And the vast majority of them never register (ha) for the ride. There are challenges for this one that are unprecedented. One being no one with experience managing one previously will manage it. Two, there is competition; competition that is supported by much of the community and public.
There’s a limited number of riders that can register for RAGBRAI so a lot of them couldn’t even if they wanted to.
I doubt the biggest ride in the country will have a problem finding someone with experience to step in and take over and the competition is going to have problems of their own finding enough people to staff a new ride during the same time period.
Doesn’t really affect me because I won’t be participating in either ride. I just don’t see RAGBRAI disappearing like some are predicting.