RAGBRAI Starts Today!

Ragbrai is the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It is our annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. RAGBRAI is known for being the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. This year they will start in Missouri Valley, IA (close to where we live on the western border), then go through Minden & Shelby (where we do live), and end in Le Claire, IA along the eastern border by the Mississippi River. Our kids, and my niece, got to sit and watch as the thousands of riders went past our gravel road. There were literally between 8,000 - 12,000 riders of all ages. What an awesome time our kids had as they got to watch them ride by, and the riders were gracious enough to hand out candy, necklaces, keyrings, and even a $20.00 bill for them to split! They even got to help a pastor, whose bike dumped over, pick up all his belongings and then talked to him about the Lord. He promised that if they'd write to him at the address on his business card, he'd send them some t-shirts and Kids Bibles as well. It was especially exciting as the riders who waved, hit their hands as they rode by, and made the kids feel special. They sat there for a couple of hours watching and encouraging the riders as they passed by. It was a real treat for them!