On Sunday, Sept. 18, RadTour LLC will bring RadTour Bike Ride (formerly known as Culinary Ride) back to Iowa City for a 37-mile harvest bicycle ride that perfectly exemplifies what’s most magical about Iowa: community, bicycles and farm-to-table values. Riders will gather at New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City and then bike, together, on rural, big-sky roads to arrive at farms where chefs await with thoughtfully prepared, locally sourced food. If you’re attracted to the thought of a leisurely ride with breaks to eat farm-fresh food while meandering around the farm that raised the food, the Culinary Ride is the ideal experience for you.

In May, the Cedar Rapids Culinary Ride led cyclists on a 40-mile loop from Cedar Rapids through farms in Mount Vernon, Solon and Ely; chefs from Griddle Me This! fed us Sausage Foundry sausage and French toast made with homemade bread from The Local Crumb, as we gathered in front of Goldfinch Cyclery, chatting and fueling up for the ride.

The fall Iowa City ride allows chefs to highlight seasonal produce and locally raised meats prepared in heartier autumnal dishes. Last year, chefs from Iowa City’s New Pioneer Co-op fueled the start of the ride with whole grain toast slathered in their legendary cashew-jalapeno spread and topped with veggies and bacon; Wake Up Iowa City coffee flowed freely as cyclists registered and checked in, bundled in early-morning cool-weather gear.

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