mstateglfr 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/whotv.c...ross-iowa/amp/

TJ and Scott are fantastic guys and host a great week of riding. Hopefully the new ride continues the tradition.

SpeedofLite 

I'd really like to understand why the organizers felt that resigning en masse from organizing RAGBRAI is an appropriate response to being asked to discuss talking points about the Register's reporting of the Carson King story. This assumes the Des Moines Register is a major sponsor and financial contributor to RAGBRAI each year irrespective of whether these organizers were employed by the owners of the Register. I've read a couple of articles on line and what I see is this:

Dumbass Kid makes up a sign asking for beer money.
Sign goes viral and many people send him money.
Kid donates $50,000 collected to charity instead of buying himself $50,000 worth of Busch Light. Anheiser Busch offers to match funds.
Register reports this story but also learns Kid is associated with racist statements he made as a 16yo.
Kid admits he made these statements, apologizes convincingly for bad judgment as a 16yo, and compliments Register for their reporting.
RAGBRAI staff wants full autonomy on answering any questions posed by "RAGBRAI Nation".
Newspaper owners want to discuss talking points for these answers.
RAGBRAI staff quits in a huff over violation of their First Amendment rights.
Sorry, I don't get it. I must be missing some salient points. Can anyone explain this?

GrainBrain

Kind of crazy, and this was breaking news tonight for the news channels

I'd hate for this to fracture ragbrai, but their 2020 Iowa Ride route is tempting...

SpeedofLite 

I don't know any of these people, so maybe that's why it's easier for me to say this about their actions.
They say they have great respect for RAGBRAI, yet they announce their own gig immediately after resigning and lay claim to the same dates that RAGBRAI had announced for 2020?!
Is that how they show respect? Even if you agree with their reason for resigning, their actions show their intent to be punitive.
Their actions are those of a competitor company who likes what RAGBRAI is and generates, and desires that market for themselves.
I'd have more respect for them if they did something like create a cross Iowa ride to begin on the east side of the state and start a day or two after RAGBRAI ended, or produce a north to south event, or go to another state.
The point is, do it at a different time to respect all that is RAGBRAI and not basically use all the knowledge and networks they gained from RAGBRAI to harm RAGBRAI.
Gutless weasels.

mstateglfr 

I'm guessing the working knowledge and connections the ex-ragbrai team has with vendors and partners is going to give them a huge head start this year.
Whichever ride gets the overnight gear support companies, repair shops, and perennial food vendors signed on, will be the one that succeeds.

Right now the new ride not only has a head start, but the Register doesnt have anyone at the starting block.

SpeedofLite 

My thinking too. Almost sounds like this has been in works for a while now in order for all of this to happen so fast.
The whole Carson King talking points thing might just have been a smoke-screen and a convenient excuse for actions that would have happened anyway.
Keep an eye out for formation of a new event production business with familiar names at the helm.
My guess is the Register's parent company legal department is lining up their ducks about now.
Of course, in the end, the facts might show how wrong I am.
But things don't add up right now for me.

jon c. 

Based strictly on the published report, it seems like an extreme over-reaction.

bikemig 

This story makes no sense to me. I do know that two competing rides across the state on the same week isn't going to work.