the years, happened on the first day after leaving Granville. The optional 3rd Annual Gravel Loop also occurred the first day on the way to Sutherland. The 46th ride, RAGBRAI XLVI, was held from July 22–28, 2018, beginning in Onawa, with overnight stops in Denison, Jefferson, Ames, Newton, Sigourney, and Iowa City, before ending in Davenport. The 2019 (47th, RAGBRAI XLVII, July 21–27) began in Council Bluffs, with overnight stops in Atlantic, Winterset, Indianola, Centerville, Fairfield, and Burlington, ending in Keokuk. On April 20, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made to postpone the 48th ride, RAGBRAI XLVIII. The rescheduled ride began on July 25, 2021, in Le Mars and ended July 31 in Clinton, with stops in Sac City, Fort Dodge, Iowa Falls, Waterloo, Anamosa, and DeWitt. The planned 2020 route had included overnight stops in Storm Lake and Maquoketa but were replaced by Sac City and DeWitt, respectively, for the 2021 route. Overnight stops The ride has passed through all 99 of Iowa's counties in its history. Fourteen communities have served as the starting point, while 12 have hosted the finish and 108 other communities have been overnight hosts during the week of the ride. An event known as the RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party is held the last part of January to release the names of the overnight towns. The route is fleshed out in the following weeks and is announced in the Register and on the RAGBRAI website in early March. Even after that, changes to the route have sometimes been made. History The Great Six-Day Bicycle Ride (1973) RAGBRAI began in 1973, when Des Moines Register feature writers John Karras and Donald Kaul decided to go on a bicycle ride across Iowa; both men were avid cyclists. Karras challenged Kaul to do the ride and write articles about what he experienced. Kaul agreed to do it, but only if Karras also did the ride. Karras then agreed to ride, as well. The newspaper's management approved of the plan. Don Benson, a public-relations director at the Register, was assigned to coordinate the event. Upon the suggestion of Ed Heins, the managing editor, the writers invited the public to accompany them. The ride was planned to start on Sunday, August 26 in Sioux City and end in Davenport on Friday, August 31. The overnight stops were Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Ames, Des Moines, and Williamsburg.