The route for next summer’s RAGBRAI will be announced this weekend. RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz says the eight overnight towns for the annual bicycle ride across the state will be revealed Saturday night during an event at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines. This isn’t the first time RAGBRAI officials have held a special “route announcement party.” Juskiewicz says this is the third year for the event and the previous two years were “fantastically attended.” The event is scheduled on the same day as the Iowa Bicycle Summit and Expo – held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center. The RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party runs from 8-11 p.m. The bicycle expo is free, but tickets to the RAGBRAI announcement are $30.

“The event benefits the Iowa Bicycle Coalition,” Juskiewicz said. The party will include a live band, door prizes, food and drinks. Video of the event will also be carried live on the Des Moines Register’s website. This will be the 40th year for RAGBRAI.”We’re planning some big stuff,” Juskiewicz said of the event’s 40th anniversary. “After the route comes out, we’ll clear up some of that stuff, but we’re looking forward to one thing at a time.” RAGBRAI XL will be held July 22-28. Bicyclists traditionally start the trip with their rear tire in the Missouri River and end the week-long journey with their front tire entering the Mississippi River. Juskiewicz refused to provide any clues to this year’s route. “It’ll be in Iowa,” Juskiewicz said. RAGBRAI typically draws 10,000 bicyclists from around the country and outside the U.S. Last year’s event began July 24^th in Glenwood, and included overnight stops in Atlantic, Carroll and Boone, in western Iowa.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)