RIDE ON!

Celebrating 50 Years of RAGBRAI

What is your bicycle story?
Is it a story of freedom? Of adventure? Of self-discovery?
Maybe of romance? Of achievement? or simply, a story of joy?

Just as roads are intertwined amongst cornfields, rivers, smalltowns and large cities, RAGBRAI is woven into the fabric of Iowa.
So too is your story - a single patch in a collective quilt, 50 years in the making, made of hundres of thousands of patches from around the world.

As you ride across the state, you will witness, interpret, and explore the history of cycling in Iowa through temporary paper murals.
History is not just in the past - history is being made, and you are a part of it. Your story continues the tradition of cycling in Iowa;
it marks the continuation of 50 years of RAGBRAI stories, and more than 170 years of bicycle stories in Iowa.

Over time, these temporary murals will fade, tear, and disappear. Their ephemerality should serve as a reminder of the fragility of memory, especially that of local history, and the effort we must put forth to preserve it. If local history is not preserved - if the stories of everyday people are not documented; the like the paper, they will disappear with time.

All of the mural photos have been sourced from local museums and archives, including Fortepan.us; a groundbreaking digital platform whose mission is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the photographs and stories of everyday Iowans. Foretpan.us photographs are donated - a testament to the work that individuals like yourself can do to contribute ot the preservation of a richer, more complex, and more nuanced accounting of Iowa’s history. We invite you to share your stories, selfies, and the memories these murals awaken, with us on social media by tagging @FortepanIowa, @RAGBRAI, and #RAGBRAI.

The stories of everyday people matter. Your story matters.

History is not just being made; you are making it.