Three-and-half years and some 1,747 miles farther on, RAGBRAI Ride Director Matt Phippen brought the oldest, longest, and largest recreational bicycle touring event in the world to his home.
“Well hello RAGBRAI,” Phippen exclaimed on the main stage in Oelwein, the Day 6 overnight town, on Friday, July 25, as a crowd of riders and residents chanted of “Matt! Matt! Matt!” and brandished large photos of the Oelwein native on sticks.
Addressing them, he said his first encounter with RAGBRAI had been 35 years ago, when Oelwein was a 1990 overnight town and his parents hosted a ride team that pitched 50 tents in their front yard.
The experience of wandering through the campsite and being so warmly received by the riders left an impression on young Phippen.
“I told my Mom I wanted to ride across the state, too, and she wisely told me to wait until I graduated,” he said.
He made that first RAGBRAI ride in 1998 — and recalled it as “the worst experience of my life.”
But the event grew on him as time passed. He went on to be a manager in the cycling division of the Scheel’s sporting goods chain, participating annually in the June route inspection rides that precede each Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. In January 2022, he stepped up as ride director.
Phippen talked about the current RAGBRAI, the fourth he has organized, set to end Saturday after a final ride to Guttenberg, noting that highs and lows can come very quickly during the course of the seven-day trek from the Missouri to the Mississippi.
“We suffered together on Wednesday,” he said, recalling the Day 4 ride that that took riders 72 miles from Forest City to Iowa Falls in blistering heat compounded by gusting headwinds, requiring RAGBRAI to send out schoolbus super SAGs to pick up riders who ran out of steam along the way. “Then Thursday was great.”
“This year’s RAGBRAI will go down as one of the best RAGBRAIs ever,” he predicted.
Preceding him at the microphone was Deb Howard, executive director of the Oelwein Chamber of Commerce, who recalled that the hometown ride director wasn’t going to miss the chance to have Oelwein on the route. She said he called her months in advance, urging her to turn in the application packet.
It was still on her desk when Phippen called again and told her Oelwein already was selected.
Realizing all the work ahead, Howard recalled uttering a brief profanity. “But, Matt, thank you making us do it.”
RAGBRAI presented the Oelwein chamber, like all the overnight town hosts, with a check for $50,000.
Phippen ended the ceremony saying, “Have a great night and we’ll see you at the river.”
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: All RAGBRAI 2025 roads lead home for Ride Director Matt Phippen
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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