History Biker

It's always great to have RAGBRAI co-founder John Karras at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! Today, he stopped by for "Cruisin' the Heartland - Bicycling in Iowa" presented by Drake University RaySociety.

Love this RAGBRAI image! This is a photo that you will definitely see in "Riding Through History" at the State Historical Museum of Iowa!

"“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.”
-Ernest Hemingway

Happy Earth Day!

What a morning! Half asleep, I was in a panic - "It's too late, I won't get out of town until ten. It's almost 70 miles from here to Okoboji. By the time I leave, I won't get there until at least 6PM - which isn't unusual for me, but I won't have time to dawdle. I'm still not loving my saddle, and I'm not sure I can ride again today." And then I remembered it's April 9th, RAGBRAI doesn't start for 101 days, and I was at my own house, not sleeping on the floor of the RV in a Ragbrai Rock Valley campground. Holy kamoly! Any one else having these nightmares?

It's a very fun Monday at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! We're have three more guided tours yet today, and lots of people are chatting with the Iowa Department of Transportation and Forrest from Bike World! Plus, exhibit partner Jim from Woody's Bicycle Shop stopped by! Be sure to stop by the Museum this week!

Mark your calendars for Spring Pedalpalooza from March 17-21 at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! We have guided tours of Riding Through History each day at 10AM and 3PM, plus the Iowa Department of Transportation will be here all week talking about biking in Iowa, plus on Monday and Tuesday we've got Bike World! See you there!

We got a surprise in the mail today at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! Shirley Ezarski, of Emmetsburg, sent us an additional vintage Chris Cakes t-shirt! (Shirley is the niece of Chris Cakes founder Lorin Christiansen). It makes me want to sing John Denver music every morning on RAGBRAI! See you in July, Shirley!

Have you ever seen the awesome PedalArt Poster Art Show during Bike Month? It's coming up in May - and the entry deadline for artists is February 28. Check out the link for more information about this great event from Des Moines Bicycle Collective! http://bikemonthiowa.com/pedalart/

PedalArt | Bike Month Iowa PedalArtPlease join us for the opening reception of the 2014 PedalArt Des Moines Poster Art Show on Friday, May 16th from 7-10pm.We are pleased to holding this year’s event at the Viaduct Gallery within the Des Moines Social Club at 900 Mulberry Street. Come see original, bicycle-themed poster art f...

This is a fun article on winter commuting - published in the Quad-City Times: http://qctimes.com/news/local/trekking-through-the-snow-ice-in-the-quad-cities/article_58a2f6b1-d9eb-5165-8dc9-21be05c3b543.html

Trekking through the snow, ice in the Quad-Cities The Quad-City area has seen more than 20 days below zero this winter, and 22-year-old David Glover has trekked through the snow and ice on his bicycle every single one

What are your plans for Des Moines Public Schools Spring Break (March 17-21)? We are going to have all kinds of fun, bike-themed activities at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! Stay tuned for more details!

It was a great time at the Iowa Bicycle Coalition's Iowa Bike Expo last weekend! The History Bikers (Uno and Dos) talked to over 600 people about the State Historical Museum of Iowa! And I was pleased to meet Kyle from Kyle's Bikes and Ba****ck (Winner of the 2013 RAGBRAI Special Recognition Award) from the QCBC - Quad Cities Bicycle Club!

Don't miss out! Today we've got Curator-guided tours of "Riding Through History" at the ! http://t.co/QeluYl8z5l

My official Prediction: Rock Rapids, LeMars, Ida Grove, Fort Dodge, Iowa Falls, Waverly, West Union & Guttenberg.