In Iowa, where presidential politics is a major focus, RAGBRAI riders just want a break
For most RAGBRAI riders, the annual bike tour through Iowa is an excuse to get away from everyday life. That also means skipping talk of politics.
In Iowa, where presidential politics is a major focus, RAGBRAI riders just want a break For most RAGBRAI riders, the annual bike tour through Iowa is an excuse to get away from everyday life. That also means skipping talk of politics. Check out this story on desmoinesregister.com: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/07/25/iowa-ragbrai-2020-presidential-election-bikes-hickenlooper-delaney-warren-harris-buttigieg-trump/1819127001/
Barbara Rodriguez, Des Moines Register Published 2:47 p.m. CT July 25, 2019 | Updated 6:18 p.m. CT July 25, 2019
CUMMING, Ia. — Jenny Howell closed her eyes and smiled up at the summer sun.
"It's nice enough to wear my Christmas sweater," she said.
Howell, 52, was in fact wearing such a garment. Her tree farm business was along the route of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa on Tuesday, and she had created a human-sized snow globe where riders could pose for a picture for $1. Howell, tasked with taking photos, wanted to look the part.
She was thinking about her "snow" — a mix of distilled water, bath bubbles and rubbing alcohol — and whether it would hold up as the soapy concoction billowed onto the globe. The last thing she was thinking about was the presidential candidates tromping around Iowa.
"RAGBRAI is a good way to do something and not think of politics," she said.
Cyclists from Team RWB pose for a photo in a makeshift snowglobe at the oasis at Howell's Greenhouse outside of Cumming during RAGBRAI on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register)
It was a sentiment shared repeatedly along the 427-mile route. Among the more pressing issues: "Anyone need Tylenol?" asked a rider before digging into pie. Another, traveling along a slow-building hill, wondered aloud, "When will it end?"
Since RAGBRAI's inception in 1973, the week-long bike tour through Iowa's roads and towns has become a welcome respite from everyday life — including presidential politics. While a handful of candidates have tried retail politicking on the route, many have kept their distance.
Despite the crowded Democratic presidential race and the resultant candidate-in-every-cornfield feel of the first-in-the-nation caucus state, staying away from the ride remained the tradition in 2019.
"For a lot of people, it is a complete escape into another world," said 74-year-old David Smith of Swisher, who chatted at an unofficial route stop featuring a brass music band. "They don't want to drag politics into it."
Molly Schebler of West Des Moines takes a selfie with a goat on her back in the goat yoga pen at Howell's Greenhouse near Cumming during RAGBRAI on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register)
'If you give adults a chance to be kids, they don't care about politics or work'
On the way to the first stop of Tuesday's nearly 40-mile day, a sign on the side of the road prompted audible gasps: Goat yoga up ahead.
Near the yoga space, where baby goats climbed onto downward-facing riders, Mike Feekes drove a tractor carrying a bubble machine and row of repurposed bathtubs. Each held RAGBRAI riders, whose legs dangled as Feekes drove them in a circle for several minutes. The maneuver led his passengers, many of whom were gray-haired, to cheer.
"These are things kids like to do," said Feekes, a 46-year-old firefighter from West Des Moines. "If you give adults a chance to be kids, they don't care about politics or work."
Mikey Wakerly and Sophia Golden, both of Brooklyn, New York, take a ride in a bathtub wagon train at Howell's Greenhouse near Cumming during RAGBRAI on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register)
Mike Neville, a 67-year-old retiree from Iowa City, is very tuned in to the news. Just not on RAGBRAI, he explained as he packed camping gear from an overnight stay in Winterset. He slept on the grounds of a bed-and-breakfast with several barn animals, including a dog named Hank.
"It's not that people aren't interested in politics," he said. "Sometimes, you just have to give it a rest."
There were exceptions. Lucy Montgomery made sure of that by wearing a Pete Buttigieg T-shirt on the route.
