RAGBRAI Bicycle Ride Across Iowa How to Do It amp Tips to Save
RAGBRAI (Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) - How to Do It & Tips to Save Skip to content
Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations have an average return of 397%. For $79 (or just $1.52 per week), join more than 1 million members and don't miss their upcoming stock picks. 30 day money-back guarantee. Sign Up Now As the name suggests, RAGBRAI traverses the entirety of Iowa. It lasts seven days and nights, from Sunday to Saturday, in late July. The route varies each year, but always moves from west to east – anywhere from 400 to 450 miles, and sometimes more, depending on the route’s precise configuration. Full-week riders must pay $175 per head to register. Non-riders, such as private support vehicle drivers and volunteer medical staff, must pay $35 per head and $40 to $50 to register a vehicle (depending on the vehicle type). You need to register at least a few weeks ahead of the ride – the earlier, the better. Registrants receive official ride materials, including tags for their bikes, in the mail in late spring or early summer.
RAGBRAI began in 1973. The idea originated with John Karras, a writer for the Des Moines Register newspaper. He suggested to Don Kaul, a Washington, D.C.-based columnist for the Register, that Kaul ride his bike across Iowa and use the experience as fodder for his regular column. Kaul agreed, on the condition that Karras ride with him. The newspaper’s public relations director would also tag along. Six weeks ahead of the ride, the paper put out a call for readers to join the ride in solidarity. The inaugural ride took place during the last week of August, crossing from Sioux City to Davenport. With limited publicity, only about 115 riders completed the entire route, but the seeds of a movement were nevertheless sown. The Second Ride
Since it coincides with the ever-popular Iowa State Fair and the first week of school for many of the state’s school districts, the last week of August turned out not to be ideal. Register readers clamored for an encore during a different week the following year. The organizers obliged, moving the second annual ride’s start date to August 4th, 1974. With higher public awareness and better promotion, the second annual RAGBRAI was much better attended. Nearly 3,000 riders showed up in Council Bluffs, the starting town. This established a pattern that would hold through the 1970s. The second annual ride was also much better organized, with support vehicles, baggage trucks, and “sag wagons” for struggling riders. Growing Popularity & Where We Are Today
Soon enough, RAGBRAI’s organizers capped the number of registered weekly riders at 8,500. They continued to allow day riders in higher numbers. According to RAGBRAI’s website, the busiest single day in the ride’s history was in 2013, on a segment between Perry and Des Moines. Over the years, RAGBRAI has overnighted in well over 100 towns, passed through nearly 800 communities (including 80% of the state’s incorporated towns and cities), touched all 99 of the state’s counties, and involved some 330,000 riders (and counting). RAGBRAI’s organizers claim that their model has inspired at least 200 other rides across the United States. RAGBRAI is definitely a hot ticket for avid bicyclists. I’ve heard (though not confirmed) that riders come from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries. And RAGBRAI has wormed its way into the cultural discourse: Dozens of major media outlets, including national broadcast news and big-city newspapers, have sent correspondents or run in-depth stories on RAGBRAI.
The first riding day is Sunday, but RAGBRAI really begins on Saturday, when riders descend on the starting town. Many riders actually go to the ending town first, early on Saturday, to drop off their cars – in most cases, it’s easier to leave from the ending town than to arrange transportation back to the starting town on the last day. Depending on the route and traffic conditions, it takes at least four hours to drive between the starting and ending towns. (On our ride, the transfer took a little over five hours in a charter bus.) If you do decide to park in the ending town, you’ll need to pay a long-term parking fee. Most towns aren’t big enough to have their own parking garages or pay lots, so they set aside municipal lots and multipurpose fields instead. We paid $75 to park for the week in our ending town, Lansing (population: 900 and change). It was a relatively small price to pay for the convenience of a quick exit. Most riders travel from the ending town to the beginning town by bus. RAGBRAI’s organizers make dozens of buses available to general admission riders. An all-week pass guarantees you a seat. If you’re using a charter service – more on that below – you’ll likely have a private bus. Pro Tip: If you’re flying to Iowa, you’ll need to either rent a car at your arrival airport or reserve a spot on an airport shuttle to get to the starting or ending town. Unless you can get a great deal on a rental car, the airport shuttle option is probably a better financial bet, since you’ll be sharing space with lots of other riders. Shuttles run from as far away as Chicago and Omaha. Check RAGBRAI’s website for a list of sanctioned shuttle providers and some logistical tips. The Route & Overnight Logistics
