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Night rider9/10/2023 ![]() ![]() Additionally, our top-notch ambulance crew will be on route, as they have been all week, and RAGBRAI leadership will maintain close communications with county emergency management departments." ![]() "We have four buses that will be on route in addition to our five SAG wagons to ensure riders make it to Des Moines safely. 1 concern is always rider safety," said Anne Lawrie, cycling division director of Ventures Endurance, the subsidiary of Des Moines Register owner Gannett that manages the ride. It's difficult to ride in densely packed groups, which can increase the chance of crashes, and the size of the crowd, Flack said, "does make me nervous."īut the ride has bumped up its number of support vehicles, including hiring some buses. Safety a concern with large group of riders Wednesday's ride is also the shortest, at 55 miles, and flattest of the week. It will still be close to 100 degrees, but the riders will be able to sail along with the wind at their backs. The latest forecast says instead, the wind will shift to the northwest and north just around the time riders set out. More: Hawaiians spend their vacation in Iowa – riding RAGBRAI, of course The National Weather Service forecast had been forecasting since the beginning of the week that not only would Wednesday's ride be hot, but riders would face a stiff headwind. The ride got some good news early Tuesday. Ride officials said a large number of riders "sagged" ― pulled off the road and waited for one of the ride's support-and-gear, or SAG, wagons to transport them and their bikes to the next stop. With such a big crowd, this year's ride struggled on its hot and hilly initial leg Sunday from Sioux City to Storm Lake. It would be about a third more riders than the largest previous RAGBRAI ridership, estimated at 40,000 when the ride last passed through the Des Moines metro from Winterset to Indianola via Norwalk in 2019. That estimate is in line with those that officials in other cities along the Wednesday route ― Slater, Madrid, Polk City and Ankeny ― have said they are preparing for. "We're trying to keep in touch with everybody, to keep us as prepared as possible," she said. ![]() She said unregistered tag-alongs are expected to roughly double that crowd. "We've also asked the people from Ames to keep us posted" as the ride ― which has upwards of 30,000 registered riders ― departs from its campsite there in the morning, Flack said. Trina Flack, the CATCH Des Moines spokesperson and a key organizer for the RAGBRAI stop, said that's roughly double the registered ridership, already a record, and is based on reports from other towns the ride already has passed through. What to know: Road closurers and more to help you prepare as RAGBRAI's 50th anniversary ride comes to Des Moinesīut the RAGBRAI organizing committee for Des Moines knows what it's expecting: 60,000 riders. There's no official estimate of how many people are on the ride, and RAGBRAI gave up on seeking a Guinness world record after it couldn't come to terms with the organization about how the record would be defined. Tens of thousands of cyclists arrive Wednesday in Des Moines from Ames for RAGBRAI's 50th anniversary ride, pedaling past the Iowa Capitol and through the heart of downtown on Walnut Street bound for campsites at Water Works Park. View Gallery: Photos: Day 3 of RAGBRAI 50 from Carroll to Ames ![]()
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