If you are old like me, you may remember a traffic safety slogan, ‘Speed Kills’. Well, this applies to RAGBRAI as well. You see, speed kills the fun of RAGBRAI.
I remember days when I’ve ridden RAGBRAI with my race teammates and we would fly through the 50 or 60 miles and get to the overnight town around noon. If we stopped in any pass through towns, it was only because the road was clogged and had to wait and walk through, then on to the next one. But doing so kills the main fun of RAGBRAI.
There is much to do and eat and drink at each pass through town, so don’t just fly through, stop and see what’s going on. For these small towns, RAGBRAI may increase their population 1000-fold when it comes through (town = 200 residents, RAGBRAI = 20,000). These towns plan months in advance to come up with things to offer cyclists as they come through and some are quite entertaining and ingenious. And the homemade meals and pie are one of Iowa’s treasures. So do yourself a favor and partake of things these towns have to offer.
Enjoy a Break from Riding
Another benefit of stopping at these towns is you give yourself a break from riding. Especially if you are not as ready and trained as you should be (I know, despite my best efforts it happens), stopping and taking a break in these towns offers a respite from the miles of riding.
One thing you’ll notice is that there aren’t a lot of trees along the route, mostly corn and soybean fields. But towns have lots of trees which means cool shade. Taking a break, getting something to drink or eat, and getting off your feet for a few minutes can do wonders and give you the energy to get back on your bike and on to the next town where another opportunity to rest occurs.
The Safety Factor
And finally, there is the safety factor. There are thousands of cyclists out on the road during RAGBRAI, people of all different fitness levels and bike handling abilities. If you are racing along at 20 mph while others are riding 5 mph, and folks entering or leaving the roadway, bad things can happen and speed is one of the causes.
So I’ll say it again, in case you haven’t heard it already, RAGBRAI is not a race. Therefore there’s no glory to getting to the next overnight town first, except maybe for getting a warm, not cold, shower! Much of the fun of RAGBRAI is the people, the towns, the other cyclists, so slow down and take it all in.
Coach David Ertl
Find all of Coach Ertl’s Training Blogs, as well as the 2026 Training Plan in our Training section on RAGBRAI.com.
David Ertl is a USA Cycling Advanced Certified Coach. He coaches individual cyclists through the Peaks Coaching Group www.peakscoachinggroup.com/davidertl. Ertlalso provides cycling training plans and ebooks at his website: www.CyclesportCoaching.com. You can contact Coach Ertl at: [email protected].
