RAGBRAI, Blawg Review Style
Today, something a little different and more personal post. As someone who grew up in Iowa, I would be remiss if I didn't tip my hat to Rush Nigut's Blawg #147 hosted on his Rush on Business blog. Rush has very creatively woven his contribution to the carnival that is Blawg Review against the backdrop theme of Iowa's annual summer bike ride across the State known as RAGBRAI.
RAGBRAI is an acronym for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.  The Register is the Des Moines Register, the dominant newspaper in Iowa, and has sponsored the ride for more than thirty years.   RAGBRAI started when I was in high school and while I never went on it, many of my friends did and thoroughly enjoyed it. And of course there is LOTS of coverage about it in the Register so you can really feel a part of it even if you don't ride. So Rush's post was lots of fun from this standpoint as it made me remember some things I hadn't thought about for quite a while.
The ride started as a joke, I think, when one of the Register's columnists was a bicycling enthusiast. I'm not sure it even had an official name the first year. By the second year, it had become SAGBRAI. I can't remember if the third year was TAGBRAI or not, but by the fourth year, someone had wisely decided that plain RAGBRAI was the way to go.
Anyway, Rush does a terrific job of capturing the mood and flavor of the true RAGBRAI experience while delivering a very entertaining potpourri of blawg posts touching a variety of interesting subjects. If you are not familar with Blawg Review, this would be an excellent jumping off place to discover it. If you're already a regular, then be sure not to miss this one.
What's really wonderful about Blawg Review for me is that I'm introduced to blawgs (and blogs) I wasn't aware of, but immediately take a liking to! This edition of Blawg Review more than holds up its end of the bargain on that score. Read and enjoy!
