RAGBRAI organizers announced the 444 miles of Iowa asphalt that will become the route for this year's rolling bicycle party.
Although the sponsor, the Des Moines Register, has said it won't announce the bike route until Saturday, a route map for 2006 appeared on the RAGBRAI website Friday morning and a story appeared online.
The map shows a west to east RAGBRAI route beginning July 23 in Sergeant Bluff and ending July 29 in Muscatine. There are overnight stops in Ida Grove, Audobon, Waukee, Newton, Marengo and Coralville.
The finale in Muscatine also marks the weekend of that city's Great River Days Celebration, reports the Muscatine Journal, which brags that it's the first city to be chosen five times for a visit by RAGBRAI cyclists.
RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is the oldest and one of the most popular cross-state rides in the nation. The number of participants is limited to 8,500 for the entire week (another 1,500 can register for day-long passes up to three days), although many other unregistered camp followers accompany the bikers.
The towns also vie for the honor to host the RAGBRAI cyclists as their arrival boosts public morale and the coffers of charities providing services. Coralville tourism official Josh Schamberger told the Coralville Courier that the community generated $1 million for RAGBRAI bike riders in 2001.
The cost for the week-long ride is $110.
Online registration is available at the RAGBRAI website until April 1. The registered riders are selected by lottery and the wristband numbers for the winners are announced online on May 1.
How it got started
RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) got its start back in 1973. Two writers at the Des Moines Register challenged each other to bicycle across the state. They issued an open invitation for readers to join them, and 114 cyclists rode the entire six-day trip; about 500 rode one stretch.
Looking back, they were grateful for the low number of cyclists, because the route had not been driven and no advance accommodations had been made with towns along the route.
With more time to plan for the second year of the bike ride, the organizers found 2,700 riders show up. The bicycle tour took the name RAGBRAI in 1975.
Other bike tours
RAGBRAI is by no means the only cross-state bicycle tour in the US. I've listed more than 60 week-long mass bike rides in nearly 40 states at Across State Bicycle Rides. The rides are listed alpha by state.
Recent Comments