RAGBRAI BINGO

post by Corrine

RAGBRAI: Is it about more than just the bike ride? If you answered yes, then – BINGO! – you’re already on your way to winning! 

RAGBRAI stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It’s a multi-day group ride across Iowa that attracts thousands. And while it’s about biking, it’s also about everything that comes with an experience like no other. 

So, grab your RAGBRAI Bingo card and play along. See if you can fill all your squares before finishing your 500-mile ride across Iowa. Will you be a winner and get the full RAGBRAI experience? 

Some History 

RAGBRAI started 50 years ago when a couple of newspaper journalists from the Des Moines Register decided to bike across the state and document the small towns they biked through. They invited others to come along and on that first ride in 1973, about 200 people joined them to bike across the state. They did it again the next year and about 2,000 people joined in. It’s been going on ever since and has gotten much bigger. Every year organizers plan a different route across the state (west to east to take advantage of prevailing winds).

Fast forward to 2023, the 50th anniversary of the ride. Around 30,000 signed up this year to ride for seven days with 50-85 miles of biking each day. It’s amazing how many people want to ride bikes across Iowa. Some people join for just certain segments. Organizers were expecting up to 100,000 people on the day from Ames to Des Moines, perhaps setting a new world record! 

The 2023 route

The ride had been on my radar, especially after a few friends did it many years ago. Our son Riley moved to Iowa 5 years ago to attend grad school at the University of Iowa. He is also a big biker, so we had discussed doing RAGBRAI while he was living in Iowa. He mentioned it to Sam, then his girlfriend. She watched some YouTube videos about a couple who did it on a tandem and thought that it looked like a lot of fun, but they didn’t make any specific plans. 

A Wedding First 

The happy couple on their wedding day

Well, Sam and Riley set a date to get married July 16, 2023. This happened to be exactly one week before the start of RAGBRAI. Perfect timing. We would already be in Iowa for the wedding, so why not just extend our vacation and do the ride, too? I talked to Riley about it. He and Sam were on board. Eric was willing to go, even though he hates road biking, crowds, and heat – the trifecta of RAGBRAI! 

We had to figure out many logistics. Sam and Riley had to move out of their apartment during the week between the wedding and the ride, but Eric and I would be there to help them pack. And Riley was starting his new job nine days after the ride ended (they both graduated in May with their advanced degrees), so that gave them just enough time to drive to Albuquerque and get settled. It might be a little crazy, but it was doable. We got it all figured out. The wedding went off great, everything got packed, and by Saturday, July 22, we were in Sioux City and ready to start the 50th anniversary edition of RAGBRAI.

Before and after packing shots - whew, everything fit in the U-Haul!

Heading to the start to drop off bags.  Sam looks like she's not quite sure what she got herself into!

RAGBRAI BINGO

RAGBRAI organizers don’t have any RAGBRAI BINGO cards, but they should. There are so many iconic things one should experience on this ride. Could we do them all? 

STAND IN LINE

There were so many lines! Since this was the 50th anniversary, lines were even longer than usual. The first morning, we stood in line for an hour-and-a-half just to load our bags on the truck that would move them to the finish town for the day. There were lines for the port-a-potties. Lines to get food. Lines to get water. Lines to walk through towns. Lines pretty much everywhere all the time. We had to learn to be patient.

Lines to get into towns

Even lines at the end to dip your wheel in the Mississippi River

EAT HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

Every day, Beekman’s had fun 2 -stroke engines that were churning out homemade ice cream. It tasted so good and was fun to watch it being made.

SELFIE WITH AN ANIMAL

There were lots of cute farm animals to take photos with. Donations accepted to help a worthy cause. I found the best animal selfie with a camel that resided at a bed and breakfast. Who knew there were camels in Iowa?

SLIP N SLIDE

There were Slip N Slides everywhere. Some were better than others. I wasn’t very good at them, but it was a great way to cool off and clean off! Totally worth stopping and getting wet.

EXTREME IOWA WEATHER

Boy howdy, did we get this. This year’s RAGBRAI was very, very hot and humid. One of the worst, according to people that have done the ride many times. Most days the heat index was over 100 and at night it never got down below 70. We ended up getting up at 4 AM to start riding our bikes by 5:15 to beat some of the heat. Thousands of others had the same idea and there were always many, many bikers on the road by the time it got light. We ended up snagging some hotels the last 3 nights so we could at least cool off and get some sleep. Otherwise, we lay on our mattress pads in our tents sweating all night. Ugh! 

