RAGBRAI is dead - sort of

[Louis]

I'm willing to have a statute of limitations for most online stuff said when one is, say, 17 yrs old or less. But unless you're doing some serious undercover work or research for LEOs or a legitimate media or academic organization, anything truly egregious one might say as an adult is IMO fair game for critics, regardless of how much money you've raised or contributed to charity.

Clearly some types of statements can be taken out of context and made to look bad (e.g. the n-word) so there's no hard or fast rule on anything.

[tylercheung]

Originally Posted by William

I would be willing to bet that a lot of organizations/events, especially cycling related, subsist more on sweat equity than they do on healthy financial solvency.





W.

Even so, finances aside, at least purely on the organizational basis, if they really wanted to keep the race going, there would have been ways to pass on leadership roles to other folks, perhaps more politically acceptable, and/or ways to make sure the organization survives the downfall of one individual (the "hit-by-a-bus" succession rule). At least from a superficial glance at the PR articles, it seems they are canceling this (and starting a new one), at least in part, out of emotional reasons vs. practical ones.


EDIT:

Having more time to look at some of the press, it seems like there are a lot of dynamics behind the reporting, the individuals involved, and also Gannett which I assume is the large corporate megaorganization that owns everything including the newspapers in question, and Anheuser-Busch, one of the big financial sponsors. The subtext to me seems like there was some chafing from the organizers vs. corporate interest underlying the final separation.

If they "fork" the race and it goes back to a grassroots volunteer kind of event, perhaps that would be the best thing that happened to this, vs. continuing to be "RAGBRAI presented by Gannett and Anheuser-Busch".

Granted, this is my armchair opinion from someone who knows nothing of this race and doesn't compete.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by tylercheung

EDIT:


Granted, this is my armchair opinion from someone who knows nothing of this race and doesn't compete.

RAGBRAI is not a race. It is a mardi gras on wheels type of ride. It is mostly to bring tourism into Iowa that it would not otherwise get.