RAGBRAI

Giant athletic events are nothing new for Barry Siff. The Boulder, Colo. resident has organized more than 60 multi-sport events, including last week’s Boulder Peak Triathlon, and has competed in more than 40 marathons and eight Ironman triathlons.

But on Sunday he began his very first RAGBRAI.

Siff joined with five friends to form a team whose name is a delightfully off-color phonetic spelling of Megasaurus. Think about how your rear might feel after a weeklong bike ride and you’ll get the idea.

Other members of the team included Will Murray, another competitive athlete from Boulder. Like Siff, he was looking forward to his first multi-day bike event.

“It sounded like a wild time,” Murray said. “I’m definitely looking forward to the rolling party aspect of it, but also, I’ve got a race in a couple of weeks.”

Veteran RAGBRAI rider Dan Slusky knew what to expect on the ride. As the group was getting ready to leave, he went into the bus to look for a marker with which to write “virgin” on the back of Siff’s jersey. He gave up after a bit and found a cigarette instead.

He asked Siff: “Just to keep it fair, you wanna smoke one of these?”

Siff just sold his company 5430 sports, so he won’t be organizing a lot of races in the future. But once he finishes his ride across Iowa, he’ll start an even bigger race—for a seat on the Boulder City Council. Murray will serve as his campaign manager.

Meeting folks on the route will give Siff plenty of chances to practice his handshake.

–L. Lars Hulsebus