BIKEIOWA has now been as an informational website dedicated to making cycling better in Iowa for TWENTY YEARS !!! A BIG milestone for us!
As we mentioned in last year's review, if we look back at almost two decades, the internet was just a baby and at that time, your best place to find out about rides was Club newsletters and bulletin boards at your local bike shop. There were no cell phones, no Google, no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. BIKEIOWA (fka CIBROC) was initially created to house a small list of events and grew to become one of the most comprehensive cycling websites for Iowa bike rides, news and events in the Midwest and beyond.
We thought the Iowa cycling scene and trails were pretty darn good back in the early 2000s, but little did we know that 20 years later, the Iowa cycling scene and world-class trails system has become the envy of every other state!
2021 - Back to Normal or the New Normal?
2021 was like eating hot-fudge sundae without the hot-fudge. Sure, It is still pretty good, and you may have even gotten a cherry on top, but it is still not the hot-fudge sundae you've come to expect.
2021 was much more "normal" than the
2020 wowser year. There were more cycling events, more in-person gatherings, but at the same time just as many events and gatherings did not happen.
Events like RAGBRAI, JingleCross and the Iowa State Fair did happen. That was a great feeling. Events like the Iowa Bike Expo and Route Announcement Party were virtual which was still better than not having them at all.
Working remotely has become the new normal for many. The Zs - Zoom and Zwift are still household names. We knew 100+ friends who got covid, including us. We knew a few acquaintances who died from covid. There is still a lot of tension in our nation and the weather patterns across the world have been pretty epic.
For us, the year went by quickly. We didn't get as much off-season social distance camping in as we did last year, but we still got out and enjoyed nature plenty.
So no, we were not quite back to normal in 2021. We're looking through the rear-view mirror as the "new normal" for now.
We hope you were able to find a safe, sane and healthy outlet in 2021.
By the numbers
Keeping BIKEIOWA updated and posting timely social media information is something we always try to keep fresh, frequent, and up to date.
A lot of great things happened in the Iowa Cycling Scene in 2021. We we happy to see a rise in the posted Events, News and Features.
These numbers reflect number as of December 31st, 2021.
- 14,427 - Facebook followers
- 7,177 - Twitter followers
- 3,961 - Instagram followers
- 1,041,645 Site Visits
- 6,419,889 Page Views
- $9,042 - in Merchandise given to local events and organizations to be used for fund raising, prizes, swag and awareness. We are able to make this happen with our great sponsors!
- $1,575 - Dollars donated to directly cycling causes. Again, thanks to our great sponsors!
- 4,393 - receive Ride Reminder Newsletter
- 4,241 - members of BIKEIOWA
- 458 - News posted with 238,485 views
- 326 - Events posted to the event calendar with 279,090 views
- 30 - Site enhancements - behind the scenes updates and framework upgrades
- 28 - Features posted with 35,646 views
- 18 - Trails updated with new information with 303,756 lifetime views
- 16 - New trails added with 12,728 views (317 trails in total with 3,103 total trail miles and 3,982,395 million lifetime views)
- 12 - Reviews posted with 8,461 views
- 8 - New cities added with 4,251 views (1,023 cities in total with 10,604,965 million lifetime views)
We (still) believe
Some portals are more active than others based of the information added to the site and our site followers.
For example, we'd love to get more triathlete/multi-sport and BMX events added to help grow awareness of those genres. Some portals such as
Gravel are fairly new and the number of tags haven't caught up with the older portals. See below for the
portals. Each portal is like a mini-site that shows all the the information without sifting through all the other types of posts.
Advocacy(2,422) BMX(83) Charity(1,739) Commuting(1,062) Culture(3,806) Cyclocross(924) Destination(2,236) Education(973) Gravel(355) MountainBike(1,848) Other(1,576) Party(4,022) Race(2,161) Recreation(5,850) Road(2,600) Road(Competitive)(1,367) Team/Club(2,037) Touring(1,230) Tourism(1,647) Trails(5,645) Training/Fitness(1,922) Tri/Multi-Sport(494)
Our shared
event calendar shows all types of cycling events in one spot. You'd be amazed how many cyclists plan their weekends and vacations around the BIKEIOWA calendar. Plus you can still go back to previous years to view event details.
We decided a few years ago that BIKEIOWA will only promote events that are listed on our event calendar. We know the event layout information is consistent with what our viewers want to see.
