HISTORICAL MOMENTS & MUSINGS: The Story of RAGBRAI

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Posted Aug 11, 2015
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By GEORGE WHITEHOUSE / BV Historical Society
As posted in the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune on August 10th, 2015

It was Sunday, July 19th, that I slept in rather late. Upon arising, the first thing that I did in my lake's-edge home, as usual, was to open the drapes on the large living room windows, to make sure that nobody had pulled the plug on the lake and drained it. I was aghast! What the ----? I could not see the lake for massive trucks parked in front of my house, bumper-to-bumper, up and down Lakeshore Drive as far as the eye could see. Innumerable tents, both large and pop-tents, were pitched on the grassy shore. Hundreds of bicyclists and pedestrians were crowding the street and sidewalk, traveling and dodging each other in both directions. I suddenly realized--RAGBRAI! So, I sat on my patio to contemplate the scene. It was then that I wondered--when, how, and why did this tremendous phenomenon that occasionally overwhelms Storm Lake and BV County ever get started? I decided to find out. After some research and satisfying my curiosity, I felt that there are probably many other citizens, like me, who take RAGBRAI for granted, and don't know it's story--so I am about to share what I discovered.

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