Coe College team rides RAGBRAI in honor of fallen colleague

On Sunday, Lonnie Zingula of Cedar Rapids will start his 13th bicycle ride across Iowa.

Zingula, senior writer and advanced communications specialist at Coe College, first signed up for the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa in 2005 when his co-workers started a team.

Now the team captain, he says he can't imagine a summer without the 400-some mile bike ride.

'I quickly discovered there's no better way to experience Iowa,” Zingula said.

The ride, though physically demanding, is a good opportunity for cyclists to get to know each other, he said.

'It's an incredible bonding experience,” he said. 'I can't really explain it, other than to say it's special.”

This year, the Coe team's 21 members will ride in memory of Daniel Lehn, a Coe professor hit by a truck and killed last July while riding his bike on Highway 965.

Lehn participated in RAGBRAI once and was an avid cyclist, Zingula said. Last year, the Coe riders wore custom stickers on their helmets to honor Lehn, and this spring hosted a memorial bike ride to raise money for a scholarship fund in Lehn's name.

In 2016, RAGBRAI organizers implemented a 'Mile of Silence” dedicated to cyclists who have been injured or killed while biking.

l Comments: (319) 368-8542; rilyn.eischens@thegazette.com