More Opinions on RAGBRAI

Sun August 06 2006
Posted Aug 6, 2006
7,306

From the Opinion Page in the Des Moines Register August 6, 2006

It's nobodies who keep RAGBRAI's wheels turning On RAGBRAI XXXIV, we had the usual crowd of celebrities, politicians, opportunists, VIPs and nobodies. But this year we also had Lance Armstrong. I'm glad he overcame cancer and won a lot of races and wants to make the world a better place. But as far as I'm concerned, the causes important to RAGBRAI are smaller and more local. I hope the celebrities and politicians and opportunists don't crowd out the churches and cheerleaders and youth groups trying to raise money for their little causes. I hope the VIPs don't crowd out the nobodies. We camped next to, and briefly rode with, an almost-nobody this year. He was just an old man who had been on a whole lot of RAGBRAIs. There weren't 20,000 people waiting to hear what he had to say, even though he had some interesting stories and perspectives. People weren't crowding around him to photograph him eating pie or ask his opinion about what we should demand from our congressmen and congresswomen. He told us about his first RAGBRAI, and how surprised he and his friend were at the number of ordinary folk who came to join in the fun. That's what RAGBRAI is and has always been, right from the start: a big thing made out of a whole lot of little people. Little people like our friend, the old man who pitched his tent next to ours. His name was John Karras. Great causes and famous persons aside, I'm very grateful I had the opportunity to hear from him instead of Lance. - Paul Hammond, Des Moines.

RAGBRAI is more than a party August 6, 2006 The Des Moines Register heralded Lance Armstrong's presence in Iowa during RAGBRAI as biking royalty, yet it chooses to print a half-page picture of him drinking a beer. It seems ironic that a man who is an example to many young people would want himself pictured in the paper like that, but for the Register to print it makes me wonder about the motivation of the Register. The tendency of the media these days is to cast athletes in a negative light. I won't let Lance off the hook though, either. As a world-class athlete, shame on him for putting himself in the position to be photographed like that. Many people, believe it or not, rode RAGBRAI all week without one drop of alcohol. Those are the heroes, not the riders hitting each town for the bar action, then proceeding to ride a bike impaired. The heroes of the ride also were the kids, the elderly, the handicapped - not, the rude, loud, party animals. It just is sad that the legacy of RAGBRAI is not the achievements of many, but that it is a party week. - Bea Balvin, Belle Plaine.