— With any vacation, there’s a certain amount of unpacking that occurs when it’s over.

There’s a suitcase to empty, clothes to wash, toiletries to put away, and hopefully, a job to come back to.

But aside from material items, the mind also merits unpacking. Regardless of whether it’s a good or a bad vacation, there’s at least some memorable experiences to look back on.

For the most part, that’s what I’ve been doing this past week: Mentally unpacking from the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, also known as RAGBRAI. The weeklong bike trip concluded July 31, but memories of it have been fresh in my mind ever since.

There really isn’t a simple way to describe it. Summing up RAGBRAI in one sentence would belittle how much I enjoyed it. Talking about a “favorite” moment during it would exclude any of a number of other moments that were equally memorable.

I’ve had a hard time describing RAGBRAI to friends who ask about it. Where do I begin? There’s no one word to encapsulate it, but there are several that come to mind:

Pride: Like everyone else who’s ever done RAGBRAI, I am proud to say I made it across Iowa on a bike. Just looking at a map of the Hawkeye State is enough to make me weak at the knees. A lot of other people have done RAGBRAI (more than 275,000 in 38 years), but that doesn’t make the accomplishment any less gratifying.

Novelty: A 10,000-person group ride across an entire state is a unique experience on its own, but there were several other aspects of this year’s RAGBRAI that stood out.

Riders could take batting practice at the Field of Dreams, walk around the stunning Grotto of Redemption in West Bend, listen to the Fab Four perform in Waterloo, and take a bus ride out to the site of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.

This wasn’t just a bike ride. It was a cultural experience.

Socializing: I may have been doing RAGBRAI by myself, but I was never actually “alone” on the trip. There were other riders at every corner, whether it was at a park, restaurant or campsite. And all of them had a story to tell.

The people you meet on RAGBRAI are half the fun of doing it. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and everyone has a different reason for taking a week off to bike across Iowa.

A rower from Georgia Tech, a married couple from Arizona, a group of mountain bikers from Montana and a Beatles fan from Colorado are just a few of the people I met over the course of the week. Along with different bike routes, every day brought different interactions.

Amazement: Anyone who has the motivation to bike across a state is amazing in their own right. However, some RAGBRAI participants deserve a higher level of praise.

One rider completed sections of the week on a unicycle. Another made it across Iowa with no legs, having to pedal his bike with his hands. Two other riders completed the week on old-fashioned bicycles (the ones with a large wheel and a small wheel).

There were 10-year-olds and 70-year-olds on RAGBRAI. Some riders were borderline obese, others were borderline professional cyclists.

It doesn’t matter what kind of inspiration you fancy, you’re bound to find it on RAGBRAI.

What Next?: Admittedly, this isn’t an actual “word.” But it’s undoubtedly been in my thoughts since returning home.

Certainly, RAGBRAI is something I would like to do again in the future, but there are things I would change about it next time. It’d be fun to have friends to experience it with and it’d be nice to not have to sleep in a tent all week.

There’s also the notion of expanding on RAGBRAI in the future. Is it possible to do multiple statewide bike rides in a year? Multiple states at a time? The entire United States?

The possibilities are endless on a bike. All it takes is a little ambition and a lot of pedaling.

For the time being though, I’m fine with reflecting on the week gone by. It was a memorable vacation, to say the least.

Alex Voigt is a Free Press copy editor. Contact him at 344-6389 or at avoigt@mankatofreepress.com. For further insight on the RAGBRAI experience, check out his health & fitness blog at www.mankatofreepress.com.