02/21/2026
Announcement for 2026...(long read). Logistics, Registration, Fees, etc
Dear Sprinters,
Our Iowa weather is having an identity crisis this year! With several “blizzards” and many more flurries in both December and January, we got a taste of the brisk weather I recall from the 1980s and 1990s in northern Minnesota. Hopefully our Iowa springtime weather is temperate so we can all get lots of miles in the saddle.
Much like 2025, the 2026 route is short; really, really short. In fact, this year’s event is the shortest on record! Though, before we all get excited, let’s also acknowledge the elephant riding the bicycle in the room. This year’s ride is also the 10th hilliest. While some folks in our beloved Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club will cheer and rejoice in absolute delight about those uphill battles, others of us (me included) will cry and shudder in fear. :-D
This year looks to be another successful year for our club’s ridership. Our census appears yet again to be strong as many of us are returning for yet another great week of bicycling, laughing, eating, and drinking (water). That being said, we would like to grow our ridership by about 10 more people. This will help us provide even better services to all club members. Also, our leadership team ollectively believes that growing our numbers from about 35-40 annual riders to about 45-50 annual riders will help us meet new folks. Also, we'll all enjoy an even more enriching annual RAGBRAI ride.
To encourage new riders to join in our love of bicycling, SSBC will be offering a $50 discount on SSBC dues to first time Team Sprint riders. Additionally, the SSBC rider who refers that first time rider will also receive a $50 off their SSBC dues. The only rule is that the "first time SSBC rider" must not have ridden with SSBC in the past 10 years. If you'd like to refer someone and get the discount code, please reach out to our Promotions Guru via facebook messenger.
SSBC will continue to provide portable showers (with those sweet raised floors) at each overnight town, bicycle club insurance, online club registration, logistics support, snacks, and drinks. This means that, as usual, club dues will again include private camping space, gear transport from overnight town to overnight town, and non-alcoholic beverages. Also, for the 2nd year in a row, we will pay for the groceries for a basic warm meal each night when a Sprinter volunteers to cook. Yum! Shout out to Reid for making some amazing meals the past 2 years!
As usual, we'll be renting a van (or two) to take Sprinters from Cedar Rapids to Onawa (the start) and from Dubuque (the finish) to Cedar Rapids. Since, like most years at this point in the planning process, we don't know exactly how many folks from CR are going to ride, we're not yet sure if we'll have two vans or just one. Once we get some online registrations and a more exact headcount, we'll make that determination.
I’m happy to announce we’ll again be using Zeffy for our club fees and online registration. Zeffy will ask you for a donation, which is totally optional and is NOT required.
In 2026, Team Sprint will again be making a club donation to Zeffy as a token of our appreciation and to help support their good work with non-profits around the world. You may also make an additional donation to Team Sprint during your SSBC online registration, however this is also optional and not required.
Please keep in mind that these optional donations (as well as all payments to SSBC - Team Sprint) are NOT tax deductible. Without further delay, here's the breakdown of the total SSBC - Team Sprint dues for the 2026 ride* on RAGBRAI: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/team-sprint-ragbrai--2026
-Van ride from Cedar Rapids to Onawa (the start) $100 per person riding the bus (no price increase)
-Van ride from Dubuque (the finish) back to Cedar Rapids $80 per person riding the bus (no price increase)
-Week long baggage and food fees $340 per person for the week (no price increase)
-Daily baggage and food fees for day riders $65 per person per day (no price increase)
*Note: this is just the dues for the SSBC - Team Sprint club benefits on RAGBRAI. You'll also need to register directly with RAGBRAI for the ride itself. Here's the link for the 2026 RAGBRAI LIII registration: https://venturesendurance.enmotive.com/events/register/ragbrai-liii
Happy Sprinting (downhill)!
Join us for RAGBRAI LIII, the oldest, longest, and largest recreational bicycle event in the world!
