RAGBRAI - History - Encyclopedia II

RAGBRAI began in 1973 when Des Moines Register feature writers John Karras and Donald Kaul came up with the idea to go on a bicycle ride across Iowa. Both men were avid bicycle riders. Karras would write articles about what he experienced during this ride.

Karras agreed if Kaul would ride with him. They took their plan to the newspaper's management, who approved of the plan. Don Benson, who was a public relations director at the newspaper, was assigned to coordinate the event. The men invited the public, or a "a few friends" as they called them, to accompany them.

The ride was planned to start on August 26 in Sioux City and end in Davenport on August 31. The towns where the riders would stop overnight were Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Ames, Des Moines and Williamsburg. The Register informed readers of the event, and the planned route. The ride was informally referred to as "The Great Six-Day Bicycle Ride."

During the first year, 300 bikers began the ride in Sioux City; 114 of them rode the entire route. A number of other people rode part of the route. Attendance was light the first year because of several factors, including the fact that only six weeks' notice was given, school was starting that week, and the ride started on the final weekend of the Iowa State Fair.

After the ride was over, Kaul and Karras wrote a number of articles that helped build excitement about the ride. The newspaper received many calls and letters from people who wanted to go but couldn't because of school, the State Fair, or not having enough time to take vacation time for that event. As a result, a ride was planned for 1974, which would take place from August 4th through the 10th. The route would begin in the Omaha, Nebraska, suburb of Council Bluffs, Iowa. It would end in Dubuque, Iowa.

The 1974 ride, known as the Second Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (or SAGBRAI), was more carefully planned. The Iowa State Patrol was involved in the planning, and arragements were made to have medical services available for riders. For the first time, the route was driven in advance. The communities involved were Atlantic, Guthrie Center, Camp Dodge (which is near Des Moines), Marshalltown, Waterloo and Monticello.

After the second year, the ride continued to grow in popularity. The RAGBRAI name, with Roman numerals following it, was adopted for RAGBRAI III in 1975; thus, the 2006 ride will be RAGBRAI XXXIV. The ride eventually moved to the last full week in July, starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday.

Riders come from all over the world, and many ride as clubs or teams. Some of the notable teams are The Killer Bees, The Whiners, Team Pink Floyd, and Team Half Fast. Team Gourmet travels with their own chef, and Team Dragbrai rides in drag. All come to Iowa to celebrate summer on two wheels.

RAGBRAI riders enjoy a week of good fun, but more importantly good food. One of the most famous food contributors is Mr. Pork Chop, who drives a pink converted school bus. On the 2005 ride, Mr. Pork Chop had his bus parked at the Paul Harrington farm just east of Woden, on the leg between Algona and Northwood. Two more Harrington brothers, Tom and John, were sitting by the roadside playing guitar and banjo. Their nephew Jon Mahoney, a finalist in the Bill Riley State Fair competition, joined them with his Irish whistle. As the beer flowed and the day went on, they were joined by bicycle-riding musicians, and "The Roadside Boys" were formed.

The Roadside Boys recently released "Pork Chop"(link to an mp3 file)

Over the years, 24 people have died during the ride itself, or from injuries sustained on the ride. Only two of these deaths resulted from injuries sustained while actually riding on bicycles. Most of the deaths were due to heart attacks that riders suffered while resting. On the first night of the 2005 ride, Michael Thomas Burke - a native of Donnellson, Iowa who was living in New York City - died when a storm blew a tree limb down on the tent in which he was sleeping.

A plane carrying a pilot and a young Canadian woman who was making a documentary about the ride also crashed during the course of the 2005 RAGBRAI. In this case, the pair only received minor injuries. Pilot Jim Hill of Manchester, Iowa and Amy Throop of Ottawa, Canada were following the route on a plane near Riceville, Iowa when the plane went down. Both Hill and Throop walked away from the accident.

RAGBRAI has had nationwide media exposure, and other rides based on RAGBRAI have been started in other areas of the country.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page