The Origins

Team Spoke Easy was formed in 2005 after team captain Dave McAnally got a wild hair up his ass and decided riding your bike 480 miles in 7 days across a podunk state would be a fun thing. After looking for any excuse possible to back out co-captain Ian Andrusyk decided to go along with the madness and cycle R.A.G.B.R.A.I. (Register’s Great Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa). Seems this event had been going on for 33 years and was rumored to be the party of a life time. Well that fateful summer in 2005 proved to go down in the history’s of both Dave & Ian as one of the best ever. Upon return to Chicago lore of this “RAGBRAI” event spread like wild fire and TEAM SpokeEasy was formed.

Why Spoke Easy?

When your team is from Chicago, IL there is an intrinsic responsibility to come up with a clever yet Chicago based naming schematic. Unlike almost all teams we named our team based upon our bus and not the other way around. You see a few years prior to even RAGBRAI Ian thought it would be a good idea to buy a used school bus and convert it into the ultimate tail gate machine. Adding a touch of Chicago to it, Ian commissioned graffiti artist Paco Rosic to “tag” the entire exterior of the bus in a black and white spray paint mural that honored the legendary Al Capone & the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. The remarkable work has left countless passerby's speechless. A favorite watering hole here in Chicago is a former Capone “speakeasy” called Green Mill. Once upon a midnight drunk feast the name “SPOKE - EASY” was born.

Where Does Spoke Easy Ride?

Although we have RAGBRAI team members from multiple locations, Spoke Easy itself resides in Chicago. Our friends from Belfast are lucky enough to live among us amazing chaps, unfortunately the Cedar Falls, IA kids haven’t gotten the memo and thus only join us during RAGBRAI. Spoke Easy has fun rides all around the Chicagoland area - sometimes the trails of the NorthWest ‘Burbs, other times a South Side cruise ending somewhere in Indiana. Of course the Late Ride and Bike the Drive are typically givens. Our typical rides can be found here. The voyages to a lucky bar in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin aside Spoke Easy Exists primarily for one extremely important reason. R.A.G.B.R.A.I.

So explain this R.A.G.B.R.A.I thing to me...

Not possible. Seriously. Don’t get us wrong we’ll give you the general gist of it here, but it’s kind of like that first kiss in that no amount of stories can ever prepare you for just how amazing this event is. When asked to describe R.A.G.B.R.A.I. 9 times out of 10 the story starts with: “Well this will be the most fun you’ve had over a single week in your life.” Every team member to date has agreed with that synopsis.

Officially RAGBRAI.ORG describes this event in the following way: “RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 35rd year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. RAGBRAI is sponsored by The Des Moines Register.” That’s a nice attempt at a family friendly description of this ride but let me give you a more accurate account of what this ‘lil event is all about:

Ever seen a high power tax attorney jump off a bridge drunk to get away from cops? How about a grown lady lick a temporary tattoo on a young guys ass? What about the shy girl next door who proudly wears a home made t-shirt sporting an idea mommy probably wouldn't be proud about? Ever imagined seeing a doctor and a CEO run naked down a beer slide? That's right we've just described the "Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa." Each year over 20,000 people from all over the world gather in a tiny town on the far West side of the state of Iowa and proceed to ride their bikes 450+ miles to the Mississippi river on the East side of the sate over seven days time. The boozing begins promptly at 7am at a bloody marry stand in the middle of a corn field, continues through bars and beer gardens in various sub 1000 population towns, and ends each night with a huge party in whatever poor community is willing to multiply their populations twenty times over for the evening with all us crazy people. Yes RAGBRAI is not for the faint of heart nor those who vowed to act their age. Simply put we’re talking about a moving Mardi Gras on bikes! Due to new FCC communications decency laws I won’t get into detail about the non-biking events that take place on this ride; however, unless you’re a bumbling fool you can pry figure it out. Yes 2 + 2 does = 4 in this equation.

Hell Yes, Sign Me up!

Not that simple. Read this first