Get out and ride kids! This year’s short. flat RAGBRAI ideal for children, experts say

Show Caption

• RAGBRAI 2025 is considered ideal for first-time riders, especially children, due to its shorter, flatter route.
• Experts recommend various options for kids riding RAGBRAI, including tandems, tag-alongs, or independent bikes, based on comfort and skill level.
• Training for RAGBRAI with kids should involve gradual increases in distance and difficulty, prioritizing fun and enjoyment.

Can kids ride RAGBRAI?

There’s no better authority on the subject than a kid.

Jeremiah Wright, a 15-year-old who attends Bondurant High School, rode his first Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 2024 as a member of the Dream Team, a nonprofit that uses RAGBRAI and youth cycling as a way to build young people’s confidence and bring focus to their lives.

Last year’s ride had the most elevation gain ever, but Jeremiah was undaunted, completing every one of it 424 miles and even got to go on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” to tell his story. He’ll be back again this year, and in his opinion, this year’s route — with fewer miles and the sixth-least elevation gain in the ride’s 52 years — represents a perfect opportunity for introducing kids to RAGBRAI.

“It’s shorter, less climbing, going to be a lot easier on the legs,” he said. “Then you won’t be dying every day.”

David Ertl, a USA Cycling-certified coach who has written a training blog for RAGBRAI.com since 2009, concurs.

“It would be a great year for a first-year rider to do it, give them the best chance of completing it,” Ertl said. “The last two years were pretty challenging years. This year is much more moderate and welcoming.”

Like Ertl, RAGBRAI Ride Director Matt Phippen said that with a shorter and flatter route, RAGBRAI 2025 it will be great for first-timers of all ages.

“If you have that first-time rider that is interested in doing it, there’s some days that where it would make that ride easy for them,” Phippen said.

RAGBRAI mixes fun with fitness

As a former kid — one who fell in love with RAGBRAI from the back of a tandem in the hills of northwest Iowa — I can testify to that

The adventure, the time with my Dad and the wind in my hair made me forget about the heat and hills of that 2001 ride, one of the longest and hardest editions of RAGBRAI. At only 406 miles, this year’s ride from Orange City to Guttenberg will be 99 miles shorter. It will be the second shortest RAGBRAI ever and the sixth flattest, with 10,487 feet of climb, more than 8,000 fewer feet than last year.

Tackling a long-distance cycling challenge, but one without the pressures of competition and plenty of opportunities for fun, is a great way to promote fitness for a generation in which only 10% of kids walk or bike to school, down from 66% 50 years ago, said Matt Burkey, Iowa Bicycle Coalition Safe Routes to Schools coordinator.

“Every year is a good year for kids on RAGBRAI because it’s not a race,” Burkey said. “You can go at the pace that they are comfortable with. The thing I like about RAGBRAI is there’s no correct speed. That’s great for kids to get them into cycling in a non-competitive way.”

And, he added, “There’s a lot of ice cream on RAGBRAI, and that goes a long way.”

Tandem, tag-along or their own bike?

What’s the best way to ride with a child? Tandems, tag-alongs and separate bikes all have their appeal:

• Tandems are built for two or more people. But typical tandems, which have two or more sets of pedals connected to one chain, may not be ideal for parents who pedal faster than their kids. “I have a very quick cadence, so I don’t know if a young person could keep up,” Burkey said.
• Tag-alongs — a third-wheel module attached to a parent’s bike like a trailer, but with its own pedals and chain— keep parents and their children connected but allow them to pedal at different paces. They’re ideal for younger children.
• A separate bike gives a child a sense of independence and self-reliance.

“It depends on their level of comfort,” Phippen, who before becoming RAGBRAI’s director was a manager of bicycle sales for the Scheel’s sporting goods chain, said of the decision.

Some kids may like their bikes, but when they ride in a large group they may feel more comfortable on a tandem, Burkey said. So, it’s important to ask kids what they think would make them feel safest, he said.

“Do whatever they’re comfortable with,” Burkey said, but counseled that preparation is key: “Don’t buy a tandem the week before RAGBRAI and take it out for the first time.”

How to train for RAGBRAI with your kids

Like any training regimen, start with short, easy rides and gradually increase the distance and difficulty, Burkey said. That matches the cadence of RAGBRAI, which despite daily routes as long as 80 miles or more is actually more like a series of short rides, Burkey said, when you factor in that each day’s ride is broken up into segments with stops in towns that usually are 10 to 12 miles apart.

“Start early, start small,” Burkey said of prep rides. “If they’re not having fun, don’t push it. It’s easy to push your sport on your children or your partner. If they’re not having fun, you’re not training right.”

More: Never underestimate RAGBRAI: Ride across Iowa could be tough, despite short, flat route

If your children shows an interest in cycling, then ride with them, he said. But let them make their own decisions to ride, he said.

“Never push a child into a hobby they’re not enjoying,” Burkey said. “If families travel with groups in an RV, that’s a great opportunity because then the kids don’t have to bike every day.”

What benefits does cycling hold for kids?

The health benefits of cycling are well-documented. A January Iowa Bicycle Coalition study that found that cyclists in Iowa have 28% fewer cases of breast cancer, 77% fewer cases of colorectal cancer and 12% fewer strokes than non-cyclists is only the latest of many.

“RAGBRAI… is something that helps reduce screen time and connects kids with nature and the outdoors and encourages them to make biking part of their daily routine,” said Iowa Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Luke Hoffman, who counts among his favorite memories the moment as a child when he was able to discard his bike’s training wheels.

Burkey said group rides like RAGBRAI also promote safe cycling, teaching kids by example practices that will make them safer drivers, too.

“Getting kids into bike education early, they can start learning the difference between a stop sign and a yield sign,” Burkey said. “They learn the importance of signaling before you turn. They look out for other drivers, the basics of intersections and crosswalks.”

Philip Joens has ridden parts of 19 RAGBRAIs. He has completed the river-to-river trek eight times. He covers retail and real estate for the Des Moines Register and can be reached at 515-284-8184 or at [email protected].