Greg Borzo - Ragbrai: Americas Favorite Bicycle Ride

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2013 by Greg Borzo

All rights reserved

Front cover, from top to bottom, photographs by: Bob Frank, Dave McWhinnie and Ken Urban.

Unless otherwise noted, photographs are taken by the author or are from the authors collection.

First published 2013

e-book edition 2013

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.61423.955.0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Borzo, Greg.

RAGBAI : Americas favorite bicycle ride / Greg Borzo.

pages cm

Summary: Launchedas a lark in 1973, RAGBRAI has developed into the worlds largest, longest and oldest bicycle touring event. Thousands of cyclists from all fifty states anddozens of countries ride across Iowa for a weeklong festival. Meanwhile, tens of thousandsof hospitable Iowans welcome, feed and shelter this rolling carnival, showcasing their communities. Greg Borzo has gathered hundreds of stories that reveal the essence of this unique event. He has also gathered a lavish collection of photographs and cartoon; vintage andcontemporary; most never published before that illustrate RAGBRAIs kaleidoscopic character--Provided by publisher.

Summary: Describes the history of RAGBRAI and the communities in Iowa that have hosted the bike race across the state--Provided by publisher.

print edition ISBN 978-1-60949-700-2 (pbk.)

1. RAGBRAI (Bicycle tour)--History. 2. RAGBRAI (Bicycle tour)--Pictorial works. 3. Bicycle touring--Iowa--History. 4. Bicycle touring--Iowa--Pictorial works. I. Title.

GV1049.2.R34B67 2013 796.6409777--dc23 2013021520

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

I dedicate this book to my daughter,

Roxanne Alice Borzo Bertrand,

who has discovered so many of lifes pleasures

including bicycling

and is sure to discover many more.

Hey, is this Heaven? No, its Iowa. These famous lines from the movie Field of Dreams are frequently quoted as RAGBRAI rolls through the beautiful Iowa countryside. Photo by Bob Frank.

CONTENTS

.

Maintaining traditions. John Karras (right) and Carter LeBeau have tried to share a slice of watermelon on every RAGBRAI. Kaye and Carter LeBeau.

FOREWORD

What The Great Six-Day Bike Trip Across Iowa [as the first RAGBRAI was called] is really all about is youtha state of mind, not an age.

John Karras wrote these words in 1973 at the age of forty-two. Forty-one years later, when he wrote this foreword, he was still maintaining his youthful spirit and participating in RAGBRAI.

You are holding a comprehensive examination of an annual event of considerable magnitude that Donald Kaul and I started in 1973 in complete innocence of any expectation of what it would become. Its called (I named it, actually) the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, RAGBRAI, followed by a Roman numeral designating its order. Were at RAGBRAI XLI this year, and still counting.

The event has evolved, and continues to evolve, since its humble beginning. The truth is that what Kaul and I envisioned was a weeklong ride by just the two of us with the Register picking up our expenses. Then the managing editor of the day, Ed Heins, suggested that I invite the readers to come along, as he put it. I wrote about eight inches of type outlining our intentions, starting point and a few sketchy details of what to expect. (Truth is, I hadnt the foggiest notion of what to expect.)

Kaul and I didnt expect anyone to show up and thus were astonished to see 250 or so people in the parking lot at the Sioux City motel we were starting from. So much for our pleasant little solitary romp through the countryside.

From that beginning, participation soared year after year. Astonishing as it is, for all these years it has worked. Hardly any of our worst fears have materialized.

In this book, Greg Borzo has attempted (and in my view succeeded) to capture both the details and the spirit of this grand annual eventan Iowa State Fair on wheels, if there ever was one.

JOHN KARRAS

March 2013

Preface

ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE BIKE

I wish I had gone on the first RAGBRAI, but I had to work that summer.

As a taxi driver with the Ruan Cab Company in Des Moines, I remember a few traffic tie-ups when RAGBRAI came through town in 1973. I have a stronger recollection, however, of finding the idea of biking across Iowa in the summer heat with a bunch of strangers a bit crazy. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the physical challenge that the ride presented. I upgraded to a ten-speed and began to explore road biking.

Back in school at Grinnell College that fall, I decided to test my wings and biked home to Des Moines. The best part of the fifty-four-mile trip was the disbelief from family and friends who couldnt believe I had cycled that far. They were full of questions about the ridemostly, why?

Such was the state of road biking in Iowa in 1973. People were unfamiliar with, but curious about, this new activity. But I was hooked, and RAGBRAI had planted the seedas it has done for hundreds of thousands of other cyclists.

RAGBRAI is not just about the bike, however. Its a multifaceted gem that engages and reflects many different types and groups of people. Cooks and cops, musicians and ministers, mechanics and mayors, librarians and revelers, as well as cyclists, all have their own take on this weeklong carnival on wheels. Together, they make Iowa go topsy-turvy once a year, celebrating bicycling, food and drink, history, music, culture and small-town hospitality.

Launched as a lark, RAGBRAI survived a carefree childhood, learned lots of lessons through adolescence and is now a mature forty-year-old. RAGBRAI is appealing because, in a society dominated by passive entertainment, it engages people to do something rather than watching others do something. And in a society fixated with sophisticated gadgetry, video games, smart phones, automobiles and urban culture, RAGBRAI revolves around a humble, human-powered vehicle and celebrates small-town culture.

A classical welcome.

A refreshing welcome. Janet Kersey Kowal.