TOSRV, RAGBRAI=iconic bike tours

 What began as a simple ride across Iowa (nice and flat) with a few hundred cyclists became RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). Through the years the tour has grown to 8,500 week-long riders and 1,500 day riders. Because of the overwhelming number of applications, selection is now done by lottery.

In Ohio we had the Tour of the Scioto River Valley, started in 1962 by father-son duo Charles and Greg Siple, TOSRV runs along the Scioto River valley from Canal Winchester to Portmouth—trying to avoid the hills of southern Ohio. At one time it was the nation’s largest multi-day group tour. During the 1970s and 1980s, there were around 6000 to 7000 riders.

A number of books also promoted the “just do it” everyman/woman approach to cycling. The Whole Earth Catalog and Foxfire books diagramed and explained woodcrafts and ways to source and build all kinds of cool useful stuff, such as shelter in the woods, your own hammock, and a tin can stove.