"bluezfolk" wrote in message
...
On Jul 21, 9:36 pm, "Edward Dolan" wrote:
Well, it is that time of year again when Ragbrai rages over the State of
Iowa. I do not know which is more stupid. Ragbrai or the Tour de France.
One
is all about touring and the other is all about racing. You have got to
be
crazy to do either.

I like week long organized bike tours but Ragbrai is an abomination. It
is
simply too large. It is well organized for such a large ride, but - damn
it - it is just too large. It will range up to 10,000 riders are certain
days. The kind of folks who do Ragbrai are basically brainless. They
simply
do not know what a good bike tour is like. I fell sorry for the poor
slobs.

But hey, you like to stand in line for basic services, be my guest. No
wonder everyone is drinking themselves drunk on Ragbrai. Hells Bells, I
would too. It is the only way to survive this horror known as RAGBRAI.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

At least their not doping, and bringing discredit to the sport.


I lost the OP, so I will respond to here.

RAGBRAI is not meant to be an organized 'bike tour' in the sense of what we
think of when you hear the term the 'bike tour', nor is it "touring" per se.
It is an organized (in some ways better than others) rolling festival across
Iowa. It is not about touring by bike, it is about experincing a week long
festival celebrating what is good about midwestern Americana, meeting people
from literally all over the world, and generally having fun. It just so
happens to be by bike, but actually the biking is secondary. That may still
be stupid in some people's eyes, but it is a hoot!

When Ed says 10,000 riders he is not exagerating, usually many more than
that. They issue 10,000 weeklong passes, plus there are any number of
individual day passes, and unregistered riders. On days into or out of more
populated areas of the state there are sometimes upwards of 15,000 + riders.
And I do agree with Ed - that is too many. Also, he is partially right in
that many of the folks are clueless about group rides, but certainly not all
as he implies.

Also just to be accurate, not everyone is partying and drinking all the
time. A vast minority of the people are hard partiers but they always seem
to get 90% of the press. The median age on ragbrai is in the mid 40's and
there are more and more families riding it each year. But yes, there are
partys a plenty to be found every day and night and "What goes on Ragbrai,
stays on Ragbrai."

Ragbrai; Always the last full week of July (now). www.ragbrai.com
www.desmoinesregister.com and follow links to Ragbrai storys and blogs,
updated continuously throughout the week.