The ride itself lasts seven days and six nights. Daily segments generally range from 45 to 75 miles and pass through anywhere from three to nine communities along the way, depending on terrain and geography. The organizers reveal the route during the winter, giving towns along the way plenty of time to prepare. Virtually every town throws open its doors to riders: food tents, beer gardens, performing artists, and vendor stalls are ubiquitous. Most have themes that play up their history or heritage. There’s plenty to do between intermediate towns too. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of private citizens hawk food, water, clothing, and other stuff by the roadside. Hundreds of private homeowners throw open their acreages to shade-seeking riders, with or without the added draw of sanctioned food and beverage vendors. We were especially fond of Pastafari, a Jamaican-themed pasta vendor that appeared somewhere along the route each day but the last, and the Iowa Craft Beer Tent, a well-organized mobile craft beer bar that appeared two to three times each day. At the end of each day, riders congregate in an overnight town. Camping is the default lodging option. Towns generally open up public parks and playing fields to campers, as do private organizations (like the YMCA) in larger communities, at no charge. Many homeowners allow riders to camp in their backyards or bunk up in their spare bedrooms for a variable, reasonable fee. (Charter riders generally don’t pay anything out of pocket – it’s included in their charter payment.) However, unless you happen to know someone who lives in an overnight town, it takes some work to connect with private homeowners willing to put you up, and the process is pretty competitive. You need to apply for housing to the overnight town’s government by May 1. Applications are processed in the order they’re received and housing is not guaranteed. The larger the town, the likelier it is that you’ll get a spot. If you’re camping out, you’ll need to find public showering and changing facilities close to the town’s main campgrounds. There are two types of shower facilities: public facilities like high schools and community centers, and private shower trucks. Both are pay-per-use – usually $5 to $6, plus $2 for a towel. Bring your own towel (just dry it in the sun after your shower) and save $14 for the week. Fees paid to public facilities stay in the community, so they’re a better bet for conscientious riders. Shower trucks come from as far away as Arkansas and Kentucky – not exactly local businesses. Once you’re settled and showered, the rest of the afternoon and evening is yours. Without fail, overnight towns put on good parties – it’s definitely worth your while to head downtown and see what’s happening. Riding Schedule & Timing
There’s no “right” way to ride RAGBRAI. Some serious riders treat the event like a seven-day race. They start before the crack of dawn and speed through intermediate towns in pursuit of new personal bests. Others take it really slow, stopping for food and drinks in every intermediate town, and taking breaks at acreages between towns to boot. Serious riders average 15 to 18 miles per hour, maybe more, even with stops. Laid-back riders average 10 miles per hour or less. Riders who can’t or don’t want to ride the whole day under their own power can wait in intermediate towns for sag wagons – bike-bearing vans that transport tuckered-out riders to the ending town. Sag wagon service starts in the first town a few hours after the ride’s start and moves slowly toward the overnight town by nightfall. Riding at night is frowned upon, for obvious reasons, but it’s also a good idea to get a head start as early as possible to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat. We tried to hit the road by 6:15am each day, which meant we were up by 5:30am. The road was already pretty crowded by then, though it seemed like the peak start time was slightly later – maybe 6:45am. We weren’t racing, but still managed to get to the overnight town by 2pm most days.