Cooling off in a kiddy pool set up by some Iowans along the route. So refreshing!

The last night we got to experience severe thunderstorms. Luckily, we had a hotel. Campers had to go into shelters for a few hours and tents that weren’t staked out were destroyed or blew away. Luckily, no tornados, which can happen this time of year.

Storm quickly moving in

EAT HOMEMADE PIE

So much pie offered by local communities. How could you not eat pie every day? Do not plan to lose weight on RAGBRAI!

HOME STAY

Barb and Dennis, on the right, with friends playing dominoes.

The people in the towns of Iowa open their homes to bikers. We ended up staying with a retired couple in Sioux City for two nights before the ride started. This was a great way to meet the locals. Barb and Dennis fed us and regaled us with stories of their life. They allowed us to sleep in their house, use their showers, and would have played cards with us if we had had more time. And they did not want any money for this either. What a great experience! The people of Iowa are so amazing and friendly. 

CENTURY RIDE

On one day of RAGBRAI there is an option to do a 100-mile ride. Eric, Sam, and Riley didn’t want to do it, but I did. That extra loop had a lot less bikers on it. It was only an extra 17 miles for the day and I got a patch for finishing it!

EAT AT A LOCAL FUNDRAISER

The towns all served meals to help raise money for their church, library, fire department, or school. It’s a great way to help a town and get some great food. Our first night, we had the best potato bar followed by an ice cream sundae bar at a local church. The food was plentiful, and it was a great way to talk with other riders. You had to go early as some places ran out of food!

STOP AT A FARM STAND

Lots of families set up lemonade and food stands right on the road by their farms. I met so many cute kids this way. Many were raising money for college. The best was a family that offered cold watermelon, freezer pops, and chairs to sit on. They were raising money for a new tractor for the oldest son. I loved meeting these kids and talking briefly with them. And the prices were always a great bargain!

EAT IOWA SWEET CORN

Every day, there was sweet Iowa corn, and often it was free. Pro tip - Carry floss on your bike to help clean your teeth after eating.

CAMP WITH THE MASSES

Most bikers camp along the way. Many use charter companies that set up their tents, feed them, and move their bags for them. We opted to just do the tents and food on our own although we had RAGBRAI organizers carry our gear. (Some people, called baggers, carry their own gear on their bikes.) There were designated camping areas, but you could also pretty much camp on any public area with grass. I do not like crowds and the first two nights we found places a bit removed from the masses of campers. We had to bike a few miles carrying our duffle bags, but it was worth it. But we did spend the third night right at the main campground surrounded by others. We still usually walked further away so we could have a little space. Camping at RAGBRAI is not like camping in Alaska where there is nobody around you. Bring ear plugs if you want to sleep!

A quieter campsite a little removed from the masses.  The same colored tents all lined up in the distance are part of a charter group.

GRAVEL OPTION

So many fewer people.  So  nice.

On one day of the ride there is the option for a gravel ride. I took this option. Riley and Sam didn’t. Eric did just one of the gravel legs. The gravel sections were a lot less crowded, which was nice. On the pavement you have so many riders around that you have to constantly pay attention to people passing you and those you are passing. Pretty stressful riding, although at least there are almost no cars to deal with. But on the gravel day, you can just relax and ride your bike. This year the course wove in and out from the main course so you could still experience the pass-through towns to eat and drink. I had a great day on gravel. I highly recommend this if you have the bike for it and want to have less crowds. I did get very dusty but a Slip N Slide near the end of the day cleaned me up nicely!

PEE IN A CORNFIELD

No explanation needed but I did this several times. All part of the experience!

GET A SPOKE BRACELET

There are lots of things to spend money on, but I thought the best souvenir was a custom-made bracelet made from a bike spoke. The guy who sells them can make one in about three minutes specifically to fit your wrist. I’m not generally one to wear jewelry but I love my spoke bracelet.

WRITE VIRGIN ON YOUR LEG IF IT IS YOUR FIRST RAGBRAI

This is another RAGBRAI tradition, but we didn’t do it. Mostly because we didn’t have a magic marker and also because it would have been washed off by our sweat by the end of the first day.

SWIM AT AN AQUATIC CENTER

All the small towns in Iowa have swimming pools. Such a great way to cool off at the end of a long hot day of riding. And they often have amazing water slides. Other places had splash pads where you could play like a kid in a water fountain. So much fun and so needed this year with the heat.

