Riders take a dip in the Missouri River

Sat, Jul 24, 2010 | by RAGBRAI

Sioux City – Diane Faivre knew she wanted to trek across Iowa on RAGBRAI the first time she saw the riders fly by on their bikes in the small southeastern town of Houghton.

A skeptical father told her he would check back when she was 13-years-old and see if she still felt the same way. If she did, than she could go, he said.

He kept his promise.

Thirty years later, Faivre is embarking on her 11^th RAGBRAI ride – this year with her own 13-year-old daughter by her side.

“This year I knew she was ready,” Faivre said about her daughter Allie.

The mother-daughter pair from Washington, Ill. captured the momentous occasion with a photo along the Missouri River in this town Saturday where thousands of people gathered to mark the start of the 38^th bicycle ride across Iowa.

Nearby, Kay Francavilla of Omaha, Neb. offered a free photography service to those who wanted to capture the ritual bike dip in the Missouri River on film.

Normally, Francavilla would be on a bike herself, but this year a baby shower left her living vicariously through others by offering to take their picture as she waited for her friends.

“It’s a good way to meet people,” she said.

Mike Dunn, 49, of Philadelphia, Penn. grinned as he put his bicycle wheel down into the water.

“You gotta do all the tradition. That’s what keeps the ride alive,” he said. “You have to at least do this once in a lifetime.”

-Cynthia Reynaud

RAGBRAI, Sioux City

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