QC Bicycling Club ready for RAGBRAI

Cyclists will come from across the world, descending on Iowa to take a long but leisurely bike ride across the Hawkeye state.

RAGBRAI takes off from Onawa, Iowa Sunday, July 22 for a week-long ride.

The thousands of riders will be arriving in Davenport Saturday, July 28 after completing the more than 425-mile journey.

This is the 46th year of the ride through cities and towns, along with the countryside. 

The Quad Cities Bicycling Club RAGBRAI Charter loaded up July 20 before setting out to Onawa.

The charter serves as a guide for the ride and experience along the way for the nearly 350 cyclists in the group.

This is the largest charter QC Bicycling Club has hosted.

The group, will including Quad City riders, also brings together people from across the country and several who drove down from Canada. 

Coming from Toronto, Kathy Demeda said, “We’re looking forward to the challenge, we’re looking forward to seeing the new terrain, and we’re certainly looking forward to the food, which we heard is really great and obviously, meeting a lot of new friends.”

Coming from Toronto, Terry Walsh said, “This is our first visit to Iowa, we just arrived about 24 hours ago. People are very hospitable; people are very caring, we just love to be around people like that.”

The charter also organizes their own campsite for each of the overnight stops.

For one of the organizers who has been completing the RAGBRAI ride for more than a decade, it is the magic provided by the journey that keeps him coming back.

 QCBC RAGBRAI Charter Director Dixon Novy said, “Rolling into each town, the people sitting alongside the road, watching the parade of bicycles ride through town, I mean, you just feel special when people holler out where you from and just seeing these people’s faces light up when we come in.”

RAGBRAI will wrap up at Davenport’s LeClaire Park. People can watch the riders come into the city at Modern Woodmen Park starting at 8 a.m. July 28. 

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