RAGBRAI is rolling through my home state of Iowa this week. My husband and I are in from California for this 7-day bicycle ride from the Missouri to Mississippi rivers, stopping in small towns along the way.

RAGBRAI is an acronym for The Register’s Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. This year commemorates the 50th anniversary when two journalists from The Des Moines Register, John Karras and Donald Kaul set out in 1973 to ride across the state to write about their adventures and invited readers to join them. It’s grown exponentially since then, with this year’s ride anticipated to attract tens of thousands of bicyclists from all over the world.

Being back in Iowa for RAGBRAI and returning to my Midwestern roots gives me an opportunity to reflect on 3 takeaways from RAGBRAI for the business world.

Authenticity is a way of being here in Iowa versus being a business buzzword. Authenticity is literally how people show up for RAGBRAI without having to say the word - from the locals at the American Legions, fire stations and churches who make homemade food for all the riders to the families who sit at the end of their driveways along the route and smile and wave to everyone as they ride by. They show up because they genuinely want to help, support and cheer on the riders as we ramble down the road. Unspoken. Understated.

Small acts of kindness happen at every turn. RAGBRAI brings out the best in humanity. There is an instinctual willingness to help others. One of the coolest parts of RAGBRAI is the Air Force Cycling Team. Approximately 100 members of the Air Force ride RAGBRAI every year and provide aid to other riders with equipment issues and assist with injuries. I witnessed this first hand on my inaugural RAGBRAI in 2019 - my husband popped a spoke on his back tire, and out of nowhere, an Air Force rider swooped in to help before we could even get off our bikes. They truly are Guardian Angels of the Road. Thank you, Air Force Cycling Team, for your service.

Change the scenery to spark creativity. That’s exactly what Karras and Kaul did when they set out on the very first RAGBRAI to find inspiration for their newspaper columns. Sitting at the same old desk in the same old office can get mundane and monotonous. New scenery shakes things up, boosts motivation, and increases productivity. My best work ideas have come not when I am at my desk but when I’ve changed my scenery. And for this week, there’s no better scenery than Iowa.

One other takeaway from RAGBRAI that I will fully embrace and take with me as I return to the daily grind - it’s ok to eat pie for breakfast every once in a while.