RAGBRAI XLVI

by chelsea | Aug 2, 2018 | Lifestyle, Travel

I am working on my United States visit count. I’ve visited just under 25 states and I have missed a lot of the popular ones (Colorado, Arizona, California). If you asked me which one I would visit next I definitely wouldn’t have guessed Iowa. I have been traveling throughout the U.S. this summer. I’ve had the opportunity to see some amazing places I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. Most recently, Iowa. I was there for RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) for the past week. RAGBRAI is a huge bike tour that takes place in Iowa every summer. It is a non-competitive ride that travels across the state. It attracts people from the mid-west, as well as, the rest of the United States and even other countries! I was working with a sponsor to support the event and got to visit every town along the way.

Each year, the tour starts on the West side of the state and travels East. However, each year it takes a different route and stops in different towns throughout the state. This year the event started in Onawa and stopped at the following host towns: Denison, Jefferson, Ames, Sigourney, Iowa City, and finally ended in Davenport. If you are a rider, you will ride through more towns than this but as support this is where you go and this is where the riders rest (or party) until their ride the next day. This is a huge event, I can’t believe that I had never heard of it before! There are approximately 8,500 week long riders plus day riders each year. These people ride their bike for 7 days and many of them camp in tents in the host towns along the way. Riders travel with support teams. Vendors and sponsors travel with riders through the race too. There are tons of vendors lining the street at each host town, the whole event is a huge production. They serve food, offer freebies, set-up beer gardens, and more. Two gentleman, Scott and TJ run the event and do an amazing job orchestrating the whole thing.

While many people camp, a number of locals open their homes to house riders (and their support teams) throughout the event. I was fortunate enough to stay with a couple in Iowa City on our way to the Expo. These people didn’t know us but let us stay in their house, use their bathrooms, and provided us with breakfast and coffee in the morning. Larry and Dee live on a small farm in Iowa City. They also handcraft artisan furniture and can custom make pieces. His craftsmanship and passion are impressive. If you are in the market for anything, here is where you can find his work. Rustic Wood Shop.Their generosity was amazing. It seems like many of these towns are full of kind-hearted people like Larry and Dee.

It was fun to explore each of the new cities and see the landscape of Iowa driving between them. The state was so much more beautiful than I ever expected and full of gorgeous, subtle, rolling hills covered in perfectly lined cornfields and soy fields. Iowa City was my favorite stop. The city was really amazing. It’s a small city but is full of sweet boutiques, lots of great restaurants and bars, and the University of Iowa’s beautiful campus. We spent a couple nights in a super cute hotel called Hotel Vetro. It’s was a modern, posh hotel that had a sushi restaurant and a cute market on the first floor of the building!

Would I ride in RAGBRAI? Right now, I am honestly disappointed to say the answer is probably ‘no’. I wish this was for me but I am so accustomed to my lifestyle, sleeping, and eating habits. I think it would be incredibly challenging to change all of them and then bike 70+ miles a day. I could see myself participating in an event like this if I was older and had children who were interested in biking and camping. Right now, I am happy to have seen the event and be part of a sponsorship and support team. If you’re interested in participating– I definitely recommend it! Everyone who does it has a blast and supports one another. The count down to 2019 has begun. You can learn more from their website.