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RAGBRAI recap
Annual Iowa bike ride full of food, faith and fun

By Rosemary Bernth
Globe staff reporter
(Email Rosemary)

This year’s RAGBRAI was more than just a mere bike ride for some in the Sioux City Diocese.

For some of the parishes, it was an opportunity to raise money for their organizations. In Sioux City, St. Michael Parish was selling breakfast burritos and baked goods. A total of 330 burritos were sold and over $2,000 was made. In Kingsley, the Knights of Columbus sponsored an all-you-can-eat waffle breakfast by Dad’s Belgian Waffles. Over 1,500 waffles were made for the day, raising over $6,000 for the youth and Knights of Columbus. In Storm Lake, St. Mary Parish held a dinner and the Knights of Columbus had a funnel cake stand with the vendors downtown.

The second day of the bike ride was just as successful. In Pocahontas, the Knights of Columbus raised $3,000 with their food booth. In Algona, St. Cecelia Parish made $2,500 with their food stand at the Kossuth County Fairgrounds.

Wesley was the last town the bikers passed through before leaving the diocese. Many bikers stopped in the town to visit the church and enjoy some baked goods being sold at food stands.

Faith Journey
For some bikers, RAGBRAI was a way to grow in faith.

Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools offered an evening Mass in the Memorial Field grand stands for RAGBRAI riders. The celebrant was Father Patrick Walsh, with Father Jerry Cosgrove and Msgr. Gerald Lyon concelebrating. Deacon Mark Wyant assisted.

The Mass seemed to have the theme of RAGBRAI in mind – from the songs “Shall We Gather at the River” and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” to Father Walsh’s homily relating the “Our Father” to the bike ride.

“I think it is an appropriate prayer for the bike ride,” said Father Walsh. “We say ‘Our Father who art in heaven’ and we look around and see the beauty of nature. Then we say ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ and for most of us on the bike ride, it’s not about the food but the strength to get up the hills.”

Father Walsh said it’s amazing how thousands of people seem to all get along and how we are called to forgive and treat each other like brothers and sisters.

“Sometimes we have to forgive someone who cuts in front of us,” said the priest who rode in past RAGBRAIs.

Father Walsh ended his homily by asking the congregation to pray that the “Our Father” becomes not only part of our lives during the bike ride, but every day of our lives.

Biking for a Cause
One seminarian decided to put a twist on RAGBRAI by turning it into a spiritual pilgrimage.

Justin McCarty and his group rode the first three days, stopping to pray for vocations at the local Catholic churches as part of his Tour De Ecclesia. Some of the stops included perpetual adoration in Algona and visiting the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend.

“The grotto was packed,” said McCarty. “Father Jeremy [Wind] and I walked around it, handed out vocation cards and talked to people about joining the religious life.”

Rhonda Miller, the grotto’s director, estimated that 3,500 to 4,000 bikers made their way through the site.

“We gave a grotto magnet to the first person from each state or foreign country and had them sign their name,” said Miller.  “Forty-three states and seven foreign countries were represented in one day.  I'm pretty sure we would have been closer to all 50 states had we visited with every rider.” 

McCarty said he met up with people along the route who were doing the same thing as him.

“People were stopping at the places and did so at their own speed,” he said. “But they were following the same path. On day two, Father Jeremy rode with us. We met up with A.J. Petersen and her daughter, who we saw in Kingsley, at a couple of the spots. We ran into people from Fort Dodge who knew Maria [his sister] from Totus Tuus. In Algona, we saw 10 bikers at morning Mass and met Deacon Billings.”

McCarty said he wanted to thank the priests who set up the Masses in Sioux City, Storm Lake and Algona. He also wanted to thank Deacon Billings for helping out with the pilgrimage.

Another team biking in RAGBRAI for a good cause was Race for Grace to raise money and awareness about Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

The team was created by Nic and Michelle Nelson in honor of their daughter, Grace, who is diagnosed with SMA. The funds raised go to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy to help find a cure.

Nic Nelson, the assistant basketball coach at Briar Cliff University, said the first couple days of RAGBRAI have been going well for the team.

“We had a booth downtown and had another booth in Kingsley,” said Nelson. “We had a great day of riding and a lot of people involved. I think we raised a lot of money and a lot of awareness.”