Summer Story Series: Ed Curley's Bike Ride Through Iowa

Ed Curley, Director of Architecture and Interiors, took part in the 49th Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) earlier this month. Ed and his pal Paul Schrimpf (both of the Chicagoland area) drove a rented RV out to the start town of Sergeant Bluff, IA where they met up with Brian McFadden (from Omaha, NE) for 7 days of riding from the western boarder of Iowa (Missouri River) to the eastern border (Mississippi River). The route changes each year. This year’s route ran mostly along the northern part of the state and was over 450 miles long with almost 12,000 feet of climb, finishing in Lansing, IA. Ed’s crew took turns driving, but each of them reverse-rode out to meet the other two, so they all effectively biked every day. There was great food along the way and fun celebrations with live music every night (no one loses weight on RAGBRAI). In all, Ed rode just over 400 miles, the longest day being the Century Ride from Emmetsburg to Mason City. They were enticed to ride a few extra miles to the Knights of Columbus fish fry in Mason City, so their total for that day was 111.3 miles. In the Midwest, never pass up a fish fry!