It was exactly one year ago this same date, July 27th, that my friend Lynn and I finished the last mile of the 427-mile RAGBRAI route across Iowa.  In the picture above we are doing the traditional front-tire dip in the Mississippi River.  Seven days earlier, we dipped our back tires in the Missouri River before beginning the adventure.  I wrote a blog post for each day, which you can read beginning here with Day 1 if you’re interested.

I felt kind of bad back in January when Lynn texted me that, wouldn’t you know it…THIS year the RAGBRAI route was going to pass through her home town and her college town.  That would definitely add to the excitement for her.  I almost wished we had waited one more year to do it.  Then, like so many other events, RAGBRAI was cancelled this year due to the pandemic.  Now I’m glad we DID do it last year, while we could!

They did offer a virtual RAGBRAI in place of the real thing this year.  I didn’t participate, but it was interesting to follow it on their Twitter feed.  Those who did participate paid a $55 registration fee and completed each day’s planned mileage at a location of their own choosing.  Of course, you could do that without paying the fee, but you wouldn’t be included in some parts of the virtual event, like the prize giveaways that are supposed to take place this week.

I’ve said that for me, doing RAGBRAI last year is a one and done.  But looking back at it and following their feed this past week has made me think it could be fun to do it (at least in part) or a similar event again.  The organizers are hopeful that RAGBRAI 2021 will be able to take place, and be bigger and better than ever.  They’ve already stated that the route will remain the same as was planned for this year.  I sure hope things are close enough to normal by then for them to be able to proceed as planned!

 

A year ago today the word COVID wasn’t part of our daily vocabulary.  I’m glad to look back and see what a busy summer it was, and how we were living life to the fullest.  I’m ready for those days to return!

 

 

 

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