Cedar Rapids 95-Year-Old Rides in RAGBRAI

One of the most anticipated Summer events in Iowa is Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or in laymen's terms RAGBRAI. The riders came through Waterloo on Wednesday and left the very next morning, but one left a major mark on many riders and observers alike.

Get our free mobile app

This year's annual bike ride across the state will go down in the history books. After last year's trek was canceled, RAGBRAI riders have been ready and eager to get back to doing what they love this summer.

The past few days have been very eventful for these bicyclists. Before they even rode off to their first destination from Le Mars to Sac City, the riders and the event had already gone viral.

A Sioux City reporter got outshone by an eager kid at the kickoff event in Le Mars. You can see the full video here.

One rider from Northeastern Iowa has been making waves throughout his entire journey so far. The reason behind all of the talk about this certain Cedar Rapids resident?

He's riding all of RAGBRAI and he's 95-years-old.

Courtesy of Norman Schafer

Clarence Boesenberg is one of the veteran riders on this year's nearly 500-mile journey. As reported by KCRG, Boeseberg has participated in the past eight RAGBRAI's all the way through. From the looks of things, he will not be slowing down any time soon.

From the same report, this Cedar Rapids man will be continuing his tradition of doing the entire ride. After the very first day, he was actually joined by his grandson.

If you are ever riding right behind him (and probably eating his dust) then you'll notice a saying on the very back of his bike. He always puts a fun sort of slogan on his seat. This year's tagline is, "Sakes' Alive and Doing RAGBRAI at 95."

Courtesy of Norman Schafer

When this biker isn't riding in RAGBRAI he uses his set of wheels for good. For almost a decade, Boesenberg has been delivering meals for Meals on Wheels. On average he rides about 45 miles a day.

Keep track of when riders might be coming through to your area using the official RAGBRAI daily map right here.

Our Freedom Story mural - downtown Waterloo

Take a walk along the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo to view this 3,000-square-foot mural of the city's civil rights history shown abstractly through lines, shapes, and colors. Located behind the Waterloo Center for the Arts (near the Highway 63 bridge). Created by the Waterloo Youth Art Team.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.