"Bicycle Bill"
- Active 1 month, 2 weeks ago
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic RAIN! in the forum Miscellaneous 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Back in the good old days when I rode, people would ask me that too. I told them that on RAGBRAI you didn’t get rained out, you got rained on. So the correct answer SHOULD be that if it rains, you get wet.
However, most people nowadays will hole up someplace dry and use their cellphones to call their support team, spouse/significant other, or…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Hairball! in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Northeast Iowa fans — Hairball is playing at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse (WI), about 30 miles from Lansing IA (where we ended up in 2017), on Jan 24th.
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic "Paper" RAGBRAI Jackets – anyone have one or remember them? in the forum Miscellaneous 2 months, 1 week ago
I have one. It doesn’t fit me any more, so it’s stored away in a box somewhere.
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic RAGBRAI beer in the forum RAGBRAI XLVIII – 2020 2 months, 2 weeks ago
RAGBRAI may not have ‘provided’ the beer, but as far back as the 1990s RAGBRAI did have agreements with Miller Lite, Chevrolet trucks, Kum ‘n Go, and several other corporate partners (or “Friends of RAGBRAI”, as I believe they were called during that time). I’m sure a fair amount of money, compensation in kind (like Chevy providing the vehicles f…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Iowa’s Ride FAQ Section in the forum Miscellaneous 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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 d…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Iowa’s Ride new dates in the forum Miscellaneous 3 months, 1 week ago
Why would RAGBRAI create a patch acknowledging/promoting another ride? And for that matter, you can ask the same question of TJ and the Iowa Ride bunch.
They may be forced to tolerate each other, and maybe even work with each other in the same way that two equally-powerful countries have to work together to avoid mutual destruction, but a…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Iowa’s Ride new dates in the forum Miscellaneous 3 months, 1 week ago
Just curious — has the original founder of RAGBRAI, John “Grandpa RAGBRAI” Karras, provided any input on this whole wrangaboo? Or is he taking the high road, staying mum, and steering clear of all of it?
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic The themes and mood every children’s book should incorporate in the forum Miscellaneous 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Since the Great Schism there’s no one around to shoo the spammers away.
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic RAGBRAI, its just a name Gannett owns in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Well, if I was selling, it’s now worth $5 million since that’s the number you just threw out there….
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Amiable Split Option? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Just want to mention that Carter LeBeau and the Quad Cities Bike Club tried something like this — a loop ride that lasted six or seven days — back in the 1980s or 1990s called “TOGIR” (The Other Great Iowa Ride).
TOGIR (rhymes with ogre) is the The Other Great Iowa Ride, a week long tour of eastern Iowa that goes from college to college where the…
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Sides are being taken in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
I remember when we overnighted in Fayette in 1996. The normal population of the town (until we got there!) was probably less than the number of pampered pedallers on Bubba’s charter.
I also remember itty-bitty Cooper (population 51!) in 1980, the best little pass-through town ever!
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Do you really think the DMR was going to fire TJ if he clarified this issue?
Has anybody from the Register ever clarified why Chuck Offenburger (who was one of the ride hosts back in the 1990s) was stripped of his “Iowa Boy” column and dismissed from his position with the Register? And how about the kerfluffle that resulted when a…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Sandaltan, check out this website — https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=26906
It does a pretty good job of telling the story too.
I forgot about the connection between the League of Wisconsin Wheelmen and the Sentinel on the first ride…. I shouldn’t have, considering I was a member of the League of American Wheelmen and later be…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
The ride that will win will be the one that best captures the flavor of the original RAGBRAI as John Karras and Donald Kaul first approached it — “We’re going to ride our bikes across Iowa and write stories for the newspaper about it. If you want to tag along, fine; but the Register is doing this for US; you’re on your own.”
As RAGBRAI sta…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic My Proposal of Reconciliation in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
While Chris Cakes has been on RAGBRAI just about forever (I ran across them in Storm Lake on my first RAGBRAI in 1978, when Loren Christiansen was still the man with the magical pancake-flipping spatula) I thought they were pretty much an independent and private contractor, much like one of the bands hired to provide entertainment in a bar, hired…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic TIme to Make Peace and Come Back Together as 1 Ride in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
Quoting KenH above:
I have already written to both parties to urge them to reconcile in some fashion that results in a single ride. I urge the rest of you to do the same, but be polite and even handed.
I wrote to:
Hunter, Carol chunter@registermedia.com
TJ? fun@iowasride.com
Another person you may want to send your “why can’t we all just get…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
To answer Sandaltan re: the Wisconsin newspaper ride.
It was the Milwaukee Sentinel (back in the day when Milwaukee had TWO daily papers; the morning Milwaukee Sentinel and the afternoon Milwaukee Journal). At the time — 1975, if I remember correctly — they had a section of the paper called “Active Americans” which highlighted recreational activ…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
correction — BRIAN Duffy
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
OK, after reading a couple of other articles (including a great one posted by the Cedar Rapids Gazette) I see this was not the Register’s call on this one…. but they *HAD* pretty much started it with the whole Carson King coverage; and when TJ showed signs of pushing back they effectively backed him and his crew into a corner, pretty much ‘ga…[Read more]
"Bicycle Bill" replied to the topic Which Ride Will "Win"? in the forum RAGBRAI XLVII – 2019 4 months, 1 week ago
I don’t do Twitter or Facebook.