RAGBRAI

It has been brought to my attention that I never explained what RAGBRAI is! I forget that there are people reading this that are not familiar with Iowa! :-) So....

From their website....
RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa®, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 37th year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world.

During the last full week of July, a group of people ride their bikes across Iowa from border to border. Iowa is bordered by two rivers, the Missouri on the west, and the Mississipi on the east. So the idea is to dip your back tire in the Missouri river and then your front tire in the Mississippi. Each year they pick a different route across the state. It is not a race, just a bike ride. They limit the number of registered riders to 10,000. But add to that support crews and non-registered riders, and you have an enormous group of people pedaling across the state. People come from all over the world to participate. The ride averages 472 total miles with each day being anywhere from 40-80 miles.

Last year it came through Ames and we hosted some campers in our back yard and one rider in the house. Dan rode the day the ride came into Ames. We were so impressed with the whole production, and how much fun everyone was having that we decided to do it this year. Dan wants to ride every day, but I'll be happy if I get 2 days of riding in. I will be content to drive the van, take care of the kids and set up camp.

Does that explain it enough Stasi? :-)