The 2025 route for Iowa’s biggest bike ride, revealed in January, is the second shortest in the history of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. RAGBRAI will hold its 406-mile, 52nd annual ride July 19-26.
In 2024, the route was 434 miles long with 18,737 feet of hills. 2025’s route is notably different, as it’s 28 miles shorter and will decrease 8,000 feet in the climb.
This year’s ride will kick off in Orange City and end in Guttenberg. Riders will travel through eight different cities during the week. The longest day for riders will be July 22, when they travel the 74.1 miles from Estherville to Forest City.
The pass-through towns and full route will be announced later this spring by RAGBRAI. Due to the route being in northern Iowa, it will be more narrow, which accounts for the distance difference between this year and last.
Over the past five decades, RAGBRAI has become the oldest and largest annual bicycle tour in the world. The bicycle ride is highly profitable for Iowa with an estimated $16,908,642 in direct spending from riders each year.
There are many reasons RAGBRAI continues to be successful each year. Matt Phippen, RAGBRAI’s route director, thinks Iowans and their generosity are a crucial factor in making the ride happen.
“You truly get to see the great side of humanity,” he said. “You have Iowans that open up their hearts and houses to complete strangers. It’s the best week of the year … but I think it’s the Iowa hospitality and the people of Iowa that really show off why we live here as Iowans.”
RAGBRAI draws in people from all over the country. Many people often choose to join a charter during this ride for assistance with handling accommodations, transportation, and more.
Bicyclists of Iowa City, or BIC, is a long-standing club that organizes yearly charters for RAGBRAI participants. BIC RAGBRAI Director Elaine Claude has been working with other BIC board members to organize this year’s ride charter.
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“I’ve been involved in BIC and RAGBRAI for many years. This year, I’m the only coordinator … I have a few people on a committee helping me organize this charter for BIC,” she said.
Not many changes are coming to RAGBRAI this year except the shortened route. What is yet to be seen is if this year’s shortened route will affect the overall turnout. Claude predicts just as many people will participate in the ride as in previous years.
“A northern route usually gets the most riders. I think [RAGBRAI] being shorter will be more appealing for people who maybe haven’t done it before or are hesitant to try it,” she said.
Phippen agreed, saying the shortened route will draw out more riders than usual.
“Having shorter distances allows riders that are new to RAGBRAI to ride shorter days. It’s also flatter up north, so that adds extra excitement, too. No big hills to climb each day,” Phippen said.
Every year, cities must bid for RAGBRAI to come through their town. Think Iowa City is the marketing organization for Iowa City that creates the bids for including the Greater Iowa City area on the list of stops.
Josh Schamberger, director of Think Iowa City, said RAGBRAI has economically benefited businesses in Iowa City and the surrounding communities when it comes through town. Based on his estimates, the ride rakes in roughly $1.5 million for the area.
“RAGBRAI is quite the event,” he said. “We’ve hosted RAGBRAI in this community a total of nine times since it was created, six times in Coralville, two in Iowa City, and one in North Liberty. Every time they come to town, they basically sell out every hotel room. The restaurants also get pretty busy.”