Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
if people ride the route in fewer days than a week, they are really missing the point of RAGBRAI as all the towns along the route plan activities, have food, etc on the best the ride passes thru town. And the designated overnight towns have music and events.
if people ride ahead, they are just riding across a state on their own and could do that anywhere at anytime.
Well said!!! I was able to get a friend of mine to do RAGBRAI - we weren't going to necessarily ride together his first year. As a warm up - he rode RAIN (Ride Across Indiana) a 160 miler. .On Sunday night we talked on the phone and he was disappointed. He didn't get why there is all the fuss over RAGBRAI and it was too crowded.
On Tuesday, we again talked on the phone and he said "I GET IT" - it's not a race, it's a ride. You stop as appropriate in each town and see the festivities and you buy a piece of pie from the boy scouts or church and you go onto the next town.
I did the ride every year from 2006 thru 2011 and I am anxious to do the ride again. I'm no longer of the opinion that I have to do it every year, but, it is an awesome event and as professionally managed as it gets.
My guess is that I will be ready for it again for 2020 unless I can talk my better half into doing it this year which is unlikely as we are planning time off for the Coppi event.