The Iowa Bicycle Coalition publishes a series of blog posts and podcast segments on the RIDE RIGHT program.  This is a safety program designed around RAGBRAI but has applications for everyday bicycling and group rides.  For more information, we have a series of e-book guides on a variety of topics including RIDE RIGHT, gravel bicycling, bike commuting, winter bicycling, and more.  These e-books are based upon surveys given to Iowa cyclists and assemble their best advice, tips, and tricks to making your ride more enjoyable.  Download our guides at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/guides


It isn’t easy to concentrate on seven days of bicycle riding with 10,000 or more people, but you have to.  There are all kinds of things to pay attention to including emergency vehicles, gravel or debris on pavement, pavement cracks, and railroad tracks.  

Emergencies do happen. The skill that the RAGBRAI ambulance crews show when they respond to emergency calls within the massive group of riders is amazing.  When you hear an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, first locate where it is coming from and where it is going.  If they will be passing you in either direction, slow down, pull over, and stop.  No drafting, playing chicken, or impeding their path.  To do so is asking for bad karma.  Slow down, pull over, and stop.  

Everyone has seen an increase in attention-grabbing devices like cell phones and iPods.  I remember a moment last year when a rider takes BOTH hands off the handlebars and sends a text message.  You know as well as I do that it isn’t that important.  You are on vacation.  Slow down, pull over, stop and then send your text message or answer the phone.  

Leave your iPod in your bag and enjoy it at camp.  You can’t hear what is going on around you and that makes it dangerous for you and everyone else.  Bicycling is social.  Instead of blocking the outside world, make a new friend or two while you are riding.  

And please, no selfies while riding a bicycle. Period.

You will see some great pavement along the RAGBRAI route, but you will also see some horrible pavement.  Some crashes happen because of sand, gravel, branches, and other debris.  Slow down and pay attention.  

Roads are sometimes constructed with expansion joints in the center of the road.  Pavement expands and contracts and those joints take the stress off the pavement and extend the life of the road.  Those joints can produce gaps wide enough to swallow a bicycle tire and cause a crash.  Don’t ride in the centerline area or any part of the road with lateral cracks.  

Finally, railroad tracks can be hazardous.  Many are very rough.  Riders need to cross them at right angles.  You will often see riders swerving to a different position on the road when approaching railroad tracks so they can get a right angle across them.  If you are going to change lane position, signal and call out the railroad tracks.  

The key to the RIGHT Attention on RAGBRAI is keeping your head up, eyes and ears open to any hazards.  When you have emergency vehicles, road debris, cracks and pavement irregularities, or railroad tracks, slow down, move to the right, and stop if you need to.  Leave your attention-grabbing devices in your luggage so you can keep your eye out for problems on the road.  

If you are going to ride RAGBRAI safely, you are going to keep in mind the following safety tips:

1. The RIGHT stuff.

2. The RIGHT gear.

3. The RIGHT communications.

4. The RIGHT riding.

5. The legal RIGHT.

6. The RIGHT frame of mind.

7. The RIGHT abilities

8. The RIGHT attitude

9. The RIGHT attention.

10. The RIGHT condition

Download our RIDE RIGHT Guide to learn more.

If you want to learn more about RIDE RIGHT or any other topic that can make your bike ride more enjoyable, visit our website at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/guides and download one of our many guides on RIDE RIGHT, Bike Laws, E-bikes, mountain biking in Iowa and much more.  

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition exists because of the generosity of our donors.  You can contribute by visiting www.iowabicyclecoalition.org.