by Torie Giffin, owner Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort
I just registered! July 20 - 27, 2024 will be my 5th RAGBRAI and 4th year taking a team representing the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort across Iowa. It is my favorite ride of all time and I plan to keep doing it as long as I can bike. If you're not familiar, RAGBRAI stands for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It is a 7 day rolling festival and is the longest running, largest and oldest recreational cycling event in the world. This will be the 51st year of the event.
Registration opened today November 15, 2023 and the ride fills up quickly, so will our team van. Register under the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort Team at ragbrai.com using code 719 and be sure to email us of your interest to bicycleresort@gmail.com with Subject: Join RAGBRAI Team. Anyone can join our team, although transport to and from Iowa is limited and based on availability.
Active team members, past participants and those who commit early will be considered first for open van spots. We can however take up to 25 riders gear across the state and provide host home camping and lodging with our team.
More about why I love RAGBRAI: It's like a rolling county fair; you ride, you eat, you drink and you have entertainment along the way, the concerts every night in the overnight towns are awesome, last year we had Leonard Skinnard, Foghat, Bush and Spin Doctors among others.
Then there's the community of RAGBRAI. The camaraderie in the journey is unparalleled. There's nothing quite like the shared joy and common ground of cycling and riding with 20,000+ fellow cyclists on an open road across the beautiful countryside of Iowa.
Yes! Iowa is beautiful, you have to see it at sunrise as the mist hovers over the cornfields and as you roll up and down all of the hillsides and along the lakes and waterways, yes there's lots of water too. It's bordered by the Missouri and the Mississippi afterall. There's nothing like dipping your tires at each end to start and finish the ride.
You have to experience RAGBRAI for yourself. The event is well organized and supported. Our team plans everything, so that for 7 days you have nothing to worry about other than waking up, riding your bike and what to eat. Some people do worry about weather, the day's milage, how much elevation. You have to be up for it all. The journey is what you make of it. I just take it one pedal stroke at a time.
Did you know we're actually kind of RAGBRAI famous now.
My son Daniel and I along with our team
are among the featured rider stories in the 50 year Anniversary Documentary "Shift" all about the ride. The movie follows three riders and two townspeople through their RAGBRAI journey and their stories and the "Why" behind why people RAGBRAI.
We just hosted a Colorado Springs Premiere at the Lodge in October with more than 120 people in attendance including most of our costars, the producers and RAGBRAI staff all flying in from Iowa for the showing. It meant so much to have them here on the heels of my son Daniel's 7th brain surgery (he's recovering well). But Iowa continues to show up in support of our family and Daniel who has now done RAGBRAI twice. You can purchase the movie at ragbrai.com and it will be available for
streaming later.
More RAGBRAI visitors: We just had a visit from Lt. Dan at the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort. He's pretty RAGBRAI famous in his own right. You might recognize him from his standing on his bike while riding for Suicide Awareness. We love when RAGBRAI friends come to visit us! He'll be back for RAGBRAI LI too, but if you want to follow his adventures in the meantime check out Ride with Dan USA and One Pedal at a Time.