Some events are only being posted to Facebook these days, and that's OK, but... we are not going to scour Facebook looking for missing events as our time is better spent doing other things. Also note, that we no longer post other's events. The event calendar is service for YOU as a user and as an event promoter. YOU can enter your event and then we will help promote it. It's as simple as that. Social media platforms are some hard competition with websites these days, but we believe that BIKEIOWA's event calendar, news, features and reviews are worth-while causes to keep updated. We realize not everyone is on social media and if they are, they are most likely inundated with data and only see half of the pertinent posts anyways. BIKEIOWA not only shows consistent data for upcoming events, but also past events are easily found too. BIKEIOWA averages over a million views annually.
We are looking forward to our 21st year in 2022.
Monthly Highlights
We LOVE to BIKEIOWA. Do YOU?
These are the events we had a direct relationships with - ones we hosted, attended, sponsored, or assisted with. This does not include all the solo and small group rides. We also added bullet points for cyclists who have passed away as well as new sponsor and renewals. This does not include all the solo and small group rides throughout the year. If we are missing any big bullet-worthy items, let us know.
JAN
- Triple D Winter Race 2021 - RESTRICTED
- Iowa Bike Expo - VIRTUAL
- RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party - VIRTUAL
- Des Moines Trail and Greenways Committee Meeting
- IMBCS (Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series) meeting
- 29 News Posts with 22,804 views
- Whistlin' Donkey renewed sponsorship
- Trailside Tap came on as sponsor
MAR
APR
- Iowa Wind and Rock Gravel Ultra
- Begin RAGBRAI design work
- Des Moines Marathon Race Committee meeting - VIRTUAL
- Street Collective meeting
- Will Oelschlaeger joins the Iowa Bicycle Coalition as Membership and Outreach Manager
- RAGBRAI meeting - VIRTUAL
- RAGBRAI roadshow - RESTRICTED
- Gents Race 10.0 - POSTPONED
- Des Moines Mayor's Annual Ride and Run for Trails - POSTPONED
- Fun Haters Ride- RESTRICTED
- 45 News Posts with 33,085 views
- R.I.P. - Andrew Pavlovec of North Liberty
- R.I.P. - Devell Johnson of Davenport
- Cumming Tap renewed sponsorship
- Captain Roy's renewed sponsorship
- Christopher's Fine Jewelry renewed sponsorship
MAY
- High Trestle Trail 10 Year Anniversary Ride - RESTRICTED
- Bike Month Promotions - POSTPONED
- Ride Of Silence - Des Moines - RESTRICTED
- Ride Of Silence - Cedar Valley - RESTRICTED
- Ride Of Silence - Sergeant Bluff - RESTRICTED
- RAGBRAI roadshow - RESTRICTED
- IMBCS- Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series (IMBCS) - SERIES CANCELLED
- Mayor's Ride - Johnston - RESTRICTED
- Mayor's Ride - West Des Moines - RESTRICTED
- Kyle Platts Memorial Ride - RESTRICTED
- INDY 50
- Rasmussen Bike Shop closes (to build new Erik's shop)
- Erik's Bike Shop built and open
- Sterile Iowan
- MADCO100 - CANCELLED
- Cyclo De Mayo - CANCELLED
- Iowa Cycling -Future state - meeting
- Des Moines Marathon Race Committee meeting - VIRTUAL
- 71 News Posts with 36,632 views
- R.I.P. - Charlie Hubbard of Davenport
- Bike Country renewed sponsorship
- Des Moines Cycle Club renewed sponsorship
- Mickey's Irish Pub renewed sponsorship
- Sully's Irish Pub renewed sponsorship
- Lederman Bail Bonds renewed sponsorship
- Reclaimed Rails Brewing renewed sponsorship
JUN
- Promoted National Trails Day - VIRTUAL
- RAGBRAI Route Inspection Pre Ride
- RAGBRAI Route Inspection Gravel Day
- Southwest Iowa Gravel Grinder (SWIGG)
