Gannett, parent company of RAGBRAI and the Des Moines Register, sent cease-and-desist letters to former director Dieter Drake and a RAGBRAI participant on June 6.
State of play: Ricky Armstrong, a longtime RAGBRAI rider from North Carolina, created an alternative route for this year's Ames to Des Moines day.
- He tells Axios he has safety concerns about how congested it could be as RAGBRAI tries to beat a world record for the most cyclists in a single day “parade.” The Register reports that attempt is no longer happening, due to Guinness World Records changing its requirements.
- RAGBRAI estimates that day could draw as many as 100,000 riders. The ride's current single-day attendance record is 40,000.
What happened: Armstrong shared the route on his Facebook group, "RAGBRAI for Dummies," earlier this month.
- Drake, who served as director for two years and has been a critic of the ride since leaving, helped make a downloadable version of the map.