Every July for the past thirty-five years, thousands of Iowans and other crazies have gathered together and crossed the state of Iowa on their bicycles.
Lance Armstrong (L) and Democratic presidential hopeful and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards (2nd L) (D-NC) ride together in RAGBRAI, The Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, July 25, 2007 south of Dumont, Iowa.
Photo Credit: David Lienemann / Getty Images
Each year, the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (known as RAGBRAI) begins at the Missouri River on the west boundary of the state, and uses various county highways and gravel roads to end up some 470 miles further east at the Mississippi River.
Famous people have been known to come along: last year's riders included cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and former presidential candidate Senator John Edwards. This year, RAGBRAI will be accompanied by Team Archaeology: a handful of archaeologists on a mission to highlight the local archaeological resources of each of the host communities on this year's route.
The route for RAGBRAI changes every year, and this year, the route is peculiarly suited to archaeology and history: it follows in part the Lincoln Highway, the country's first coast-to-coast highway, completed in the 1920s.
Eureka Bridge over the Raccoon River, Iowa, built 1912
Photo Credit: Cindy L. Nagel (c) 2008
If you've a mind to go cycling (and have the level of fitness and derring-do required as well), and want to learn about the archaeology of the rural midsection of the USA, be sure to join Team Archaeology in their trip across the state of Iowa along the Lincoln Highway.
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