RAGBRAI’s northern Iowa route is among its shortest

Riders will set off this summer on one of the shortest and flattest routes in the 52-year history of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

This year’s route, announced Saturday evening, will go across northern Iowa for about 406 miles with 10,487 feet of climb — its second-shortest and sixth-flattest route ever, organizers said.

The ride, which attracts thousands of cyclists from across the world as it rolls across the state, is from July 19-26 this year, beginning in Orange City and ending in Guttenberg. None of the rides between the overnight stops exceeds 75 miles and the shortest one is just about 38 miles.

The route announced Saturday:

Day 1: Orange City to Milford, 70.1 miles and 1,522 feet of climb.

Day 2: Milford to Estherville, 44.6 miles and 1,395 feet of climb.

Day 3: Estherville to Forest City, 74.1 miles and 1,308 feet of climb.

Day 4: Forest City to Iowa Falls, 68.3 miles and 1,449 feet of climb.

Day 5: Iowa Falls to Cedar Falls, 49.5 miles and 1,262 feet of climb.

Day 6: Cedar Falls to Oelwein, 38.2 miles and 1,210 feet of climb.

Day 7: Oelwein to Guttenberg, 61.2 miles and 2,341 feet of climb.

RAGBRAI organizers said that this year’s pass-through and meet-up towns along the route will be announced in April.

Registration for RAGBRAI already is underway. The current rate for a weeklong rider is $250 and for non-riders to support cyclists is $45 -- but both those rates increase after Feb. 28. Support vehicles also require a pass at an additional charge, and there are ticketing options for riders who want to ride just part of the route.

Details are at ragbrai.com.