Full-week, general admission riders pay $175 to enter. The fee goes to RAGBRAI’s organizers. As a nonprofit event, RAGBRAI distributes excess fees to a slew of beneficiaries, including Iowa-based charities and community foundations serving the year’s overnight towns. Daily ride passes cost $30 per person. Day passes entitle riders to all the same benefits as weekly passes, including baggage and sag wagon service, on the days for which they’re valid. Weekly and multiday riders camp in sanctioned campgrounds, or with private homeowners if they’ve made advance arrangements. General admission riders who don’t want to carry their own bags need to load their stuff on the baggage trucks by 8am each morning – no exceptions. Pro Tip: Once the day’s ride starts, there’s no shuttle service back to the previous night’s overnight town. This means that day riders need to arrange their own transportation back to the previous overnight town or find someone to pick them and their bike up in the next overnight town. Charters
Charters are super popular with RAGBRAI riders willing to spend a bit more for a more comfortable, convenient experience. If you go the charter route, you’ll still need to pay the RAGBRAI entry fee, plus a highly variable charter fee. Full-service charters, which provide their own meals, snacks, entertainment, and showers in semiprivate camping areas, plus airport shuttle service at the beginning and end of the ride, cost several hundred dollars per person. Pork Belly Ventures, RAGBRAI’s biggest charter, charges $415 per rider for the full week and $65 per day. If you want to rent a tent and take advantage of Pork Belly’s set-up and take-down service, it’s another $460 per tent (double occupancy). Airport shuttles range from $45 to $145, depending on the airport. Assuming a double occupancy tent and low-end airport shuttle, that’s at least $865 per person, per week, including the RAGBRAI general admission fee. Less fussy charters cost less. We spent $595 per person, including tent rental and set-up/take-down, with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers. We did have to pay for our own showers, and we’d skip the tent rental (an extra $100 per person) if we did it again, but it was nice to know we paid less than many of our fellow riders. Pro Tip: Maybe it’s not worth an extra $400-plus per person, but one of the strongest arguments for going with a charter is head-slappingly simple: Charter operators don’t unload bags in the rain. Yes, it sounds crazy, but those general admission baggage trucks discharge their cargo as soon as they arrive in the overnight town, regardless of weather. On the one rainy day of our ride, my wife and I gawked in disbelief at a crew frantically unloading bags in a parking lot amid a torrential downpour. Said one passing RAGBRAI veteran: “The clothes you’re wearing will dry out. Those bags never will.”
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By Brian Martucci Date October 26, 2022FEATURED PROMOTION
RAGBRAI is short for “Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.” Haven’t heard of it? Don’t feel bad. RAGBRAI is the oldest and largest long-distance bike ride in the United States, but it’s not exactly a household name. I only found out about it because my wife is from Iowa and her family has a long history with RAGBRAI. Along with tens of thousands of others, they’ve done partial rides for years. My wife and I finally did the whole of RAGBRAI – all seven days – in 2017. In this guide, I’ll draw heavily on our experience to give you a firsthand look at how to train for, prepare for, and successfully execute a complete RAGBRAI ride.What Is RAGBRAI
First, a fuller explanation of RAGBRAI is in order.Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations have an average return of 397%. For $79 (or just $1.52 per week), join more than 1 million members and don't miss their upcoming stock picks. 30 day money-back guarantee. Sign Up Now As the name suggests, RAGBRAI traverses the entirety of Iowa. It lasts seven days and nights, from Sunday to Saturday, in late July. The route varies each year, but always moves from west to east – anywhere from 400 to 450 miles, and sometimes more, depending on the route’s precise configuration. Full-week riders must pay $175 per head to register. Non-riders, such as private support vehicle drivers and volunteer medical staff, must pay $35 per head and $40 to $50 to register a vehicle (depending on the vehicle type). You need to register at least a few weeks ahead of the ride – the earlier, the better. Registrants receive official ride materials, including tags for their bikes, in the mail in late spring or early summer.
RAGBRAI Origins & Abbreviated History
RAGBRAI’s official website has a detailed look at the ride’s history. This is an adapted, abbreviated summary. RAGBRAI’s OriginsRAGBRAI began in 1973. The idea originated with John Karras, a writer for the Des Moines Register newspaper. He suggested to Don Kaul, a Washington, D.C.-based columnist for the Register, that Kaul ride his bike across Iowa and use the experience as fodder for his regular column. Kaul agreed, on the condition that Karras ride with him. The newspaper’s public relations director would also tag along. Six weeks ahead of the ride, the paper put out a call for readers to join the ride in solidarity. The inaugural ride took place during the last week of August, crossing from Sioux City to Davenport. With limited publicity, only about 115 riders completed the entire route, but the seeds of a movement were nevertheless sown. The Second Ride
Since it coincides with the ever-popular Iowa State Fair and the first week of school for many of the state’s school districts, the last week of August turned out not to be ideal. Register readers clamored for an encore during a different week the following year. The organizers obliged, moving the second annual ride’s start date to August 4th, 1974. With higher public awareness and better promotion, the second annual RAGBRAI was much better attended. Nearly 3,000 riders showed up in Council Bluffs, the starting town. This established a pattern that would hold through the 1970s. The second annual ride was also much better organized, with support vehicles, baggage trucks, and “sag wagons” for struggling riders. Growing Popularity & Where We Are Today
Soon enough, RAGBRAI’s organizers capped the number of registered weekly riders at 8,500. They continued to allow day riders in higher numbers. According to RAGBRAI’s website, the busiest single day in the ride’s history was in 2013, on a segment between Perry and Des Moines. Over the years, RAGBRAI has overnighted in well over 100 towns, passed through nearly 800 communities (including 80% of the state’s incorporated towns and cities), touched all 99 of the state’s counties, and involved some 330,000 riders (and counting). RAGBRAI’s organizers claim that their model has inspired at least 200 other rides across the United States. RAGBRAI is definitely a hot ticket for avid bicyclists. I’ve heard (though not confirmed) that riders come from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries. And RAGBRAI has wormed its way into the cultural discourse: Dozens of major media outlets, including national broadcast news and big-city newspapers, have sent correspondents or run in-depth stories on RAGBRAI.
