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RAGBRAI Staff Resigns, Announces New Ride For 2020

Michael Leland/ IPR file
RAGBRAI was founded in 1973 by two Des Moines Register staffers. It attracts thousands of riders every year.

The entire staff of RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across Iowa, has resigned over the Des Moines Register’s handling of the Carson King story.

King helped raise several million dollars for University of Iowa Children’s Hospital over the last several weeks.  A recent Register profile of King mentioned two racist tweets he had published as a teenager.

Amid a backlash against that report, RAGBRAI announced it would donate $50,000 to King’s fundraising campaign. Ride director TJ Juskiewicz  says he received many questions following the story’s publication, but the Register’s public relations staff wouldn’t let him answer publicly.

The Register founded RAGBRAI, but the ride has its own staff.

Juskiewicz today announced a new ride across Iowa – called “Iowa’s Ride.”  It’s scheduled for the same week in late July when RAGBRAI is held.

Michael Leland is IPR's News Director