Here I go ....again!

RAGBRAI is an acronym for Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It is a non-competitive bicycle ride across Iowa that draws recreational riders from across the United States and overseas.


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

The newspaper's management approved of the plan. Don Benson, a public relations director at the Register, was assigned to coordinate the event. The writers invited the public to accompany them.

The ride was planned to start on August 26 in Sioux City and end in Davenport on August 31. The overnight stops 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".

Riders begin at a community on Iowa's western border to a community on Iowa's eastern border, stopping in towns across the state. RAGBRAI is limited to 8,500 week-long riders and 1,500 day riders.

This year, the 40th event, called RAGBRAI XL, is scheduled for July 21–28, 2012. The host communities are the Iowa cities of Sioux Center, Cherokee, Lake View,Webster City, Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids, Anamosa and Clinton.The length of the route averages 472 miles (760 km).  Eight "host communities" are selected each year; one each for the beginning and end points, while the other six are overnight stops. The distance between host communities is on average 68 miles (109 km).  At the beginning of the ride, participants traditionally dip the rear wheels of their bikes in either the Missouri River or the Big Sioux River (depending on the starting point of the ride). At the end, the riders dip the front wheels in the Mississippi River.

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So if you do the math, I will be putting my butt back on the back of a tandem in just 35 days. I left you last year as I literally kissed the ground upon riding into Davenport Iowa. So, over the next month I will tell you how I got to this point again, who the players are going to be and what my goals are for my second jaunt across the not-flat state of Iowa.