The Great Beer Run Across Iowa
• Feb 11th, 2009 • Category: UncategorizedOfficially, RAGBRAI stands for the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.
Others say it stands for the …Great BEER RUN Across Iowa.
It’s hard to truly capture the pandemonium that is some 15,000 cyclists pedaling through cornfields all day, bedding down in people’s front yards at night and drinking the whole time. Think Mardi Gras, a rural county fair and a marathon all rolled into one.
One guy our group rode with called it “an utter divorce from reality.” He also happened to be a television meteorologist. His group included an orthopedic surgeon, a financial consultant and a structural engineer. Together their collective altar ego was known as Team Trouser Mouse.
We witnessed in awe as the Trouser Mice biked 40 miles through cornfields, stopped for an hour to down a dozen Coors Lights each, and then hammered it 20 more miles into a headwind at speeds in excess of 20 miles per hour.
Every year the RAGBRAI powers that be change the route. Presumably this is to spread the cyclist’s tourist dollars around, but also presumably so the riders don’t wear out their generous welcome in the blink-and-you-miss-it farming towns.
The 2009 route was recently announced at RAGBRA.org. There’s also a countdown to the July 19 start now 157 days, 21 hours and some odd minutes and seconds.
A few years ago I did a few days and wrote about it here. The best description that comes to my mind? Life changing.
Tim Cigelske is the Beer Runner. --
Beer Run•ner (noun): 1. Someone equally devoted to fine beer appreciation and an active, healthy lifestyle 2. A blog by Tim Cigelske on Draftmag.com. Ex. "John downed four microbrews at the triathlon finish line. He's a total beer runner." Follow @TheBeerRunner on Twitter and at Facebook.com/TheBeerRunner
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How did you miss Team Good Beer? The team actually produces a .pdf listing the bars/taverns along the route with good beer. Their team consists of numerous homebrewers who provide beer for the bus and Millstream brewery and a few other brewpubs supply beer. The team jersey is screenprinted lederhosen. http://www.teamgoodbeer.org/
THANK YOU! I want to join that team.
RAGBRAI is an absolute blast. If you do go on the ride this year, stop by the Firkin Bus and say hi to Team Good Beer.
Also, Team Good Beer is in the process of pulling together the Good Beer Guide for this year’s RAGBRAI. If you know of a drinking establishment on or near the RAGBRAI XXXVII route that serves good beer send whatever info you have (contact person, good beers they serve, etc.) to barguide@teamgoodbeer.org
We don’t charge to be added to the guide, but we only list the places that serve good beer, at least while Team Good Beer is in town.
HELLO ALL, there is a >> VERY STRONG << rummer going around that the great bike ride will come back to CRESCO for another over night stay again this summer, has anyone else heard this rummer ? I first got the info from the local motel when I tried to book a block of rooms for a large party we were going to have about the same time, we were told they could not book a block of room for then because the bike ride would be back in town then ! I was told that news again when I talked with my friend in MPLS and he rides that ride and he called me and told me that. I have had the same news from the BEER TRUCK driver, they ALL seam to know long before the town finds out, is it TRUE ?
If you know anything will you please be so kind as to e-mail me what you know at
leewalt@powerbank.net
thanks !