RAGBRAI LII (7/19 - 7/26/25)

Back in IA, we once again ride the annual RAGBRAI ride across Iowa. This time it was just Michelle, Zack, and I. This time it was also Zack's first time riding. So we took turns riding and driving. This year's event was in the northern part of Iowa and wasn't very hilly or long this time around.

One our favorite daily stops is to the Iowa Craft Beer Tent where beer is plenty, music is playing and more.

The start of this year's ride was Orange City which is not situated along the Missouri River where we usually perform our back tire dips. They trucked in river water for a simulated dip if that was needed for your experience.

We did do a tire dip at a lake in Minnesota which was a first for RAGBRAI to exit the state border.

This was probably one of the best stops of the week. There were many food and drink options with plenty of music playing.

We also made it to most of the nightly entertainment performances.

Here is a leg where Zack and I rode together. He rode more than he thought he could for the week with not much training on a brand new bike. I think he may have the bug.

Some towns go all out to emphasize a theme representing the town. This town of Oelwein has the distinction of being the only town in the world with such a name.

I thought this was a nice mural representing this town's heritage as a rail hub.

In Cedar Falls, which is where UNI is located, the place was packed. Here is a panorama of my view.

My son's new wife (Beka) also stayed with us for a while.

Every once in a while you see something you may never knew existed and are glad you got to see it.

On our last day we rode through Amish country where the rolling hills provided scenic views of the farmland and trees.

Once we made it to Guttenberg, we did our front tire dip to put an exclamation point on the week. This year we didn't ride as many miles as in the past, but we did ride every day when we weren't busy moving the RV to the next stop.

From here we are headed to the Northeast US to ride several Rail Trails and visit some National Parks. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts where we visit, MI, PA, NY, VT, ME, MA, and RI.