 Recreation
490 miles ahead
By
RICHARD DOAK and BRIAN DUFFY
02/22/2004
So, you want flat, easy riding on RAGBRAI? We've got that.
You want hills? We've got that, too.
You want an assortment of interesting, welcoming communities
along the way? RAGBRAI always has that.
In short, RAGBRAI XXXII July 25-31 will provide a mix of cycling
experiences. It will be a RAGBRAI sampler - a little bit of
everything.
It will roll through just about all the varieties of terrain Iowa
has to offer. The ride, at 490 miles, will cover more distance than
average, but with somewhat less hill climbing than normal.
The relative ease of the ride, plus the variety it offers, might
make it a good first RAGBRAI for any cyclist who hasn't yet
experienced the seven-day, cross-Iowa bicycle ride.
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DATES: July
25-31
TO APPLY
By mail: Find an
application on Page 7E of the Sunday Register (Feb. 22), clip
and mail it.
Online: For the first time, you can submit an
application online (www.RAGBRAI.org) as well as download an
application for mailing.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: April
1. Results of a lottery to select 8,500 riders for the week
will be available May 1. (RAGBRAI has been able to accept
everyone in the lottery since 1998, but there are no
guarantees.) Daily passes will remain available after the
April 1 deadline.
FEES: The cost is $110 for riders
and $35 for nonriders for the full week. Up to three daily
passes may be obtained for $25 per day for riders and $15 for
nonriders. A vehicle pass is $30.
MORE INFORMATION:
Call (800) 474-3342; visit www.RAGBRAI.org; e-mail
info@RAGBRAI.org; or write the RAGBRAI office at P.O. Box 622,
Des Moines, Ia. 50303-0622.
| As always, the ride begins at the
Missouri River and ends at the Mississippi. That's worth special
note this year, because both rivers will observe special
anniversaries.
Just a week after RAGBRAI leaves Onawa, that community will be
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the date Lewis and Clark passed
through the region as their expedition explored toward the Pacific
Coast.
Over on the Mississippi, RAGBRAI will arrive about a month after
Clinton has celebrated the sesquicentennial re-enactment of the
Grand Excursion. That was a riverboat flotilla that took about 1,200
journalists, politicians and dignitaries, including President
Millard Fillmore, from the Quad Cities to St. Paul in 1854. The
publicity helped stimulate settlement of this part of the
country.
Just 50 years separated the events, in 1804 and 1854, but so much
had changed they might have been in different worlds. Pedaling
across Iowa in 2004 could be a good time to polish your sense of
history. Most of the towns the ride will pass through date from
about that same era as the Grand Excursion.
OK, so you're not a history buff. Let's get back to the practical
stuff. Basically, the route has some large hills near the beginning
and a few toward the end. It has two days of relatively flat riding
from Lake View to Fort Dodge to Iowa Falls. It has more typically
rolling Iowa terrain on the other days.
There are two patches of gravel to traverse - about two miles
heading into Marshalltown on Wednesday and about three miles coming
out of Anamosa on Friday. In both cases, travel on gravel is
necessary to avoid busy highways.
The ride passes through 15 counties and 52 towns, including five
RAGBRAI has never visited before: Woolstock (on the century loop),
Hiawatha, Spragueville, Preston and Charlotte.
Here's a preview of the ride day by day:
SUNDAY
The first day will offer the easiest and most challenging
stretches of the ride - all in the same day. It begins in the
table-flat Missouri River floodplain, riding toward the sunrise over
the Loess Hills.
From Turin (site of a prehistoric Indian burial pit), the route
turns northeast and continues flat along the Maple River valley,
with nice views of the hills on both sides.
At Mapleton, the route turns east, heading through 18 miles of
large hills to Schleswig. This stretch looks like a monster roller
coaster. Washboard hills continue after Schleswig but gradually
taper as the route heads into Lake View and the shores of Black Hawk
Lake for the night.
MONDAY
Day two brings the first of two days of relatively flat terrain.
This is the part of Iowa that was covered by the Des Moines Lobe of
the Wisconsian Glacier, which melted about 12,000 years ago. There
hasn't been enough time in this region for erosion to create large
hills, as it has in other parts of Iowa that weren't flattened by
that particular glacier. The land is mostly gently undulating with
only an occasional moderate hill coming out of creek bottoms. On
these two days, riders will notice several large livestock
confinements, which are a major economic activity in this part of
the state.
TUESDAY
The third day begins with a climb out of the steep-sided Des
Moines River valley, but most of the rest of the day will again be
through flat to gently undulating country. This day features the
optional John Karras Loop near Eagle Grove for those riders who want
to complete a 100-mile day. The terrain begins to change near Dows,
where riders may notice odd-shaped glacial "kettles and knobs" near
the boundary of the Des Moines Lobe. From here, the ride will be
through more typically rolling Iowa countryside. The overnight is in
Iowa Falls, where the Iowa River cuts through scenic limestone
outcroppings.
WEDNESDAY
This is the shortest day, about 62 miles, roughly following the
Iowa River to Marshalltown. The route begins over undulating roads,
then picks up a few hills near Steamboat Rock and into Pine Lake
State Park, with a nice view of the lake. South of Eldora, the
number of hills gradually increases until the ride becomes steadily
hilly. The route travels a two-mile stretch of gravel outside
Marshalltown.
THURSDAY
Day five finds rolling hills as the route heads eastward across
country through Garwin and Clutier on occasionally rough road
surfaces. Continuing east, the route features occasional hills but
is mostly flat to undulating through the tidy little towns in Benton
County. At 84 miles, this is the longest ride of the week, and the
frequent stops in towns will be welcome. The ride passes through
Palo, site of Iowa's only nuclear-power plant, but the plant isn't
visible from the route. Then it is overnight in Hiawatha, where
RAGBRAI has never visited before.
FRIDAY
At 76 miles, this is another relatively long day, but riders will
want to press along to get to Maquoketa in time to check out the
150th Jackson County Fair, which happens to coincide with RAGBRAI.
The route begins through relatively gentle countryside until drawing
near Anamosa, where it turns more hilly and scenic. There are about
three miles of gravel east of Anamosa as the route more or less
follows the Wapsipinicon River through a mix of rolling hills, steep
hills and occasional flat stretches. The route occasionally follows
the Grant Wood Scenic Byway.
SATURDAY
The last day is a short 56 miles, but features one very long hill
climbing out of the Maquoketa River valley. The ride takes newly
paved Iron Bridge Road, a route to Spragueville RAGBRAI has not used
before. There's also some wooded scenery around Goose Lake as the
ride rolls through a mix of flatland and rolling hills until the
final downhill in Clinton toward the Mississippi and the conclusion
of RAGBRAI XXXII. |