How It Works Route & Schedule
RAGBRAI lasts seven days and nights during the last week of July. The starting town is on or close to the Missouri or Big Sioux Rivers, which collectively comprise the vast majority of Iowa’s western border. The ending town is always on or within spitting distance of the Mississippi River, which comprises the entirety of Iowa’s eastern border. Beginning LogisticsThe first riding day is Sunday, but RAGBRAI really begins on Saturday, when riders descend on the starting town. Many riders actually go to the ending town first, early on Saturday, to drop off their cars – in most cases, it’s easier to leave from the ending town than to arrange transportation back to the starting town on the last day. Depending on the route and traffic conditions, it takes at least four hours to drive between the starting and ending towns. (On our ride, the transfer took a little over five hours in a charter bus.) If you do decide to park in the ending town, you’ll need to pay a long-term parking fee. Most towns aren’t big enough to have their own parking garages or pay lots, so they set aside municipal lots and multipurpose fields instead. We paid $75 to park for the week in our ending town, Lansing (population: 900 and change). It was a relatively small price to pay for the convenience of a quick exit. Most riders travel from the ending town to the beginning town by bus. RAGBRAI’s organizers make dozens of buses available to general admission riders. An all-week pass guarantees you a seat. If you’re using a charter service – more on that below – you’ll likely have a private bus. Pro Tip: If you’re flying to Iowa, you’ll need to either rent a car at your arrival airport or reserve a spot on an airport shuttle to get to the starting or ending town. Unless you can get a great deal on a rental car, the airport shuttle option is probably a better financial bet, since you’ll be sharing space with lots of other riders. Shuttles run from as far away as Chicago and Omaha. Check RAGBRAI’s website for a list of sanctioned shuttle providers and some logistical tips. The Route & Overnight Logistics
The ride itself lasts seven days and six nights. Daily segments generally range from 45 to 75 miles and pass through anywhere from three to nine communities along the way, depending on terrain and geography. The organizers reveal the route during the winter, giving towns along the way plenty of time to prepare. Virtually every town throws open its doors to riders: food tents, beer gardens, performing artists, and vendor stalls are ubiquitous. Most have themes that play up their history or heritage. There’s plenty to do between intermediate towns too. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of private citizens hawk food, water, clothing, and other stuff by the roadside. Hundreds of private homeowners throw open their acreages to shade-seeking riders, with or without the added draw of sanctioned food and beverage vendors. We were especially fond of Pastafari, a Jamaican-themed pasta vendor that appeared somewhere along the route each day but the last, and the Iowa Craft Beer Tent, a well-organized mobile craft beer bar that appeared two to three times each day. At the end of each day, riders congregate in an overnight town. Camping is the default lodging option. Towns generally open up public parks and playing fields to campers, as do private organizations (like the YMCA) in larger communities, at no charge. Many homeowners allow riders to camp in their backyards or bunk up in their spare bedrooms for a variable, reasonable fee. (Charter riders generally don’t pay anything out of pocket – it’s included in their charter payment.) However, unless you happen to know someone who lives in an overnight town, it takes some work to connect with private homeowners willing to put you up, and the process is pretty competitive. You need to apply for housing to the overnight town’s government by May 1. Applications are processed in the order they’re received and housing is not guaranteed. The larger the town, the likelier it is that you’ll get a spot. If you’re camping out, you’ll need to find public showering and changing facilities close to the town’s main campgrounds. There are two types of shower facilities: public facilities like high schools and community centers, and private shower trucks. Both are pay-per-use – usually $5 to $6, plus $2 for a towel. Bring your own towel (just dry it in the sun after your shower) and save $14 for the week. Fees paid to public facilities stay in the community, so they’re a better bet for conscientious riders. Shower trucks come from as far away as Arkansas and Kentucky – not exactly local businesses. Once you’re settled and showered, the rest of the afternoon and evening is yours. Without fail, overnight towns put on good parties – it’s definitely worth your while to head downtown and see what’s happening. Riding Schedule & Timing