EAT A PORK CHOP

The Mr. Pork Chop pink bus was there every day. What is more Iowan than eating a pork chop that was cooked using corn cobs? It tasted great! Bonus points for finding pork loin sandwiches – a Midwest delicacy. We found these, too.

VISIT A BEER TENT

Beer and RAGBRAI go together. Every day, there were several beer tents set up along the route. And sometimes there was even free beer. I don’t drink, but some in our group did partake. Some people basically use the ride as a week-long pub crawl. I don’t know how they can drink beer, stay up on their bikes, and get to their campsites before dark! More power to them.

Getting a free root beer instead of a beer in Amana 

SEE A CONCERT

This was one thing that we did not mark off our bingo cards. There were free concerts every night in the towns with groups like Foghat and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but we missed all of them. Why? 1) you had to catch a shuttle to the venue, which was a pain; 2) they lasted past our bedtime, which was especially early once we decided to start to get up early to beat the heat; and 3), they were super crowded. I saw some photos taken by a drone where they estimated a crowd of 10,000 people at a concert. We did get to hear the music one night from our campsite, but that was about it. There was also music all day, both live and with DJs in all the towns you passed through. It really was a rolling party. Many bikers also had speakers on their bikes, so you got to hear snippets of music as you passed each other.

NOTICE AN INTERESTING BIKER

RAGBRAI is filled with so many people doing the route in crazy ways. We saw somebody riding a penny-farthing. We saw a tandem with four people. We saw rollerbladers and unicyclists and people on elliptical bikes. We saw a guy on a double decker bike and one on a bike with 36-inch wheels. We saw guys riding only in red, white, and blue speedo swimsuits. And we even saw a guy riding a BMX bike backwards! (He is from Anchorage!) I tried to talk to all of these crazies. So much fun. 

Recumbent tandem

Really? I can't unsee this now. That looks so uncomfortable. We saw them several mornings. 

Velomobile.  We saw two of these.

4-person tandem

Roller blader!

Double decker bike!

MAKE A NEW FRIEND

Since you are surrounded by other bikers all day long, it is easy to start up conversations. Riley and Sam had a sign on the back of their tandem that said JUST MARRIED so people were always talking to them, especially other couples on tandems. Many gave them marriage advice, especially about riding a tandem together! And they all asked if this was their honeymoon. They said it was part one – they have plans for a more “normal” honeymoon sometime in the future. 

I rode half of my gravel day with a guy, Miguel, and had great discussions with him. Unfortunately, I never saw him again. We met a wonderful couple who are riding across the country and decided to incorporate RAGBRAI into their ride. We camped with them one night and then ran into them on a couple of other days, too. It’s amazing how sometimes you would find the same people several days later after meeting them. It was fun to hear people’s stories.

DIP YOUR TIRE IN BOTH THE MISSOURI AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS

Dipping our back wheel in the Missouri with Ian, who rode the first day only

If you made it all the way, you of course, had to do this. 

Dipping our front wheel in the Mississippi

TAKE A SILLY CUT OUT PHOTO

All the towns had silly cut-outs to poke your head through and take a photo. I couldn’t get Riley and Sam to do this, but Eric and I were more than willing to make fools of ourselves!

RIDE ACROSS IOWA

It’s fun to have biked across an entire state. (I’ve previously biked across Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Washington in bikepacking races. Maybe I’ll have to continue with biking across other states.) And I’m so proud of Sam – who had never biked more than 60 miles at one time – for finishing seven grueling days and over 500 miles on a tandem. 

Eric was the only one in our group who didn’t ride the whole way. As I noted earlier, he does not like road riding, crowds, or the heat, and we had all those things to the max. He wasn’t having much fun and so decided to quit riding on day two. Unfortunately, he had to ride two more days until he got to Des Moines where he was able to rent a vehicle. But then he became our sag wagon, which was very helpful. We didn’t have to stand in line to drop off our bags and pick them up and we could stay in hotels a bit off the route.

Since Eric was our sag wagon, we no longer had to find our bags at the end of each day!

Eric did not like the heat, the crowds of bikers or riding on roads. Can't blame him.

How did we do?

We almost filled our BINGO score card and I feel that we had the full RAGBRAI experience. But would I do it again? Absolutely not! The crowds were overwhelming. The heat was brutal. But I’m 100% happy that I got to experience this insane, amazing ride. If you like parties and people and riding your bike, you should definitely plan on doing RAGBRAI!