As the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa comes to a close each year, riders say, “It’s only 51 more weeks until RAGBRAI.”
For anyone just hearing about RAGBRAI, here is a brief explainer.
What is RAGBRAI?
The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, is a seven-day west-to-east journey across Iowa via a different route each year. The only constants are that it begins at or near the Missouri River and ends at the Mississippi, taking advantage of the fact that Iowa is bordered by the nation’s two longest waterways. This year, RAGBRAI for the first time ventured outside Iowa, passing through a section of southwestern Minnesota on Day 2.
Ventures Endurance, the events division of Gannett Co., the corporate parent of the Des Moines Register, runs the ride. The world’s longest and oldest annual bicycle tour, it draws tens of thousands of participants from around the world.
How did RAGBRAI start?
RAGBRAI evolved from an idea by Des Moines Register Washington columnist Donald Kaul and copy editor and features writer John Karras, friends who enjoyed riding together and thought it would be even better if they could get their bosses to pay for it. In 1973, they proposed a 460-mile, cross-state ride from Sioux City to Davenport they called the Great Six-Day Bike Trip, saying they would write daily feature stories about their journey.
Karras’ editor liked the idea, but added a twist: The pair, though reluctant. would need to invite readers along. When Kaul and Karras arrived in Sioux City on Aug. 26, 1973, to start the ride, there were about 200 riders waiting for them.
As they said they would, they wrote stories along the way about the people they met and sights they saw in small towns across Iowa. But the best story of all turned out to be about one of the tag-alongs: Clarence Pickard, a pith-helmeted, 83-year-old retired farmer from Indianola. Wearing long underwear in the summer heat, he rode the entire way on a used women’s bicycle he bought just before the ride. By the time he reached Davenport, he had become an Iowa celebrity.
The Second Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or SAGBRAI, followed in 1974. Karras renamed it the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 1975. Later, its date shifted permanently to the last full week of July each year, adding a seventh day to the ride.
How does RAGBRAI roll?
RAGBRAI has grown into a weeklong festival on wheels, showing off Iowa and its legendary hospitality to participants from all 50 states and countries as far away as Australia, South Africa and Japan. Each town it passes through offers food and beverage vendors (including abundant servings of church lady pie), musical performances and a variety of other events, from goat yoga to chicken s— bingo, a game of chance where the chicken is in charge. Dancing in the streets is a frequent occurrence.
The towns are usually no more than a dozen miles apart, breaking up rides that can range from 30 to 100 miles (there’s a loop named after Karras on one day of the ride each year that allows riders who opt for it to complete a so-called century). Each day’s ride ends at an overnight town, where riders camp.
Riders can go solo, with a RAGBRAI semi carrying their luggage each day. But many choose to either ride with charters, which in their most deluxe form provide everything from tent set-up to meals and showers, or dedicated teams with their own buses, luggage trailers and themes reflected by their names. They include service group such as Team Air Force and Team Navy; Team Road Kill, which decorates dead animals along the roadsides with Mardi Gras beads and cheap sunglasses; Powered by Plants Cycling, a vegan group; Team Good Beer, made up of craft brewers; and Team Cow, which wears Holstein-spotted jerseys and horned helmets and has a similarly painted bus.
While the ride is a week long, people often join for just a single day. During its 50th anniversary edition in 2023, roughly approximating its original route, RAGBRAI drew some 60,000 riders on a stretch between Ames and Des Moines, including Gov. Kim Reynolds.
An ambulance trails the ride, and its services are free for registered riders. They also can take advantage of support-and-gear vans, known as SAG wagons, that circulate along the route and will pick up riders who, in RAGBRAI parlance, “sag” before completing the day’s journey. On days when sagging swells because of excessive heat, heavy headwinds or other factors, RAGBRAI has been known to supplement the SAG wagons with school buses — “super SAGs.”
Registration fees also cover the cost of the special-duty squad of Iowa troopers who accompany the ride, directing traffic and managing the detours that help keep riders and cars separated, and help compensate the towns for hosting RAGBRAI.
How do you win RAGBRAI?
RAGBRAI is a bike tour, not a race. The winner is anyone who has fun along the way.
When is RAGBRAI 2026?
The last full week of July in 2026 is July 19-25, an unusually early start for the ride. Note that RAGBRAI lists it as beginning July 18 because most riders arrive in the starting town the day before so they can get on the road early on Day 1.
When will RAGBRAI announce its route?
The route is a secret guarded as closely as the gold in Fort Knox. RAGBRAI typically announces its overnight towns at a gala event in late January, capping months of work by the organizers to map the route and line up the ride hosts.
The finalized route, with pass-through towns and specific roads, is announced later.
Philip Joens has ridden parts of 20 RAGBRAIs. He has completed the river-to-river trek eight times. He covers retail and real estate for the Des Moines Register and can be reached at 515-284-8184 or at pjoens@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: When will RAGBRAI happen in 2026? And what is it?
Reporting by Philip Joens, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
