Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
RAGBRAI
RAGBRAI. The marathon annual bicycle ride was sponsored by the Des Moines Register. The "Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa," has been acclaimed the largest bicycling event of over one day in the United States. (1)
Riders visited Dubuque in 1974, the second year of the ride, and one year before the now nationally known event was formally given its name. The route that year began in Council Bluffs and ended in Dubuque one week later. The final day saw 1,800 of the 2,800 riders completing the trek. (2)
The event also ended in Dubuque in 1983 and 1993 when an estimated 15,000 riders completed the trek. (3)
RAGBRAI returned to Dubuque in 2010 when riders were scheduled to enter the city on July 31st. The end of the cross-Iowa ride was planned for the American Trust Rivers Edge Plaza. (1) By the end of April, records indicated riders from eighteen different countries and nearly every state would be represented in the event. (4) (Photo Credit: State Library of Iowa)
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Source:
1. "Chronology," Telegraph Herald, January 1, 2010, p. 38
2. Ibid.
3. Eller, Donnelle Eller, "Wheels Spin In," Telegraph Herald, August 1, 1993, p. 1
4. "Chronology"