting people. We walked into town and found a great Thai restaurant. Not the best night’s sleep as we were beside a train track and concerned about waking up in time to pack the tent and take a shuttle to the bus.
We need not have worried about getting up. The other riders did not keep us up at night, but they all started packing up at 4:00 am. This trend continued all week. We never needed an alarm.
We crossed Iowa on a comfortable charter bus with an amusing driver. When we arrived in Sioux City we were dropped off at the ARGO camp which was a bit of a complication because we were staying at the main camp. After some confusion we managed to get ourselves, our bikes and our bags to the main camp which was 3 or 4 km away. We found a spot to camp and headed to the main expo. If you live in the US they mail you everything you need before the ride. If you do not you have to pick it up at the expo.
The expo included food vendors, bike shops, other vendors, beer and a big concert stage. There was a similar set-up every night of the ride and a complete concert serries which was free. Each night had three or four bands. Here are the headline bands
Saturday – Spin Doctors
Sunday- The Spazmatios
Monday-The Pork Tornadoes
Tuesday-Hairball
Wednesday-Lynyrd Skynyrd
Thursday-Foghat
Friday-Bush
The expo was hot and the lines were long but we found food, beer and a few giveaways. These included Tide pods and a laundry bag. Tuesday was Laundromat takeover day. They were taking over a laundromat in the host town where all riders could do laundry for free. We did not go, but we probably should have.
We made our way back through the sea of tents to our own. Every small tent on the market was represented and over the course of the week there was much discussion about the pros and cons of various tents. We gave a few tours of ours.
We were up a little after 5:00 am the next day. Partly because we wanted to get an early start and partly because the campsite was buzzing by 4:30 am. It looked hot and the route opened at 6:00 am. Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea and by the time we made it to the line to load our bags onto the truck it was very, very long. Someone claimed it was 1 km but I think that was an exaggeration. It took us over an hour to get to the front and the bags were heavy. There were both under 50lb which was good because they were checking.
It was past 7:00 am by the time we got started. One of the challenges of being in the main campground is that there is no food or coffee available on site. In most towns you could find coffee or food on the way out of town from stores or small vendors set up along the route. We tended to wait until the first town because we could not bring ourselves to stop once we got started.
It’s hard to explain what it’s like to ride with that many other people. The whole road was usually closed and in general you could ride at a reasonable pace. There were a few people riding faster and hollering on your left, but in all honesty, they were a bit of a hazard. There were also a few people who were much slower. They must have had some very long days.
If there was a town, a big party or an obstacle things often slowed to the point where you had to walk your bike. Each day there were multiple “pass through towns” which were 10 to 40 km apart. Between the towns there were small stands many with cute kids selling lemonade and farm parties with giant beer tents, bands and food.
In the towns there were stalls by local schools and church groups selling food and pie (there is so much pie!), stalls and food trucks which follow the event and are there everyday, as well as lunches and breakfasts in various community centres and churches. In addition, there were port-a-poties, water taps, beer tents and entertainment. Much of this was put on by the town so every town was different.
It is hot in Iowa in July but this year it was VERY hot in Iowa. Apparently it was much cooler the week before we arrived. There were normally lines for everything some were longer than others and the baggage lines were the worst. I saw it described as sweating on your bike and then sweating in line but it was worth it.
At the end of a day of riding we would pick up our bags, find a spot for our tent and then find somewhere to cool off.
There was a party every night with food, beer and music but we ate in resturants with AC when we could find them, just to get out of the heat. A seat with a plug was always an added bonus!
The days were all different but the idea was the same. Here is this year’s route and a few of the highlights for us. There is so much to do, every rider’s experiences are different. The meeting towns were towns where support vehicles could meet up with their individual riders.
Day 1: Sunday, July 23 Sioux City to Storm Lake
- Theme Day: Mile of Silence & Throwback Jersey Day
- Mileage: 77 miles
- Elevation: 3,504 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS:
Kingsley
WASHTA – MEETING TOWN– our vote for best town of the day we were greeted by the town band and they had a foam cannon.
Quimby- a close second with free watermelon
And a farm stop along the way for pie. There was much pie. In some of the small towns they had been making pie for weeks!
