Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes
Chris Feld Takes on RAGBRAI
Validity Veteran, Chris Feld, recently returned from a week-long trip to Iowa. While most people wouldn’t think much of a trip to Iowa, Chris had heads turning once people found out that he didn’t just go to Iowa. But that he rode his bike 455 miles through Iowa while participating in the 2017 RAGBRAI event!
What is “RAGBRAI”?
At this point you’re probably reading this and wondering what RAGBRAI is. Well RAGBRAI is The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It is the world’s longest and largest non-competitive bicycle ride organized by The Des Moines Register that goes from west to east across the state of Iowa. It’s a week-long event that takes place every summer and has 15,000 to 20,000 participants from all 50 states and many foreign countries. The event began in 1973 as a challenge between two Des Moines Register writers, John Karras and Don Kaul. Karras suggested to Kaul to ride their bikes across Iowa and write columns about what they saw from the perspectives of the different towns they rode through. From there, RAGBRAI was born!
Motivation
Chris first learned about RAGBRAI back in college while attending the University of Iowa. He and a group of his buddies found out about the event and were excited to experience all the different foods, bars and activities that each of the towns offered. There were late nights and early mornings, but being able to have those experiences is what motivated him then and is what continues to motivate him to do this event every year
Challenges
With an event such as this, where you’re biking for an average of 468 miles, you are bound to face some challenges. To be ready for this event, Chris had to mentally and physically prepare himself. But the number one challenge that Chris had to prepare for was the elements. High temperatures paired with even higher humidity can make for a tough ride. In years past it has been as hot as 90 degrees and while biking on black asphalt it felt even hotter. With temperatures ranging that high it is imperative that everyone remains safe. To ensure the safety of all the riders throughout the event there are always ambulance and EMT and also the highway patrol navigating cars and bikers through traffic. Men and women from the United States Air Force even come out and participate in the event to ensure the safety of all the participants as well.
One Word
When thinking about RAGBRAI, it’s tough to sum it all up in just one word. But when Chris was asked to do so he replied by simply saying “beautiful”. While the scenery and different towns in Iowa were a sight to see it was more than just that. People from all over the country coming together to have fun and enjoy this event and all of the towns welcoming the bikers into their communities make you realize that maybe it’s not so hard to sum up the event in one word. Because when you take a step back you realize that it’s more than just a biking event. But that it truly is something beautiful.
Conclusion
To find out more information about Chris Feld (https://validityscreening.com/about-us/meet-the-team/) and his experience at RAGBRAI email me at rsanders@validityscreening.com and for more great blogs and content please subscribe to our blogs.