- Bicycle Night - Pork Chop Dinner @ Triangle Tap
- Gents Race 10.0
- BACooN Ride
- Gravel Rocks
- Ironman 7.3 - Des Moines
- Flat Tire Lounge 10th Anniversary Party
- Loess Hills Enduro - ride there, race
- Iowa Games Gravel Race - CANCELLED
- Des Moines Trail and Greenways Committee Meeting
- Follow Your Folly - Cruiser 100 ride - CANCELLED
- Bicycle, Blues, and BBQ Festival - CANCELLED INDEFINITELY
- 80 News Posts with 37,840 views
- R.I.P.- Charlie Harper of Muscatine
- R.I.P - Melissa Ristau of Fort Dodge
- R.I.P - Alex Marietta of Davenport
- R.I.P - James Powell of Mason City
- Nite Hawk Lounge renewed sponsorship
- Barr Bicycle & Fitness renewed sponsorship
- Beaverdale Bicycles renewed sponsorship
- T-shirt Graphix renewed sponsorship
- Erik's Bike Shop renewed sponsorship
- Founder's Irish Pub renewed sponsorship
- Whiskey River - Ankeny renewed sponsorship
- Big Cock Bike Shop renewed sponsorship
SEP
- Bike Month - rescheduled from May
- Cannonball Cross
- Des Moines Mayor's Annual Ride and Run for Trails
- Handlebar Happy Hour - Firetrucker Brewery
- FFFing Rides
- Colesburg Gravelpocalypse Race
- Ames Crand Prix - IA State Crit Championships
- Lawyer Jim Freeman: Safe Street Cycling - VIRTUAL
- Firetrucker Adventure Biking Talk (FAB) - Deanne Herr
- Polk City - Saylorville Lake Fatbike laps
- Iowa Trail Summit - VIRTUAL
- Pedaler's Jamboree 2021 - The Party Returns
- Redfield ROCK'N'ROLL
- Renegade Cyclocross Weekly Practices
- Capital City Cross
- MidState - CX - CANCELLED
- Sarah Cooper wins 2021 Adirondack Trail Ride (TATR) in New York and sets women's course record
- 20 News Posts with 9,648 views
- R.I.P - Lorna Moss of Sioux Center
- R.I.P - Eric Christoper Lindberg of Des Moines
- R.I.P - Mark W. Adkins of Newton
- Selle Anatomica - renewed sponsorship
- Ryno Velo came on as sponsor
OCT- Great Iowa Fall Ride - RAGBRAI
- Trek Cup - Madison WI
- Buffalo 105 - Gravel Race
- Iowa Mountain Bike Festival
- Renegade Cyclocross with Courtenay McFadden
- Firetrucker Adventure Biking Talk (FAB) - Andrea Parrott
- Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra
- the GRAND Cyclocross Race
- Iowa Trail Summit - VIRTUAL
- Des Moines Marathon - BIKEIOWA Course Support
- Renegade Cyclocross Practices
- Spooky Cross
- Jingle Cross
- Carl Voss Trail Dedication
- CITA Dirty Duathlon
- Des Moines Trail and Greenways Committee Meeting
- Copper Creek Mountain Bike Park project announced
- 38 News Posts with 11,770 views
- R.I.P - unknown Iowa women cyclist killed in CA
NOV- Renegade Cyclocross Practice
- Vinyl Bingo Wednesday with BIKEIOWA at Captain Roy's
- Bentonville AR trip
- Pogie Lites Reviews By Path Less Pedaled - world-wide orders
- Des Moines Tweed Ride
- Valley Cross
- Giving Tuesday for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition
- Fat Tuesdays - fat bike rides
- Cranksgiving - Cedar Rapids
- Bobber's Cross - CANCELLED
- Annual Turkey Day Ride
- R.I.P.- Former U.S. Rep. Neal Smith of Des Moines
- R.I.P - Elijah Peters of Le Mars
- R.I.P - John Karras of Des Moines
- 15 News Posts with 4,521 views
- Barntown Brewing renewed sponsorship
- All Ability Cycles renewed sponsorship
- Bikes to You renewed sponsorship
DEC
- Global Fat Bike Day
- Intergalactic Fat Bike Day
- State Cyclocross Championships
- Iowa Bike Expo Planning
- R.I.P - Terry Zabokrtsky of Walford
- 30 News Posts with 6,348
- Schuling Hitch renewed sponsorship
- Bike Law renewed sponsorship
- Triangle Tap renewed sponsorship
THANKS for supporting and growing BIKEIOWA. We are looking forward to our 21st year in 2022.
We wish YOU and yours a healthy and prosperous 2022.
RIDE SAFE !!
Scott Sumpter & Jess Rundlett