SunDog70

Starts this weekend! I'll be doing parts on Friday and Saturday. Wave as you pass the really slow woman putzing along on the far right edge of the road.

https://ragbrai.com/

sdmc530

having done a single day on various rides I would not likely do this tour....way to many people and sometimes dangerous.

The number of deaths/accidents on this ride over the years is astounding to me. With over 10,000 riders annually it is a pretty crazy event.

cyclist2000

I rode single days a many years ago, I don't like the lines for food and toilets when on the road. It's just too big for me.

sdmc530

cyclist2000

I thought that they cap it at 9000 but there are a lot of unregistered riders.

sdmc530

Knet

"ruining it?"

You haven't done it, but you know it's being ruined?

As someone who has done multiple, complete RAGBRAI's, both registered and unregistered, I might suggest you actually DO a RAGBRAI before you start talking trash about such an epic ride. That way you might know of what you speak.

C-R700

CAP is 8500 week long passes and 1500 daily passes.

Agreed it's a great ride.

indyfabz

That's one reason I would never do it. That size crowd is not my cup of tea. I have done four Cycle Oregons. When it sells out (which is did 3 out of the 4 times I did it), there are about 2,200 riders. Even that size crowd posed problems for me, even with more "structure" than RAGBRAI. (I.e., Meals are prepared for you, included in the price and served at set times. Shower trucks are provided.)

Another reason is that I toured through IA in late July as part of a cross country tour. No way would I intentionally subject myself to a week long event in a part of the country where crazy heat and humidity is possible. (Spent a night in Dyersville. With a high of around 100 and high humidity, no one in our group of 13 wanted to ride out of town to see the field of dreams.) I live in the NE. We get enough of that already. Same reason I will likely never do Bike Virginia, which everyone raves about.

But I can see how the event appeals to many.

Milton Keynes

And I thought a local century ride here with over 400 riders was big.

SunDog70

Hello folks. Just wanted to report on my day's ride last Friday. We had absolutely beautiful weather, mid-upper 70's (which was the case most of the week), low humidity. I.e NOT typical Iowa July weather, thank the cycling gods. Amazingly flat route, with a few 7-8% grade hills here and there, all manageable. Just the perfect day and perfect route to ride. It is unfortunate to see the negative perceptions, as it was a fantastic experience. It never felt excessively crowded, as people are still pretty spread out through the day. There's a very strong sense of community, particularly as many riders participate from year to year and feel pretty intense connection to the event, and my experience was people were looking out for others. Good group communication re: oncoming vehicles, rider intentions, etc. More than enough to keep people who wish it occupied, lines were not bad at all except for the craft beer tents along the route lol. Though that's a different story in the end towns and campsites, which I fortunately could avoid. I'll definitely do it again, and highly recommend it to others!

As for the perception of a lot of deaths or accidents, that's an exaggeration. It does happen of course (ex. heart attack some years), last year or year before was a bad year with two auto-related accidents, one resulting in death of a rider. Fortunately no deaths this year. Actually that's not entirely correct - one of the co-founders, Donald Kaul, passed away that week. He was in his 80's or 90's and had been ill for some time, so that was a sad passing for those familiar with the history. But accidents happen no matter where you ride or the conditions - I managed to fly off my bike just a few days before my ride, thanks to a kid on the path and me going off on the grass to give him a wide berth, and not seeing how high the edge of the sidewalk was because of the grass. Bike and I both survived to ride again!

Sharing a couple pics from the day. One of the biggest hill that day, about 8-9% grade, that I just walked up as I knew it was coming and took the opportunity for some photos. The other a memento from one of the pass-through towns, Riverside, also known as the future birthplace of Captain James Tiberius Kirk - as a big Star Trek geek no way I was leaving town without one of those shirts!

Rock71

I didn't feel like I was in good enough shape for this year, but next year I will be riding.

mstateglfr 

its 10000-20000 riders per day, depending on location. Days where the ride passes close to or thru larger towns will have more participants.

I train with 30-40 teens for the 5 months leading up to RAGBRAI and almost all of them have over 1000mi ridden before crossing the state.

I view RAGBRAI as something where you get out of it what you want.
you call it dangerous, yet i enjoy every day of the ride, even with the responsibility of ensuring kids make it safely from one town to the next.

some view it as a weeklong drink fest. Some view it as a personal challenge. Some view it right between thpse two things.
its what you want to make of it.

don't want to wait for a bathroom line?...hit up a cornfield.
food lines, besides a couple specific vendors, are rarely more than a few minutes long.
don't want to drink? Then dont.

I chuckle when I read that RAGBRAI is dangerous. Kids ride it safely, but it's dangerous. Ok then.

I do understand not enjoying big crowds. Phobia is a legit reason to not ride. Typically thpugh, the crowds only exist in each town. Riding is usually spread out to where you can move predictably freely.

khutch

I'm not normally a Clyde but my winter weight creeps up close every year and I wasn't able to lose it in time (or yet) this year so I did RAGBRAI as a barely qualified Clyde this year. The seventh year in a row for me and only health or death would make me miss it. It's a great ride, it's great fun, and if you do it right even waiting in line is fun! Any ride is dangerous but many comments above are highly exaggerated. Pay attention to what's going on around you, give the other riders plenty of room when passing, and you'll be fine.