Dea Moines, Iowa — We’ve known for a while that Orange City was going to be the starting town for this summer’s RAGBRAI bike ride, and that the first overnight town of the ride would be Spencer. But now we know that riders will pass through several other northwest Iowa towns.
Riders will gather in Orange City on Saturday, July 22nd, and will leave on Sunday, July 23rd. According to RAGBRAI officials, the ride will travel three miles to Alton, seven more to Granville, 9.6 miles to Paullina, and ten to Primghar. Primghar will be a meeting town. A meeting town is a place where riders can meet up with their support vehicles if they want to or need to. It’s usually about halfway through that day’s route. Otherwise the support vehicle route and the bike route do not meet or cross.
After Primghar, riders can choose to add an optional “Gravel Loop” to their route and make a quick 19.2-mile trip to Sutherland and back on gravel roads. Otherwise, it’s 14 miles from Primghar to Hartley and the final 19 miles from Hartley to Spencer.
RAGBRAI officials also say that there will be a “Mile of Silence” between Granville and Paullina on Highway 10 between Monroe and Nest Avenues. They say the “Mile of Silence” is observed to remember “riders we have lost.”
Find more information at ragbrai.com.
