Letter

By RON MALY

There was a letter to the editor printed on the paper's opinion pages this week that was attributed to Carl Voss of  Des Moines. When I worked at that place a long time ago, there was a photographer in the newsroom named Carl Voss.  He accompanied me on several news assignments for the paper. At the time, he was married to Melinda Voss, then a reporter at the paper. The marriage didn't last. Maybe the Carl Voss who wrote the letter to the editor isn't the Carl Voss who used to take pictures for the paper and who used to be married to Melinda Voss. Maybe it's someone else named Carl Voss. Maybe someone wrote the letter, and signed Carl Voss's name to it. But until I hear otherwise, I'll assume it's the same Carl Voss who took pictures at the paper, and later did some editing in the newsroom. Anyway, it was a good letter. Here it is:

Hello? Any thinking, responsible Register editors out there? Many Iowans have a difficult time separating The Des Moines Register and RAGBRAI. So when you publish a trailer load of sophomoric drivel like "RAGBRAI Primer: 33 Useful Tips for Newbies on the Ride," your readership could only conclude that RAGBRAI has degenerated into some sort of alcohol-fueled party across Iowa.

Among the tips from so-called pros:

12. Training your liver before is just as important as training your legs.
24. Always carry roadies: one bottle of water and one bottle of booze.

Really? Nothing could be further from the truth. Granted, alcohol attracts some riders and non-riders among the more than 10,000 RAGBRAI participants. It happens. But trust me, that isn't the way most participants enjoy RAGBRAI, Iowa and our communities.

Now, flip to the RAGBRAI website, where RAGBRAI (and therefore the Register) includes among the "Top 10 Recommendations for Rider Safety": Do NOT drink alcohol and ride.

So, which is it for responsible journalists, a responsible newspaper and a responsible ride organizer?

Publishing crap like this in your news columns will turn me off to RAGBRAI and the Register.

— Carl Voss, 36 RAGBRAIs, Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS--I don't spend much time thinking about that bicycle ride. Indeed, the last time I thought about it was a very long time ago when some ridiculous little jackoff wrote a series of stories for the Des Moines Tribune, which then was an afternoon paper, that told about all the screwing and drinking that was taking place after the bicycle riders got off their bikes.  The bicycle riders didn't like that series of stories, and neither did the bicycle riders' families, who were back home in places like Strawberry Point,  Cresco and Blairstown.  Maybe that type of writing was what helped kill the Tribune. I like to ride bicycles, but I've never been on that across-the-state ride, and I'm certain I will never want to be on it.  However, I'm glad Carl Voss wrote his letter. For many years, people both inside and outside this state have regarded the bicycle ride as nothing more than a drunken sex movie.  When I worked at the paper, I recall a story making the rounds just before the bicycle ride began. A woman reporter from the paper, who was planning to go on the bicycle ride,  supposedly told it. I heard it second- or third-hand.  The story went something like this: The woman's husband, who was not a bicycle rider, gave the woman seven condoms and a tent, and said to her, "Now go have a good time." One more thing about Carl Voss's letter. It was such a good one that I'm wondering why he didn't write more stories and take fewer pictures when he worked at the paper. That's not saying there was anything bad about his pictures. They were good, and so is his letter-writing today.]