What I find the most telling about the Iowa Ride is that there is no comment section like we have here at ragbrai.com.  I can only assume from this that TJ intends to take a page from Trump’s playbook and run the ride the way HE decides to run it (Make RAGBRAI Great Again?), and will accept no suggestions, discussion of motives, or tolerate any dissension from the ranks.

When he first started back in October, he continuously pushed out his bolstering statements highlighting his transparency, honesty, and charitable intentions.

Statements intended to silence potential critics and lull supporters into a sense of security. “You know me, just trust me”.

Well I only knew him as the happy clappy face of Ragbrai at the route announcement party. Beyond that, I was not going to just accept all the stories he told about Carson King, his violations of his first amendment rights, and especially that he just happened to come up with a replacement ride, website and all, in less than 2 weeks.

My skepticism proved to be correct when the news broke that his planning had commenced 14 months before when he set up the competing organization for IR. That and the seemingly sudden endorsement of the Iowa Bike Coalition left no doubt of his intentions.

Lots of people caught on as well. Potential legal troubles hounded him as well to the point that he is left with a small ride, on a different week in a different direction.

The only question I would ask is where is all of his money going. Where is the board who is supposed to provide fiscal oversight.

The promised blog and transparency are nowhere to be seen.

If I was one of the early riders that got swept up in the emotion who registered, I would think hard on getting my money back while the 100% refund offer is still there.

I am not certain there will even be a ride.

I am not worried. This will be a smaller ride and we will be staying in small towns. I love the small towns. Not a fan of the big cities. And when I finish in Rock Rapids, I can drive to the start of RAGBRAI and ride another week. I will get to experience it all. I am looking at it as an adventure!

I see the concept of a smaller ride and smaller towns, and it could be good. The two questions that come to my mind are 1) given the costs to the host town, can they recoup them from a smaller ride? and 2) Given a smaller number of riders, and a smaller host population, what’s the entertainment going to be and will that even matter? I rarely go to the entertainment, and that has always been when a cousin or a close high school or college friend lives in the host town.

PS: Last year we passed through a town where a cousin lives, and I did my best not to let her know I was on RAGBRAI. So there. Wonder if she found out? Oh yeah, my sister told her.

Larry: Sisters will rat out a brother every time. Yes, small rides flourish across this country and have for decades. Look at the selection on the Bicycle Tour Network: https://biketournetwork.com/ .
The first meeting of this organization was in 1993 in Des Moines Iowa. You will not see shuttle buses and drivers from out of the county, law enforcement also from out of the county, vendors from two states away, elaborate stage shows and city crews on overtime but you can still have a great time.
The small rides are focused on “Buy Local”.

RIDE RIGHT