Thursday, July 23, 2015

RAGBRAI stops in Cedar Falls

RAGBRAI coming into Cedar Falls

RAGBRAI is the annual, weeklong bicycle ride across Iowa.  It's been going on every year in July since 1973. The ride starts on the western side of the state at the Missouri River and ends on the eastern side at the Mississippi. It takes a different route each year, traveling backroads, stopping each night at different towns along the way. This year my hometown of Cedar Falls was the fourth overnight stop. On Wednesday, July 22nd, 15,000 cyclist peddled into town from the west on 27th Street. 


I found a spot to set up my easel. It was a perfect, not too hot day for bicycling along the verdant Iowa countryside. It was a lovely day to dabble with my paints in the open air. This was about noon. Many riders waved or called out to me as they passed. A few stopped to see what I was up to and chat. It's not just Iowans that ride RAGBRAI. I  talked with people from New York, Missouri, Oklahoma and Illinois. When I told one man that I was part of an international group called Urban Sketchers, he excitedly shared that he'd just purchased Marc Taro Holmes book The Urban Sketcher.








At each stop, the RAGBRAI tribe is welcomed with facilities for overnight tent camping. Each town offers their own version of a party atmosphere with live music and food booths. The Cedar Falls campus of the University of Northern Iowa became the epicenter for all things RAGBRAI on Wednesday. And then in the morning, the bicycling horde packed up and peddled out of town, heading southeast for Hiawatha. The end of this years ride will be Davenport on Saturday.




14 comments:

  1. Perfect action sketch, I love how you rendered the bikes, so simple – to see that is, not to do!

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    1. Oh, Barbara, thanks for saying that. I'm not often a reportage kind of sketcher. Nor people in action sort either. The landscape part--no sweat. Putting the people on their bikes in was a challenge for me.

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  2. Marcia...like the action in the cycling sketch. Well done. The tents are colorful and full of energy. I've always thought it would be fun to do the

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Dave. I don't often get out and sketch for an event. This was a fun day. Do you do bicycling, Dave? RAGBRAI is a tradition that many look forward to do year after year.

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  3. Replies
    1. Hi, David--These are original drawings. I do not make prints of my work. Both are for sale. If you're interested in discussing purchasing them, email me at marcia@milner-brage.com. Thanks for your interest. Did you ride RAGBRAI? --Marcia

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  4. I love this of Ragbrai picture of the riders. Is there anyway I could get a copy of this?

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    1. Hi, Bob--
      The image with the riders is an original watercolor and pencil drawing. I do not make prints or copies of my work. It's for sale. If you're interested in discussing purchasing it, email me at marcia@milner-brage.com. Thanks for your interest. Did you ride RAGBRAI? --Marcia

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  5. I would also be interested in buying a print

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    1. Hi Mark and Cheryl--
      Both the images in this post are original drawing. I do not make prints or copies of my work. It's for sale. If you're interested in discussing purchasing one or both, email me at marcia@milner-brage.com. Thanks for your interest. Did you ride RAGBRAI? --Marcia

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  6. I LOVE how you captured the bikers coming over the hills. You captured it well. I'm a biker and have ridden the Biking Across Kansas a few times. The tent city with the bikes on their backs is how it really is. So, is this a town you live in or near? Did you just go out with the intention of sketching the event? That's quite a challenge.

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    1. I live in Cedar Falls. It was a big deal for our small city to have the horde of RAGBRAI bikers come through town. The day before I scouted for spots along the route where I could stand by the side of the road safely and see a distance like this. I found several options, this one was the only one I could get to on that morning because of there being so many roads blocked off. Later in the early evening, I walked over to the UNI campus, where most of the bicyclist were camping, to see what else I could capture. I'm not often motivated to do "reportage" or event sketching, but this was an exception that I'm glad I took on.

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  7. Oh cool, how did I miss this! So much energy, Marcia.

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    1. This one was outside of my usual, but I'm so glad I took it on. I linked this post to the RAGBRAI official FB page and that brought a lot of viewers onto our blog. And then an added bonus for me and the excitement surrounding them: both drawings sold!

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