RAGBRAI Facts & Figures

• RAGBRAI started in 1973. John Karras, copy writer/feature writer, challenged Don Kaul, columnist, to ride his bicycle across the state and write columns about what he saw from that perspective. Don agreed but only if John joined him. They received approval from their editors and the rest, as they say, is history.
• Karras and Kaul invited readers to join them on their bicycle ride across the state six weeks before the start of the first ride. It is estimated that 300 showed up at the start and 114 rode the whole distance the first year.
• The name RAGBRAI wasn’t conceived until the third year of the ride. It was initially called the Great Six-Day Bicycle Ride followed by SAGBRAI, Second Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, before it was officially named RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 1975.
• In 1981 on the second day of riding, riders faced 40-degree temperatures (in July!), headwinds and pouring rain. Most riders didn’t make it far and were bused into the overnight town where the campgrounds were under water. Residents opened their homes, garages, and high schools to keep the riders dry. The day was later named “Soggy Monday” and the register made a patch to commemorate the day.
• The ride always goes west to east, starting at the Missouri River and ending at the Mississippi, with celebratory tire dips to mark rider’s accomplishments at each end.
• RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest, and longest recreational multi-day bicycle ride in the WORLD!
• More than 200 bicycle rides have been established over the years, taking their inspiration from RAGBRAI.
• In 51 years, RAGBRAI has passed through 939 Iowa towns, spent the night in 127 overnight towns, and with the completion of the 25th ride in 1997, has been in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. RAGBRAI has been through 80 percent of the incorporated towns in Iowa.
• A bronzed statue was commissioned and installed in 2020 to honor the legacy and vision of John Karras and Don Kaul. The interactive RAGBRAI Founder’s Statue can be seen at Water Works Park near downtown Des Moines.
• RAGBRAI was originally held in August but by RAGBRAI V it was moved to the last full week in July to accommodate school schedules and the Iowa State Fair. This is also when the prevailing winds in Iowa go from West to East providing the most likely chance for tailwinds.
• The first RAGBRAI began in Sioux City, and ended in Davenport, with overnight stops in Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Ames, Des Moines and Williamsburg. Year One’s overnight towns had the largest average population of any RAGBRAI through RAGBRAI XXIV.
• Among the many interesting people the first ride attracted was Clarence Pickard of Indianola. This 83-year-old gentleman, who hadn’t ridden a bicycle much in recent years, showed up for that first ride with a used ladies Schwinn and rode all the way to Davenport, including the 100 degree plus day from Des Moines to Williamsburg, a 110-mile trek. Pickard’s attire for the ride was a long-sleeved shirt, trousers, woolen long underwear and a silver pith helmet.
• The SAGBRAI route went from Council Bluffs to Dubuque with stops in Atlantic, Guthrie Center, Camp Dodge (north of Des Moines), Marshalltown, Waterloo and Monticello. Approximately 2,700 riders showed up to start that Sunday morning in early August. The Howard Johnson motel in Council Bluffs was packed and an adjacent golf course was filled with campers!
• In 2013 RAGBRAI passed by a large sinkhole – at least 20’ wide by 5’ deep in Springbrook State Park near the infamous Mockingbird Hill. The sinkhole occurred due to what at the time was Iowa’s wettest spring on record. Mockingbird Hill is one of the steepest hills RAGBRAI has ridden.
• Some hills stand out more than others in RAGBRAI history. Possibly the most notorious is Potter Hill near Dubuque – it’s a 6% grade, more than a mile, and about 1,400 feet of climb. That may not seem so bad until you try it yourself! Other infamous hills include Boone Hill and Twister Hill.
• Twister Hill, located near Pilot Mound, is both difficult to cycle and apparently difficult to handle in a tornado. The hill was featured in the 1996 movie Twister (featuring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton) as the characters attempt to get the DOROTHY sensors into the eye of the tornado. The hill is only 300’ of riding but the twists, turns, and elevation change are an F5!
• RAGBRAI riders have come from throughout the world, primarily because of newspaper coverage and articles written in newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Diego Union, Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, St. Petersburg Times, and the Christian Science Monitor.
• Major magazines such as TIME, Reader’s Digest, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Thrillist, Travel and Leisure, Ford Times, Smithsonian, Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic’s Traveler, SHAPE, Bicycling and many others have offered coverage of RAGBRAI. Foreign magazines including VELO Tonic in France, and Sportrad and National Geographic’s Globo in Germany have written about their experiences after biking across Iowa.
• One key to RAGBRAI’s success could be Bil Gilbert of Sports Illustrated who came on the second ride and wrote enthusiastically about it, prompting thousands to come. In 2005, Sports Illustrated named RAGBRAI as one of the 25 Summer Essentials, things that absolutely must be done before Labor Day.
• RAGBRAI garners an incredible amount of media attention. Not only did state newspapers and television stations cover every mile, but the national coverage was far greater than ever before. RAGBRAI has been featured numerous times on ESPN’s SportsCenter and Cold Pizza as well as NBC, ABC and FOX national news programs. RAGBRAI has also been discussed at length on NBC’s “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”.
• In 1986, the NBC-TV TODAY Show was on the ride and in 1987 featured RAGBRAI on the Sunday evening news. CBS Television included a report on RAGBRAI XVI in 1988 on its Friday evening news. The NBC-TV TODAY Show returned to the ride in 1995 and aired a live segment after spending three days on the ride. And in 1997, CBS reporter Harry Smith rode part of RAGBRAI XXV and prepared a report that aired on Travels with Harry. The networks have produced at least three half-hour television shows featuring the ride. IPTV has repeatedly broadcast coverage of the ride through the years and in 1997 produced a RAGBRAI 25th Anniversary video. The gourmet menus and chefs of Team Gourmet have been featured in Saveur magazine., Midwest Living magazine and just recently on the Food Network channel. A German broadcast network joined the ride in 1996, along with a news team from Rochester, Minnesota and a large contingent from the United States Air Force.