"It's vintage," said the 27-year-old Ph.D. student, who attends school in California but is from Des Moines. She pointed to the South Bend, Indiana, flag on the shirt. "It's from his mayoral run."
Montgomery said people throughout the day had mostly requested photos or yelled, "Whoo, Pete!" An informal team wore blue and yellow Buttigieg jerseys, but no one else had wanted to talk policy.
"I'm sure Iowans are fatigued right now," she said.
Montgomery, who had just finished a classic pork chop lunch, said she felt keenly aware of her home state's significance.
"In the background of our RAGBRAI fun, there's a lot politically at stake," she said.
A school fundraiser holds a "Cookie Caucus" in Norwalk, Iowa, on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Barbara Rodriguez)
Cookie Caucus
In Norwalk, a "Cookie Caucus" bake sale sold cookies representing the candidates. Among the choices: "Pecan Sanders," cookies for Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and "Peanut Booker Cup Cookie," for New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. Nearby, visitors placed lima beans into a jar to vote for a preferred candidate.
The "Cherry Chip De Blasio" cookies were a hit, but the New York City mayor received zero lima beans by the end of the day.
Ryan Ogren looked at the jars while eating a "Bennet's Tripin Chocolate" cookie in honor of Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. The 29-year-old Ogren noted for the record: "It looked good — it's not because I support Bennet." He decided on Buttigieg.
Cookie caucus hosted by Main Street School has cookies baked for each presidential candidate for riders to choose from as RAGBRAI makes its way through Norwalk on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Brian Powers/The Register)
A final lima bean count declared Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren the victor (78 lima beans), followed by California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (71) and President Donald Trump (67).
A write-in candidate, "Julie Binny," got six lima beans, beating more than a dozen Democrats actually running for president.
Back on the route, a young girl with braces wore a red shirt supporting Trump's reelection in 2020.
"My dad loves Trump," she explained before biking away.
A school fundraiser hosts a lima bean contest between candidates running for president in 2020 in Norwalk, Iowa, on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (Photo: Barbara Rodriguez)
It wasn't just presidential politics on display at RAGBRAI. A group supporting statehood for the District of Columbia had a tent in several towns. And in Indianola, a group of women had a large sign that read: "CLIMATE CAN'T WAIT."
One of them was Mary Corsair, who walked into downtown with a smaller handmade sign about climate change. She kept hearing a variation of the same response: No politics here.
"I walked around the square and felt I had the emotional capacity to do it once," she said.
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Of the more than 20 Democrats on the presidential campaign trail this year, two joined the RAGBRAI route for a ride: former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Maryland U.S. Rep. John Delaney.
Hickenlooper pedaled from Norwalk to Indianola on Tuesday (about 12 miles); Delaney began in the same city on Wednesday and then rode to Liberty Center (nearly 17 miles). Other campaigns pledged to have a presence on the route through volunteers and signs.
Hickenlooper, who has highlighted his focus on Iowa as part of a campaign reboot, wore a bright-blue bike jersey with his campaign logo on it. He started the route with his wife and nearly two dozen supporters in similar attire. The former brewery owner later served beer at a roadside beer tent for about 25 minutes.
"I did not see one person who wasn't having a good time," said Hicklenlooper,who ended the day by playing the banjo at a concert in town.
Maryland Representative and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney pushes off to ride a few miles of RAGBRAI from Indianola to Liberty Center on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. (Photo: Brian Powers/The Register)
Delaney, who wore a white cotton shirt on Wednesday with his campaign logo on it, jumped into the presidential race almost exactly two years ago. He said he feels RAGBRAI could make a difference for him. Both he and Hickenlooper remain low in the polls.
"There's a very strong effort among some people to kind of create a social media primary before the Iowa caucus," he said. "In other words, I think there's an effort to make that person-to-person interaction less important."
RAGBRAI, said Delaney, represents a focus on people.
"That's the bet I'm making, that that is still important," he said.
Barbara Rodriguez covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at bcrodriguez@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8011.
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