CEDAR FALLS - With just under two months until it starts, veterans of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa are already gearing up to ride the 2007 route and see old friends from around the world.

This will be the 35th RAGBRAI - July 22-28 - and Cedar Falls native Jim Meehan has ridden 27 of them in a row, all after he turned 40.

"I needed the exercise and thought it would be a fun thing to do," Meehan said. "It certainly has been."

Compared to that State Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, has ridden a paltry 17 RAGBRAIs over the years. But he also likes to ride with his team from his Cedar Falls home to the start of the ride and then ride the whole event - almost a double-RAGBRAI - which would seem to bump up his total.

"We're pretty wore out by then," Kressig said.

No kidding. But neither the exertion of the ride nor their ages - Meehan is 67, Kressig is 53 - will stop either man from bundling up the camping gear and strapping on helmets for this year's 477-mile tour of Iowa.

They are also excited RAGBRAI is stopping overnight in their hometown. Participants will spend the fourth night of the ride, July 25, in Cedar Falls, marking the second time the RAGBRAI route has done so. The first was in 1998.

Like many, Meehan remembers his first RAGBRAI.

"I was thinking I was awfully tired," he said. "I did enjoy the ride, and it was challenging then."

Now, Meehan still trains for it, but it doesn't wear him out like it used to.

"The new riders always wonder, 'Can I make it? Am I tough enough?'" he said. "After a few years, you know it's not going to be a problem. Then the ride isn't stressful; it's fun."

Kressig said he started biking to work when he worked at John Deere, then rode the Cedar Trails system in the mid-'80s. But his RAGBRAI participation was "kind of more on a dare."

"I was thinking, 'Well, I can do it,' but I was kind of worried about my ability to ride that far," he said.

He used to camp along the route, like thousands of other riders, but doesn't as much anymore.

"We still do that (camp), but if we're able to find a house or hotel we try to do that," he said.

For Meehan, however, camping is the best part of the ride. He's done it every year, and will even camp in Cedar Falls this year, though he could easily catch some peace and quiet in his own bed.

"There are other people around and you get to talk to old friends; some you don't see except on RAGBRAI," Meehan said.

And there's almost nowhere he can go where someone won't recognize his RAGBRAI T-shirt. During a trip through a New Zealand market once, a Canadian couple flagged Meehan down and they found out they'd been on the same ride together.

"I think RAGBRAI is the one event that puts Iowa on the map," he said.

Kressig also loves slowing down to check out the interesting places along the route. Iowa's scenery, he noted, is a lot more interesting when you're not whizzing by in a car.

"If you haven't seen Iowa from a bicycle seat, RAGBRAI's a great way to do that," Kressig said.

Meehan agreed, adding there are more hilly areas along the route than not.

"It's fun to run into out-of-staters who think Iowa is flat," he said.

Both men offered advice for those looking to try out RAGBRAI for the first time this year. Kressig said it's best to start out with a good bike and "start riding the heck out of the thing." Meehan also advised conditioning.

"If you can do a 12-mile (ride), take a rest, then do another ten miles, you can ride RAGBRAI," Meehan said. That's how often a pass-through town comes along, he added - and stopping to enjoy Iowa hospitality is the greatest part of the ride.

The other part of the equation is safety. Ride Right, one of the themes of RAGBRAI, not only means pedaling your bike on the right side of the road so others can pass, but also being cautious during the ride. Kressig noted a helmet and respect for others are both requirements.

But riders and those along the route are famous for both their hospitable ways and their party-hearty attitudes. The combination brings Kressig, Meehan and others back year after year.

"RAGBRAI is the granddaddy of all the rides," Meehan said. "It's very thoroughly Iowa, and the best part of Iowa."

To register to ride RAGBRAI, go to www.ragbrai.org.

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1405 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.