• 23,247 miles have been covered by RAGBRAI routes between 1973-2024.
• 474,103 riders have ridden RAGBRAI since 1973.
• Largest daily rider count was 50,000 in 2023 on RAGBRAI L when riders went from Ames to Des Moines. In 1988, an estimated 23,000 riders had taken part in the leg of the ride from Boone to Des Moines by 3 p.m. In 1992, an estimated 17,000 riders rode the leg of the ride into Des Moines. And in 1997, an estimated 20,000 riders pedaled into Des Moines from Creston. In 2013, an estimated 36,000 riders were counted on the road from Perry to Des Moines.
• In 2022 RAGBRAI had eight riders over the age of 90!
• RAGBRAI has visited each of Iowa’s 99 counties. There are still a few towns we haven’t visited yet, we will get to those in the next 50 years!
• 14 communities have served as RAGBRAI starting points, 12 have hosted the finish, and 108 communities have been overnight hosts.
• Under ideal conditions RAGBRAI bikers average about 10 miles an hour, including stops. Many bikers can ride faster, but RAGBRAI is for fun and is not a race!
• In 1985, RAGBRAI XIII hit 10,000 riders and has registered at least that many every year since.
• In 2013 2,300 of the riders visiting Fairfield set the Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of People Wearing Fake Moustaches!

• After the 1982 ride, co-founder and co-host Donald Kaul decided he had ridden across Iowa plenty of times and quit the ride. He later also left The Register. “Iowa Boy” columnist Chuck Offenburger joined John Karras as co-host in 1983.
• In the winter of 1982, Clarence Pickard was tragically killed in an accident in Indianola, his hometown. Although he had only ridden a complete RAGBRAI the first year of the ride and on just one day the following year, he had become a legend. The 1983 event, RAGBRAI XI, was named the ‘Clarence Pickard Memorial Ride’ in his memory, and the commemorative patch The Register designed that year was similar to the shape of the helmet he wore.
• The first RAGBRAIs included mandatory century (100 mile) days. On RAGBRAI XIV in 1986 we introduced a Century Loop making the full 100-mile distance optional.
• Many of the early RAGBRAIs had mandatory sections of gravel, in fact both John Karras and Jim Green were notorious for this. The first optional Gravel Loop was in 2015 and remained a loop until 2024 when Ride Director Matt Phippen introduced optional gravel sections on each day of the ride.
• Jim Green was the RAGBRAI Director from 1992 through 2003. He is known for steering RAGBRAI to become a more family-friendly ride that anyone could feel comfortable joining.
• Jim Green is the co-founder of the Dream Team, a RAGBRAI team that pairs youth with mentors. Youth who complete the program can earn a new bicycle by keeping good grades, training regularly, and riding the entire RAGBRAI route.
• RAGBRAI has been featured in Rolling Stone magazine, Thrillist, Travel and Leisure magazine, Sports Illustrated magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, CBS This Morning, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Bicycling Magazine, TIME Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Ford Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic’s Traveler, SHAPE, VELO Tonic (France), Sportrad (Germany), ESPN’s Sports Center, NBC’s Tonight Show, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jeopardy, and of course our namesake, The Des Moines Register.

