Des Moines, IA- The Des Moines Register has announced they will be dropping plans to attempt a world record for number of cyclists during this year’s Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
Radio Iowa reports that this year’s event is the 50th year bicyclists will make the week-long, statewide trek from the Missouri River to the Mississippi. RAGBRAI organizers had hoped to set a Guinness World Record mark for the largest parade of bicycles on the day riders bike from Ames to Des Moines.
However, the newspaper says new criteria from the publisher of Guinness World Records make it impossible. Planners do expect as many as 100-thousand riders to be on RAGBRAI’s Wednesday, July 26th route from Ames to Des Moines. RAGBRAI will start in Sioux City on Sunday, July 23rd, and end 500 miles later in Davenport on Saturday, July 29th.
Axios Des Moines reported that Gannett, which owns the Des Moines Register, sent a cease and desist letter to a former RAGBRAI director and a long-time rider who’ve posted alternate routes online for riders to take from Ames to Des Moines.
The man said he was concerned about having so many riders on the same path on July 26th. The letter from Gannett suggests the alternate route will not be as safe since it will not be staffed by law enforcement.
