The most fun on RAGBRAI comes from the people. You can ride across Iowa whenever you want, but only during one week, can you ride with 10,000 friends. Keep in mind that 30% of the riders are new and have never ridden in a crowd this large before. There are a few key tips to avoid crashes, like do the RIGHT riding.
Let’s just talk about it! Have you ever been on a group ride when someone in front stops abruptly and makes you slam on your brakes? I have. If there was only someway to let everyone else know that a rider wanted to stop or slow down? I know, communication!
Almost all RAGBRAI riders will agree that a helmet is an essential piece of equipment that every rider needs. A helmet will protect your brain if you are involved in a crash.
For the past twenty years, the Rider Cup Award has been presented to the club or team that best promotes the RIDE RIGHT philosophy before and during RAGBRAI. The Rider Cup will be presented to Team Cuisine at the RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in Des Moines.
The RIDE RIGHT Community Award is presented each year to the town that best promoted bicycle safety events and improved the safety level for riders in their community before and during RAGBRAI. Carroll really went all out for visiting cyclists in an effort to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all.
Congratulations to Jared Juel of Council Bluffs, Iowa who was selected winner of a new Bontrager Wheel set for watching the RIDE RIGHT video before for the start of the ride in Glenwood. Over 4,000 cards were turned in from riders who viewed the safety video. Congrations Jared!
We just wanted to thank Mark Wyatt, the Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coaltion, for writing the RAGBRAI RIDE RIGHT Safety Blogs this year. Mark gave some great tips to help you prepare so you can enjoy RAGBRAI safely.
Over the past two months, I have written articles on choosing a bike, wearing a helmet, communicating to other riders, riding safely and legally, keeping focused on what is going on around you, making sure you are able to ride, keeping a positive attitude, and paying attention while riding. There will be a lot of people on the road and keeping all the RIDE RIGHT safety tips in mind will be important.
It isn’t easy to concentrate for seven days of bicycle riding with 10,000 or more people, but you have to. There are all kinds of things to pay attention to including emergency vehicles, gravel or debris on pavement, pavement cracks and railroad tracks.
If you have never ridden RAGBRAI before, get ready for a lot of people on bicycles. This is the really cool part of bicycling is several people can ride next to each other. But you have to pay attention or crashes could occur. Even though there are others, you need to travel at the right [...]
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
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