RAGBRAI®, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa™, is more than a bike ride—it is an epic eight-day rolling festival of bicycles, music, food, camaraderie, and community. It is the oldest, largest, and longest multi-day bicycle ride in the world. For this article, the RAGBRAI team shares some highlights of RAGBRAI’s 50th anniversary and its passionate community.
Highlights from RAGBRAI’s 50th anniversary
- It was incredible to see the close to 30,000 registered riders fill the roads of Iowa throughout the week.
- This year’s historic ride was one of the hottest on record and showcased the ways Iowans show up for our riders in ways both big and small.
- Through consecutive 100-degree days to a derecho on the last night of the ride, the experience of riding your bicycle through Iowa continues to create memories for our riders, communities, crew, and volunteers.
- RAGBRAI’s Community Fund raised over $185,000! The donations to this fund supported nonprofit organizations that were recommended by the eight host communities along the route in Iowa.
What’s special about the RAGBRAI community?
There is a special bond between the communities that host RAGBRAI and the riders. The communities spend months preparing to showcase their communities to riders from all over the world. Their commitment of time and care in making sure the riders enjoy every inch of the route is incredible to see. In return, the riders are gracious guests who take care to clean up after themselves, donate to local organizations, and get to know their communities. Every year the bond between communities and riders leaves an economic and communal impact on the state that is immeasurable to calculate.
Stories of RAGBRAI riders who started a GoFundMe for a good cause
1. Tim dedicated his ride across Iowa to his brother
For Tim, a native Iowan, this was his first time participating in RAGBRAI. Having recently lost his brother Toby to prostate cancer, Tim dedicated this ride to Toby and decided to raise money for Harbor Hospice, the hospice agency that helped their family navigate through this difficult time. His GoFundMe surpassed its fundraising goal and raised over $6,000 to help other families in need.
“What an experience! Now that [it] has been a couple months since the ride, I have done a lot of reflecting on the week … I take 2 things away for the week. The first is my pure admiration for all the hurdles that many riders overcame to do the ride … I was inspired every day. The second thing I take away is learning to say yes to more things in my life. It opens yourself up to so many more memorable experiences … That is one thing I will do even more of on the next RAGBRAI, saying yes. I am also very grateful that I started a GoFundMe for the group at Harbor Hospice. It was so rewarding to tell people about my brother Toby, and the great work that those workers did for him. They have been so wonderful; Hayley and Jordan even made the trip to Iowa to see me at the finish.” —Tim
2. Casey supported Camp AmeriKids via her ride across Iowa
Casey has been volunteering at AmeriKids for over a decade and she calls it “the best place I know.” Camp AmeriKids is a place where kids from New York City who are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS and sickle-cell anemia go for a week to have summer camp fun, free of charge. She biked RAGBRAI in support of Camp AmeriKids and the ELM Project and her fundraiser raised over $1,800 to support camp.
“Highs [of RAGBRAI] included the watermelon, slip n’slides, and town residents standing alongside the route to spray us down with their hoses and Super Soakers. Big thanks and love to Ian, Sarah, Sonya, Logan, Lyds & David, and our friends in Coralville for making this week one to remember.” —Casey
3. Timothy biked across Iowa for the National Park Foundation
Timothy has worked for three national parks throughout his career and has been to over 30 of them. Fast forward to today, and Timothy now works for Union Pacific which is also a corporate sponsor and long-time partner of the National Park Foundation. With the stars aligned, Timothy decided to start a fundraiser to raise money for the National Park Foundation. Over the course of seven days, Timothy cycled over 500 miles across Iowa and people rallied to help him reach his fundraising goal of $1,000 to support the national parks.
“My next project is to work with the RAGBRAI staff and make it possible for more riders to raise money for their non-profit that is meaningful to them. If every rider raised what we did this year, on next year’s bike ride across Iowa, $20 million dollars is achievable! Imagine the impact!” —Timothy
RAGBRAI and GoFundMe make it easy to give back
Cycling 500 miles across the state of Iowa is made even more meaningful by raising money for a cause. Through fundraising on GoFundMe, RAGBRAI cyclists are able to multiply their impact for a nonprofit more than they could donate on their own. Join in on the fun for the next ride and support the local communities and charities that are close to your heart.
