Lang
10/18/19
Raygun owner Mike Draper is blasting former RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz for leaving the organization to form his own, competing ride the same week as the annual bike ride across Iowa.
In a letter titled “How to Destroy a Community in 3 Easy Steps”, which has been posted to the Raygun web site, Draper says Juskiewicz is creating a divide within Iowa’s cycling community. He says that, in quitting, Juskiewicz could have used the opportunity to expand bicycle riding in Iowa by scheduling it for another week or using a route that utilizes Iowa’s bike trails.
Juskiewicz said in a statement earlier this week that RAGBRAI organizers were upset with the Des Moines Register’s handling of criticism following a story involving Carson King, who raised over $3 million for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The newspaper received backlash for discovering and asking King about racially insensitive tweets he sent when he was a teenager.
Draper rips Juskiewicz for using such a caustic issue to divide Iowans. He also notes that feeding off some Iowan’s frustrations with the newspaper may make representatives from national media outlets uncomfortable, and dissuade them from covering and taking part in either ride.
He also criticized Juskiewicz for appearing on a right-wing Des Moines radio show to promote the new ride, called “Iowa’s Ride”. And Draper said many Iowans dismissing King’s racist tweets would make minorities feel less welcome participating in either ride.
The full letter can be found on the Raygun web site: