Bicycling and Art Ride in Tandem, Pedaling Midwest Placemaking

Biking is creative. And many—like Cory Mutch—call it art.

He’s the creative director at RAGBRAI, the biggest (and longest, and oldest) recreational bike ride in the world. Mutch designs graphics, logos, and merch for the weeklong tour across Iowa.

“I think I’ve always thought that art and cycling and RAGBRAI all go hand in hand,” Mutch says. (RAGBRAI stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, nodding to two writers riding for Des Moines Register stories back in the ’70s.)

RAGBRAI riders, donning colorful jerseys, stop to take a look at public art along the route in Iowa.

During the ride, towns along the way decorate yards and create old bike sculptures to welcome riders. Church ladies make pie for passersby. Bands perform. People wear their personalities on cycling jerseys, and stop to check out local art museums, galleries, and murals. And this year’s RAGBRAI logo, designed by Mutch, is the oh-so-small-town-Midwesternwater tower. (And we sure know that’s art.)

Thousands of registered riders from across the globe join in every July, experiencing Iowa and its culture on wheels.

RAGBRAI cyclists ride from Atlantic to Greenfield, Iowa, in 2024. (Does this not look like a painting?!)

Cyclists and Iowa’s Glenwood community members gather inside one of many buildings with murals along the route during the RAGBRAI Expo in 2024.

RAGBRAI riders make their way out of Storm Lake, Iowa, and bike through half a dozen towns before rolling into Carroll for the night. They cover over 57 miles on either gravel or pavement on Day 2 of RAGBRAI 2023.

Not Quite Brothers plays RAGBRAI 2025 in in Cedar Falls, Iowa. A big draw to the ride is the art along the way.

Signs alert passersby and riders of the fun ahead at Riverwest 24 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“These riders that come from all over the world are trying to find shade or just a place to rest and you’re on a blacktop in the middle of nowhere, and this little lady sitting on her front porch opens her house to a total stranger or turns on a sprinkler,” Mutch says. “You can just be riding your bike across the state of Iowa, and these people just open their arms to you.”

Just next door, also in July, is Riverwest 24 (RW24). It’s Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s, 24-hour neighborhood bike ride. Think: a block party with live music, bikers in costume, and creative community building the whole day—and night, and day—long. There’s a RW24 tattoo every year (which counts as several laps), screen printing stations, dance-offs, and mini carnivals throughout.

Local Sarah Eichhorn is a mom, fiber artist, and associate professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. But importantly, she loves the Riverwest neighborhood where she’s lived for over a decade.

“I’m a westerner,” says the Riverwest resident.

Eichhorn’s been helping with the 100% volunteer-run ride for years, which earns you a spot in the race the next year. She says “the people’s holiday” is simply the best day of the year. There’s a certain camaraderie all year long, she says, though hyper-obvious that weekend.

People cheer for each other throughout, bikes creatively lit up against the Milwaukee skyline. Everyone’s on the same team. Eichhorn says she “nerds out” over people’s costumes, homemade patches, and decorated bikes. As a fiber artist, she makes an annual banner of past ride T-shirts.

“It’s just this sense of community and community exploration,” Eichhorn says. “And it’s summer, you know, it’s just a whole vibe just to celebrate where we choose, right? We’re just existing together in this space for 24 hours.”

And who better to lead the celebrations than Midwesterners?

Pop-up concerts dot the route course at Riverwest 24 each summer.

RW24 participants wait to start the ride.

RW24 participants gather for a finale photo.

Femme category winners celebrate a hard fought race.