The Lincoln Highway was the first trans-continental road across the United States. It served to bring the country together through an improved method of transportation and (literally) paved the way for further long distance routes. These routes saw rise to the automobile in a rush mirrored only by the recent trend towards bicycling. Just as Iowan motorists celebrated the ability to visit their neighbors across the state so do we bicyclists celebrate spending time with bicyclists from different parts of the state, country, and even the world as every kind of bicyclist imaginable converges on the state of Iowa for RAGBRAI.
In 2013 the Lincoln Highway will celebrate It’s 100th anniversary, and I for one think we the riders should campaign to make the 2013 RAGBRAI route cover the entirety of the highway. How cool would it be to say “I’ve biked the whole Lincoln Highway from West to East through Iowa” ? This is a unique opportunity for us all to stand up and say that we are proud of our nation’s heritage as a people who like to get up and go places! Who’s with me?
5 Replies
I am with you. This tribute to Abe Lincoln is north of Scranton.
RIDE RIGHT
Sounds like a cool idea! Although some parts of Lincoln Highway are way busy so it would be hard to work out.
That would be great!!! We would go about a couple of blocks of where I grew up ( US#30 is now a brick street through town) and about 60 feet from the same house where I grew up when the first route of US#30 through town was gravel. I biked those roads many , many times over the years when I delivered newspapers in Woodbine.
Iowa’s own C.W. McCall (he was born Bill Fries in Audubon, IA) performs “Old 30”; his paean to the Lincoln Highway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxg7PvwFElw
The Lincoln Highway became US 30 — which in turn was supplanted, for the most part, by Interstate 80. There are some parts that we have ridden before —
picture of concrete bridge, built 1914, on the original route in Tama, IA
— but there are some other areas that, like Turtlekid said, would be way too busy to use safely.
Perhaps I’ll plan a solo run for 2013…. I’ve often thought it would be kinda fun to ride as much of Route 66 as I could, and this could be a sort of a warm-up for that.
-“BB”-
I’ve been across that bridge a few times…walking it…maybe even driving it… way back in the mid-50’s when I drove my old “blue mirage” out to Ft. Monmouth, NJ, while in the army. Highway #30 has changed quite a bit over the years, going around some towns like Boone, Ralston, Scranton, Jefferson, Marshalltown, T-T, Woodbine, etc., but then businesses would spring up along the newer #30 route. RAG has travelled sections of old #30 quite often and now they have signs stating that this or some other county blacktop is the original Lincoln Highway.
Beebs, be careful out there on Lincoln Highway. Some of the older sections of it have no paved shoulder at all and I’ve biked those many years ago, but probably wouldn’t do it now~~~very dangerous…some of the newer sections might have just 18″ or so of shoulder…newer regulations to accomodate cyclists and hikers, thank goodness for that.