RAGBRAI ’26 is Coming!

Pretty soon, the world’s oldest, largest, and longest recreational bicycle touring event will kick off once again. Specifically, they’ll be gathering in Onawa, Iowa, home of one of the widest main streets in the United States. Iowa Avenue (Iowa Highway 175), which measures 150 feet from storefront to storefront. It is July, and July means RAGBRAI!

Once again, I’ll be driving for the Buff Riders on their journey from one side of the state to the other. As their devoted SAG (Support And Gear) driver, I’ll be driving the Buff Bus through towns across the state. If you’re attending this wild gathering of bike enthusiasts and see this bus, stop by!

Towns I Look Forward to Checking Out

This year’s ride starts in Onawa, home of the widest main street in Iowa (150 feet from storefront to storefront). It is also close to my parents’ hometowns of Whiting and Moorhead. I’ll also likely be hopping off the bus for this leg of the route as my brother-in-law plans to ride part of the way (we might have to convince him to go further).

One town that has been active on social media has been Manchester. They have a good-looking downtown and have been advertising the Manchester Whitewater Park along the Maquoketa River. Something reminiscent of the Charles City experience in 2022.

Another community that is intriguing to me is Farley. They recently constructed a new city hall building. But it is a multi-use structure that houses the government offices, as well as the library and the police station. For a town the size of Farley, this makes for an efficient use of facilities.

However, at the top of my list this year is Dyersville. While in town, I’ll be listening closely in case I hear, “If you build it, he will come.” Dyersville is the home to the set for Field of Dreams, one of the best baseball movies of all time. It’ll be interesting to see how the community has linked itself to this iconic baseball field in the middle of the corn.

Check Out Each Community Along the Way

Like in past years, I fully expect RAGBRAI ’26 to provide a treasure trove of potential content for the Rural Resurrection blog. I’ve started looking at towns along the way that might provide inspiration. But if you know of any unique aspects or stories about the following communities, let me know.

I’ve also included links to each Meeting Town’s and each Overnight Town’s Facebook page for the event below. Check them out. Every community approaches the annual event differently. Regardless of whether your community is in Iowa or another state, it is a good practice to see what each community does for such large events. You can also see how each community handles marketing. After checking out a few websites or Facebook pages, you can typically tell who does a good job and why.

Meeting Towns

Meeting towns are communities that usually provide a lunch stop. Well, except for those crazy riders who start at 4 am. They’re usually too small to hold riders overnight, but big enough to handle the influx for a few hours. It’s usually a nice mid-point for riders and their support crew to meet up.

Overnight Towns

Overnight towns are communities that host most of the riders for the evening. These communities are large enough to handle all the riders and are typically the county seat for their respective county.

Hopefully, I’ll have time to post to social media channels along the way. So be sure to subscribe and check Rural Resurrection’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for short bits of content along the way.