There’s no “right” way to ride RAGBRAI. Some serious riders treat the event like a seven-day race. They start before the crack of dawn and speed through intermediate towns in pursuit of new personal bests. Others take it really slow, stopping for food and drinks in every intermediate town, and taking breaks at acreages between towns to boot. Serious riders average 15 to 18 miles per hour, maybe more, even with stops. Laid-back riders average 10 miles per hour or less. Riders who can’t or don’t want to ride the whole day under their own power can wait in intermediate towns for sag wagons – bike-bearing vans that transport tuckered-out riders to the ending town. Sag wagon service starts in the first town a few hours after the ride’s start and moves slowly toward the overnight town by nightfall. Riding at night is frowned upon, for obvious reasons, but it’s also a good idea to get a head start as early as possible to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat. We tried to hit the road by 6:15am each day, which meant we were up by 5:30am. The road was already pretty crowded by then, though it seemed like the peak start time was slightly later – maybe 6:45am. We weren’t racing, but still managed to get to the overnight town by 2pm most days.
Ride Options Bandits General Admission and Charters
There are two official ways to ride RAGBRAI: With the general admission crowd, or with an organized charter. There’s also a third, unofficial way to ride: as a “bandit,” a rider who sneaks into the stream without registering or paying the entry fee. Bandits are frowned upon, for obvious reasons, and they’re not entitled to camp at sanctioned sites or use the sag wagons. General AdmissionFull-week, general admission riders pay $175 to enter. The fee goes to RAGBRAI’s organizers. As a nonprofit event, RAGBRAI distributes excess fees to a slew of beneficiaries, including Iowa-based charities and community foundations serving the year’s overnight towns. Daily ride passes cost $30 per person. Day passes entitle riders to all the same benefits as weekly passes, including baggage and sag wagon service, on the days for which they’re valid. Weekly and multiday riders camp in sanctioned campgrounds, or with private homeowners if they’ve made advance arrangements. General admission riders who don’t want to carry their own bags need to load their stuff on the baggage trucks by 8am each morning – no exceptions. Pro Tip: Once the day’s ride starts, there’s no shuttle service back to the previous night’s overnight town. This means that day riders need to arrange their own transportation back to the previous overnight town or find someone to pick them and their bike up in the next overnight town. Charters
Charters are super popular with RAGBRAI riders willing to spend a bit more for a more comfortable, convenient experience. If you go the charter route, you’ll still need to pay the RAGBRAI entry fee, plus a highly variable charter fee. Full-service charters, which provide their own meals, snacks, entertainment, and showers in semiprivate camping areas, plus airport shuttle service at the beginning and end of the ride, cost several hundred dollars per person. Pork Belly Ventures, RAGBRAI’s biggest charter, charges $415 per rider for the full week and $65 per day. If you want to rent a tent and take advantage of Pork Belly’s set-up and take-down service, it’s another $460 per tent (double occupancy). Airport shuttles range from $45 to $145, depending on the airport. Assuming a double occupancy tent and low-end airport shuttle, that’s at least $865 per person, per week, including the RAGBRAI general admission fee. Less fussy charters cost less. We spent $595 per person, including tent rental and set-up/take-down, with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers. We did have to pay for our own showers, and we’d skip the tent rental (an extra $100 per person) if we did it again, but it was nice to know we paid less than many of our fellow riders. Pro Tip: Maybe it’s not worth an extra $400-plus per person, but one of the strongest arguments for going with a charter is head-slappingly simple: Charter operators don’t unload bags in the rain. Yes, it sounds crazy, but those general admission baggage trucks discharge their cargo as soon as they arrive in the overnight town, regardless of weather. On the one rainy day of our ride, my wife and I gawked in disbelief at a crew frantically unloading bags in a parking lot amid a torrential downpour. Said one passing RAGBRAI veteran: “The clothes you’re wearing will dry out. Those bags never will.”