Live Q&A with RAGBRAI organizer TJ Juskiewicz at noon (CST) Monday (Feb. 2)
Who's up for a 7-day rolling party across Iowa? Whoa. Did I just see 10,000 hands go up?
The Des Moines Register on Thursday announced this year's route for RAGBRAI, naming a west to east route that starts in Council Bluffs on July 19 and ends in Burlington on July 25.
At 442 miles, it's one of the shortest in the history of the recreational bicycle tour, about 30 miles shorter than average. To make up for that, organizers picked a hillier than normal route with nearly 23,000 of total elevation gain.
The lucky few named as host towns for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa are Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Greenfield, Indianola, Chariton, Ottumwa, Mt. Pleasant and Burlington.
Economic boost
In some circles, the disclosure of the RAGBRAI route is a more momentous occasion than the naming of the Tour de France route every year. Those who are making plans of course want to know, but nonprofits in those towns put out the welcome mat and can make lots of money on food, lodging and entertainment.
With 10,000 official riders and an unknown number of independents, vendors and camp followers showing up in town after the day's ride, RAGBRAI has been known to give as much as a $2 million economic boost to a community; the Council Bluffs mayor said it could add $5.6 million this year.
This year will mark the 37th anniversary for RAGBRAI. With such a long tradition, many participants like to compare one year's ride to another.
Extremes
The Register says this year's will be the sixth shortest route. The shortest was 400 miles in 1977. The 22,806 feet of elevation puts it among the top 10 in difficulty. RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz said:
“You go south and people just assume it’s going to be really hilly, but this year will be pretty close to last year. It’ll be an extremely scenic adventure.”
Register
Go to the official RAGBRAI website to register for the ride. Officially there's space for 8,500 week-long bicyclists and 1,500 one-day riders. Paper entries must be postmarked by Feb. 15 and April 1 for online entries. Because registration usually exceeds the number of allowed riders, a random computer lottery chooses the riders, who will be notified by May 1.
Here's a Google map of the RAGBRAI route.
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