If memory serves this old coot, I think that the last Sunday of March is when we get the full/pass through town route.

I just saw on (this) website that routes and pass through towns will be announced starting next Sunday, March 6.
Each day’s route will be announced one day at a time throughout the week.
That will be fun!

TJ and his crew certainly does keep things interesting. Fun!!!

A guess the pass through town contest? Day 1 Bartlette-Thurman-Sydney. Day 2 Essex-Coberg-Villisca-Nodaway(hammock theme?)-Corning-Prescot-Cromwell. Day 3 Afton-Aripse-Tingley-Ellston-Sun Valley Lake-Grand River. Day 4 Garden Grove-Humeston-Millerton-Mystic. Day 5 Rathbun-Moravia-Albia. Day 6 Highland Center-Farson-Packwood-Pleasant Plain-Brighton-Coppock. Day 7 Ainsworth-Cotter-Columbus Jct.-Fredonia-Letts.

I’ll play. I put this together a couple of weeks ago totally independent of your list above just to amuse myself and can’t claim that I put much thought into it. I certainly do not have any local knowledge to guide my guesses:

Day 1: Malvern, Hastings, Emerson, Essex (50.6 miles)
Day 2: Hepburn, Villisca, Nodaway (I agree, it fits the theme!), Corning (76.8 miles)
Day 3: Diagonal, Mt Ayr, Kellerton, Decatur City (57.8 miles)
Day 4a: High Point (just a wide spot in the road?), Allerton, Corydon, Promise City, Plano, Mystic, Rathbun (68.4 miles)
Day 4b: Lineville, Sewal (another wide spot), Seymour, Numa (64.3 miles)
(couldn’t decide which day, 4 or 5, we are likely to ride across what appears to be a dam road at the end of Rathbun Lake. A visit to Lineville and a chance to dip into Missouri would be nice however so I prefer 4b myself.)
Day 5: Rathbun, Moravia, Albia, Avery (location of the pyramid in the logo??) (50.4 miles)
Day 6: Agency, Libertyville, Fairfield, Pleasant Plain, Brighton, Coppock, Wayland (64.9 miles)
Day 7: Ainsworth, Cotter, Colombus Junction, Conesville, Nichols (47.5 miles)

I live in Los Angeles now, but went to High School in Washington, IA and grew up in Brighton – so I hope you guys are right about the last part of day 6!

Heard from some local source in Hummeston – They are pretty sure that they are on the route for day 4.

My father graduated from Cromwell High School and my cousin farms off Cromwell Road. I know where I can stop for a cold beer.

In 33 years never been through Hummeston, I think it’s time. And that’s the day with the century loop. A lap around the lake?

My guesses

RAGBRAI – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11911668

Karras loop – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11968762

gravel loop – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11928007

As long as we pass through Confidence on Day 4, the route will be perfect. An inspirational name of a town for bikers to pass through and I know the church in Confidence would love to see RAGBRAI again.

It would be nice if we passed through Riverside on the last day so all us Trekkers could visit the future birth place of Captain Kirk. Of course no red shirts on that day!

Confidence and Riverside? Now all we need is a tailwind all week and we will have the Trifecta of RAGBRAIs!

Probably some of this is wishful thinking on my part, but here’s my projection to pass through towns… Hoping I’m right, as I feel I’ve been on most of these roads a few hundred times!

Glenwood, Malvern, Randolph, Tabor, Syndey, Shenandoah
Shen, Clarinda, Gravity, Corning, Prescott, Cromwell, Creston
Creston, Diagonal, Mount Ayr, Kellerton, Decatur City, Leon
Leon, Lineville, Promise City, Seymour, Centerville
Centerville, Rathbun, Moravia, Albia, Avery, Blakesburg, Ottumwa
Ottumwa, Agency, Eldon, Packwood, Brighton, Washington
Washington, Gladwin, Columbus Junction, Letts, Ardon, Muscatine

Day 1 has been up for several hours now. I am batting 0% which does not surprise me. Congrats to spoolbak for essentially getting the first day right! Sydney does not appear on the route but Imogene is going to be the gravel loop town.

Whoa! This year’s gravel loop is not going to be a ride in the park like last year’s inaugural gravel outing. The day 1 summary says 1000 feet of climbing on the gravel loop. I thought surely that must be a typo but RideWithGPS gives me 1100 feet of climb for that route. This will be fun!!