Day 2: Monday, July 24 Storm Lake to Carroll
One of the chalenges of camping in fields for a week with a few thousand friends.
- Theme Day: “I RIDE 4” Day
- Mileage: 62 miles
- Elevation: 1,818 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS
Early- we went through
LAKE VIEW – MEETING TOWN
Breda
Mt. Carmel
Day 3: Tuesday, July 25 Carroll to Ames this was the optional century day so we rode an extra 17 miles. It was also hot so we did not stop in the early towns.
The expo and town of Carroll. We liked the furnature in the park.
- Theme Day: RAGBRAI Jersey Day
- Mileage: 83 miles
- Elevation: 1,479 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS
Glidden- it was a long hot day so we rode through
Jefferson
RIPPEY – MEETING TOWN – lots of bikes had speakers playing music. Mostly classic rock with some country. There was one guy playing opera. The guy in the picture had the biggest sound system. No idea how he charged those batteries!
A farm stop along the way. We bought lemonade and they invited us to use the hose and to put our feet in the pond. If I do it again I would stop at more farms. There were so many options you had to pick and choose where to stop
Luther
The final ride into Ames which included riding through the stadium. We rode through the hallways.
Day 4: Wednesday, July 26 Ames to Des Moines
Some nights any shower would do!
- Theme Day: Guinness Book of World Records
- Mileage: 50 miles
- Elevation: 1,216 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS:
Early morning start
Slater
Madrid
Polk City
ANKENY – MEETING TOWN
The final ride into Des Moines they closed a 6 lane highway for us. Had more foam and Lynyrd Skinner was on stage.
Day 5: Thursday, July 27 Des Moines to Tama-Toledo This was the second hotest day of the ride.
- Theme Day: Military Appreciation Day
- Mileage: 82 miles
- Elevation: 3,652 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS
Altoona
Mitchellville
A surprize gravel ride along the way.
Colfax- the guy with the bike called it “the origional fixie” Decorating your helmet was very comon and a great idea becasue it helped you to find your friends in a crowd.
NEWTON – MEETING TOWN
Kellogg
A farm stop along the way. they had warm peaches. It was very, very hot.
Grinnell
Day 6: Friday, July 28 Tama-Toledo to Coralville– This was the triple H day: Hot, Hilly Headwind. max temp with humditiy 49C or 120F
- Theme Day: College Jersey Day
- Mileage: 82 miles
- Elevation: 3,303 ft.
PASS THRU TOWNS
SAG were busy early and later in the day they were using school buses for riders and transport trucks for bikes.
Chelsea- we were not planning to stop but I am gald we did. We met a Christmas camel and had free oatmeal!
Belle Plaine
MARENGO – MEETING TOWN
Amana- Free beer!
Farm stop becasue it was carzy hot!
Oxford
Coralville had a great set-up once we got there. Everything was together and we were camped beside an outdoor pool with a water slide. We ate dinner at a local grocery store. Not odd for RAGBRAI
The stage was all set up for the show when mother nature dished out one last challenge. The alarms went off, the show was shut down and we were all moved into emergency shelters. The storm had winds of 60-80 mph. Two hours later our tent was fine but some were not.
Day 7: Saturday, July 29 Coralville to Davenport the last day!
- Theme Day: Tire Dip
- Mileage: 66 miles
- Elevation: 1,604 ft
PASS THRU TOWNS
Iowa City- another ride through a stadium – Kinnick
West Liberty- more free watermellon and pictures with a pig
MUSCATINE – MEETING TOWN
Buffalo
Then the final ride to dip our wheels one last time!
Things were learned!
- If you leave dirty bike clothes in a bag in the sun when it’s over 100 F they get really gross, really fast!
- Always peg down your tent in case of unexpected 60-80 mph winds.
- Riding a bike through an open fire hydrant is refeshing! Even at 7:00 am.
- Iowa is full of friendly helpful people.
- There are many pies in Iowa.
- Iowa is not flat, but it is beautiful.
- Rural intersections in Iowa have three sets of rumble strips ahead of a stop sign. (RUMBLE!)
- Some bike shorts are better than others, and in general bike gear does not perform well on a slip and slide.
- Watermellon is a good thing.
- RAGBRAI is tough but it’s a lot of fun.
Run K2J 
Wow. That’s an epic trip!
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