The end of RAGBRAI?

The fight to save RAGBRAI is being lead by the IBC, Iowa Bicycling Coalition. That has me wondering.....Is The Register leadership concerned about potentially alienating some advertisers, some of whom probably don't support RAGBRAI, and would probably be more satisfied with 10,000+ cyclists avoiding their county (RAGBRAI is under the Register's Marketing Department)? Or is The Register concerned about liability? Duffy blogged about this, but you won't find anything on the RAGBRAI website, and there hasn't been a formal editorial yet (that I've seen, there was a blurb in Sunday's Roses/Thistles column).

Just makes me wonder...maybe they're thinking RAGBRAI has served its purpose which was initially to give two columnists somethig to write about, but then became a way to promote the brand, sell advertising, and bring in some additional non-advertising revenue. Cycling just happened to be the sport. I hope I am completely wrong on this.

RAGBRAI Crashes

It is certainly sad that the rider died on RAGBRAI a few years ago. What's even sadder is that more riders will certainly crash, and possibly more will die. That's the risk each of us takes when we roll out on our bikes, especially on the roads, and especially with traffic.

When riding on the roads, there are hazards like cracks and potholes, and they will cause crashes. Learning to deal with obstacles and hazards is part of learning to be a good cyclist. A rider may still crash, and typically the worst result is a broken bone and road rash.

RAGBRAI needs to do even more to encourage most riders to train on the roads prior to the ride. This will allow them to encounter hazards and develop bike handling techniques to deal with them. "Riding Right" is typically good advice, but a rider had better know how to deal with the parallel crack whether it is the center-line or on the right side of the road.