Come see 'SHIFT: The RAGBRAI Documentary' and hear a song about 'the state of Iowa(y)'

I’ve been cooped in this office all year long

My vacation starts today, and I’m gone

Gonna grab my Cannondale, collect my pay

Gonna ride across the state of Iowa(y)

Going on RAGBRAI, gonna leave today

Going on RAGBRAI, gonna find a way to get away

Gonna take a trip to the mighty Mississip

Gonna ride through the cornfields and the hills of Iowa(y)

“SHIFT: The RAGBRAI Documentary” opens with a scene from Lansing, the picturesque final overnight town of RAGBRAI 2022.

Then comes drone video of drop-dead gorgeous Iowa landscapes and the first strains of “RAGBRAI,” a song written by Iowan George McGargill that captures the whimsy of the ride, the struggles (“headwind and heat slow us down") and the joys (“the happy faces in the crowd, the new friends that you make”).

The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa marks its 50th anniversary this week as riders roll out of Sioux City Sunday and pedal toward the first overnight town, Storm Lake, followed by Carroll, Ames, Des Moines, Tama-Toledo, Coralville and Davenport.

The documentary will be shown in many towns along the route during RAGBRAI, as well as in other theaters across Iowa. Plus, “SHIFT” will make its broadcast debut this week on Iowa PBS, with showings at 7 p.m. Tuesday and at 1 p.m. next Sunday, July 30.

More: See the trailer for 'Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary'

I encourage you to see it. The film has a lot of heart. It shows the ride’s fun — the costumes, the beer drinking, the line dancing — but it goes much deeper, following three riders and a pair of community leaders as they take on challenges and gain new insights along the way. Plus, it showcases the state’s beautiful scenery and the hospitality of Iowans.

McGargill’s song is one of the documentary’s many special touches. And its origin is about as unlikely as the fact that a wild idea by two Des Moines Register columnists in 1973 about doing a cross-state bike trek has become the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle ride in the world.

McGargill, now 73, is a farmer from Imogene, in southwestern Iowa. He didn’t start learning to play guitar until he was 35. And as far as songwriting, “I thought, ‘I can do that, too,’” he said.

He wrote “RAGBRAI” four years later, at age 39, having never been on the ride. Nearby Clarinda was an overnight town that year, and he saw it as an opportunity to sell some songs.

He’s written about 70 songs all told. Some are serious, but many are humorous, like “The Belly Gene,” which is “about whether it’s in your genetics to have a big belly.” You can listen to “RAGBRAI” on YouTube or download it for 99 cents from iTunes, where McGargill is listed as a country artist and four of his albums are featured.

“Songwriting is almost like a gift people have,” McGargill said. “Some people have it, and some people don’t. Songs almost come to you.”

McGargill modestly downplays his skills: “I don’t consider myself a great songwriter.” The great ones, he said, citing Paul McCartney and John Lennon, “can keep writing songs and they never sound the same. It’s really hard to do.”

McGargill has quit raising cattle, but he still grows corn and soybeans on part of his family’s “home place.” He and his wife, Laurie, have five children, four of them living.

RAGBRAI became a bucket list item for him, and he eventually did ride it, in 2010 at age 60, biking the full route. And then his son Dane wanted to do it, too, so he rode the full route again with his son at age 61. He’s ridden scattered days since.

McGargill has a fond memory from the end of his first RAGBRAI.

“When we rode into Dubuque, they gave us such a wonderful welcome,” he said. “You almost felt like a rock star riding into town.”

He wrote in his song that RAGBRAI is all about “the people that you meet,” which proved true for him. “I met some really fine people along the way.”

And like for so many Iowans, RAGBRAI has played a part in milestone McGargill family moments. In 2016, when Shenandoah was an overnight town, his son Clay and his significant other rode a stretch of RAGBRAI. Clay, now a veterinarian in the Underwood area, proposed to Paulina, who’s now his wife, at a Nishnabotna River bridge.

For the riders of RAGBRAI L and their hosts, a week of new adventures and memory-making beckons. Safe travels to all.

✦✦✦

I’m one of the 28,000 riders registered for this year’s RAGBRAI, and I plan to ride the full route. I’ve done single days in several years but have ridden the full length only once before, 15 years ago.

I hope to see some of you on the ride. If you start to pass an older woman on a pearl Trek 7.6FX who’s slowly chugging along, feel free to ride alongside for a spell and we can talk.

Otherwise, in a few weeks, after my “trip to the mighty Mississip,” I’ll be back with another column.

Carol Hunter is the Register’s executive editor. She wants to hear your questions, story ideas or concerns at 515-284-8545, chunter@registermedia.com, or on Twitter: @carolhunter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Come see 'SHIFT: The RAGBRAI Documentary' and hear the 'RAGBRAI' song