The director of the new cross-state bicycle ride that was supposed to have its inaugural ride this year — but didn’t, due to the pandemic — is stepping down to take a position out of state.

TJ Juskiewicz was the director of RAGBRAI until last year, when the newspaper that sponsors the ride ran a story about beer-drinker-turned philanthropist Carson King. The story mentioned some racist Tweets that King had made when he was just 16. King said he deeply regretted the tweets. But that wasn’t enough. The beer company that had partnered with him severed ties with King, and pulled the plug to match his donation to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Juskiewicz and the entire RAGBRAI staff walked out because the newspaper was not allowing them to comment on the situation.

That’s when Juskiewicz and associates started “Iowa’s Ride” — another bike ride across Iowa that was set to stop in Sheldon this summer on the way through, and end in Rock Rapids. The ride will have to wait until next summer, and it will have to be without Juskiewicz at the helm.

Juskiewicz wrote on Iowa’s Ride’s Facebook page that he is moving to Tucson, Arizona to help with a bike ride there called El Tour de Tucson. He says, “Perhaps what appeals to me the most about El Tour is that since 1983 their events have raised over $100 million for local and international charitable organizations. I look forward to working on these great events.”

He says he will be back in Iowa next summer to ride across the state on Iowa’s Ride from Dubuque to Rock Rapids on July 18-24, 2021.