RAGBRAI history is going on sale. Here's how you can own a piece:

Two major pieces of RAGBRAI history are coming on the market.

John Karras’ primary RAGBRAI bicycle and jersey, which have been on display in the Riding Through History exhibit at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, will be going up for sale after the Karras family’s loan agreement with the state ends in December.

Edie Karras, John’s daughter, is finalizing exact plans for the sale and may defer for other still-developing exhibition possibilities.

“We have been so honored to loan my father's RAGBRAI bike and jersey to the Iowa State Historical Society for the last eight-plus years for the general public to view and admire,” Edie Karras said. “We consider these items — along with another Des Moines Register jersey I keep at home — to be virtually sacred objects; not to be ridden or worn, but sheltered as iconic symbols of legacy, history and tribute.”

More than 50 years ago, John Karras and Donald Kaul, both writers at the Des Moines Register and weekend bicyclists, got a wild hair to pedal across the state and get the paper to pay their expenses by writing stories along the way.

One condition, the Register brass said: You have to invite readers to join the ride.

Karras and Kaul were convinced no one would show at the starting line, but nearly 300 people set out on that first route in 1973. In the five decades since, RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa — has grown into the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.

RAGBRAI’s legacy remains deeply important to the Karras family, so they will be “choosy” as to the buyers, Edie said.

The items represent not only the “blood, sweat and tears of my father and mother,” she added, “but also the state of Iowa; the history of cycling; the American revolution towards fitness and recreational sport; the pride of the Midwest; and the recognition and celebration of small towns, rural elements and kindhearted, spirited and generous people.”

Edie was still a grade-schooler when RAGBRAI started, and even younger when her dad got into cycling seriously. They didn’t talk much about the specifics behind his love for bikes, but Edie knows that while her dad enjoyed cycling as both sport and exercise, he most loved the people he encountered out on the roads.

“I know he was a smoker, and I know how he and all my family were affected by the tragic death of my oldest sister in 1971. Perhaps for dad, cycling was both a physical and mental therapeutic outlet," she said. John's daughter Kathy died in a car accident at age 18. "Regardless, after the first couple of RAGBRAIs, he was hooked, and despite all the hard work and planning, he was absolutely smitten with Iowa.”

The Riding Through History exhibit will be on display for a couple of more years, State Historian Leo Landis said. And he’s got some early ideas for what to include when Karras’ items are removed.

“We’ve been honored to have John’s bike and jersey on display here, and Edie and the Karras family have been more than generous in allowing us to exhibit those,” he said. “We completely understand that they are looking to share them in a different way now.”

More information on the items’ next moves will be released in the coming months, Edie said, but those interested can reach out to her at photosbyedie@gmail.com.

Until then, she hopes riders make a point to visit the museum’s RAGBRAI display — and to get out onto their bicycles.

It’s what her dad would want.

COURTNEY CROWDER, the Register's Iowa Columnist, traverses the state's 99 counties telling Iowans' stories. She co-directed "Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary," which is looking for distribution. Find out more at DesMoinesRegister.com/RAGBRAIdocumentary.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RAGBRAI: Co-founder John Karras' bike and jersey are going on sale