• Mr. Pork Chop (Paul Bernhard) is probably RAGBRAI’s most famous food vendor. He is known for his pink bus painted to look like a pig, and his PORK CHOOOOOOOOOOOP call to riders. These days the pork chop stand is run by his grandchildren. Mr Pork Chop began in 1985 and is still on the route today.
• Another long-time favorite RAGBRAI food vendor is Beekman’s Homemade Ice Cream. Based out of Cherokee, IA they have been with the ride since 1986. You’ll know you’re riding up to their stand because you’ll hear the CHUG CHUG of their ice cream makers, driven by an IHC Famous Titan engine (built in 1913).
• Other famous food vendors along the RAGBRAI route have included Root Beer Man, the Dove Barn, Pastafari, and so many more!
• The most favorite RAGBRAI vendors are those from the communities of Iowa. 4-H clubs, scout troops, and the famous “church ladies” come out to serve riders as they bike – and eat – their way across the state. Favorite foods include scotcheroos, pork tenderloins, PIE, walking tacos, and cinnamon rolls.

• Since the 1980s, every year RAGBRAI has had cyclists from each of the 50 states, and US territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and more.
• In 2022 RAGBRAI had riders from Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and England.
• In 2016 we received a photo of a rider wearing a RAGBRAI hat in Antarctica! With that, RAGBRAI riders have visited all seven continents!
• Lance Armstrong has occasionally brought his famous friends to RAGBRAI including Matthew McConaughey, Jimmy Johnson, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
• Other famous riders on RAGBRAI include Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, former pro football player and actor Ben Davidson, columnist Dave Barry, actor Tom Arnold, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.
• It has been rumored that actors Ashton Kutcher, Brandon Routh, and Jason Momoa have ridden RAGBRAI but they are unsubstantiated. Everyone looks a little different in Lycra and a helmet!
• Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails rides RAGBRAI nearly every year! Nelly is the first African American to win a medal in cycling during the 1984 Summer Olympics. He’s also in the US Bicycle Hall of Fame and in the film Quicksilver.
• Another frequent RAGBRAI rider is the Fastest Cyclist on Earth, Denise Mueller-Korenek! She rode her bicycle 183 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 2018 – on RAGBRAI she rides a little slower than that!

Each year on RAGBRAI there are over 3,500 volunteers from communities across the state – the ride couldn’t happen without their hard work! Some of the things they do range from helping at the beer garden, to setting campers in their sites, to planning the layout of the festivities.

RAGBRAI gives a total of $1MM in financial support to the communities that host each year and the state agencies that support the ride. The overnight towns receive $50,000, Meeting Towns receive $10,000, Pass Thru Towns receive $5,000, Counties receive $5,000, DOT receives $50,000, and the State Patrol and CARE Ambulance are paid for staffing the ride.

• In 2012 Counting Crows headlined RAGBRAI Cedar Rapids for our 40th Anniversary Bash!
• In 2023 Lynyrd Skynyrd headlined RAGBRAI Des Moines for our 50th Anniversary Celebration!
• Some towns really go all out for RAGBRAI. Mason City hosted Poison front man Bret Michaels in 2014 – the opening act was Warrant of “Cherry Pie” fame! When we visited Mason City again in 2022, they hosted Don Felder of the Eagles, and Sugar Ray!
• RAGBRAI must-have bands include Hairball, Johnny Holm Band, The Pork Tornadoes, Spazmatics, Pop Rocks, the Nadas, and David Zollo. It wouldn’t be RAGBRAI without rocking to a handful of these favorites!