DES MOINES, Iowa — RAGBRAI is rolling back to the Des Moines metro for the first time in a decade.
"I was excited that it's coming through central Iowa. And hopefully we'll all get to be part of it," said Kyle Robinson, owner of Kyle's Bikes.
To celebrate RAGBRAI's 50th anniversary, five of the overnight stops were on the original route—Sioux City, Storm Lake, Ames, Davenport and Des Moines, bringing the annual ride through Iowa's most populated city.
"I'm guessing that this year, since it's going to be in our metro, we're gonna get a lot of people that don't normally go for the whole week," Robinson said. "They're just gonna go for a day or two and because it's close."
But it's not just the day that riders come through that stores have to plan for; it's the lead up to it.
Bike shop owners who spoke to Local 5 were already gearing up for plenty of bikers to get their rides tuned up over the next few months.
"With that much extra people getting on board, they're gonna dig out old bikes that haven't been ridden for a long time," said Jerry Dubois, owner of Big Cock Bike Shop. "And there'll be tires to fix, flat tires, all kinds of stuff. And it's gonna be really good."
The 2023 route is about 500 miles, making it the 6th-longest in RAGBRAI's history. But for cyclists who've been watching the ride for decades, the magic still hasn't worn off.
"It's like you're a celebrity...Eat and drink and party and music. And it's just, I tell people, it's like the Midway at the fair on bikes, so it couldn't get any much more fun," Dubois said.
The full 2023 RAGBRAI route, including the towns that riders will pass through each day, will be released in early March.