This is the first of a series on the intersection of bicycling and mobile technology.
A few years ago, while cooling off with a Grain Belt lager in 90-degree shade in Cherokee, Iowa, I was taking in my first RAGBRAI.
Billed as the world’s oldest and largest recreational cycling event, the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBAI) lived up to its hype. Since touching our tires in the Missouri river at 7 a.m., my teammates and I had been riding in a world taken over by bikes.
On a ribbon of road stretching out over rolling fields of corn and soybean, cyclists rode four or five abreast ahead and behind all the way to the horizon. And yet it was hard not to feel a bit lost and alone.
With 20 riders and three support vehicles, our team was spread out along the route. Single riders and small groups had split off amidst the throng. It is easy to stop for a few minutes or a few hours on RAGBRAI as pass-thru towns offer libations, celebrations, local culinary delicacies, and other entertainment. This is a tour that is about the journey, not the destination.
“The Captain,” our group organizer, sat next to me cursing at his smartphone. He was reading and responding to a backlog of texts as he tried to keep track of his charges and connect with our support vehicles establishing camp up the road. No one was answering The Captain’s texts. He was worried and frustrated.
His complaints began my own entrepreneurial journey. In this age of smartphones and GPS, surely there was a better way for our group to stay connected? When I returned from Iowa, I began working on product concepts, which eventually led to the design and release of our first mobile app, Group GPS, a location-sharing app for groups.
From this cycling-inspired beginning, my company RallyTo, continues to develop mobile app concepts to support cyclists and other real-life adventures.
John Dex serves as a volunteer on Cascade’s Ride Around Washington committee.
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