Iowa's Ride director says mediators are trying to bring him, RAGBRAI together

Tyler Jett | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption RAGBRAI 2019: Riders dip tires, celebrate in Keokuk Check out the celebration at the Mississippi River while RAGBRAI riders participate in the Biggest Dam Dip on the Mississip' July 27, 2019, in Keokuk.

Iowa's Ride Director T.J. Juskiewicz said twice over the last month that third-party mediators are communicating with him and representatives of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, trying to mend fences.

A representative for RAGBRAI said this week she wasn't sure whom Juskiewicz is talking about — though she is open to discussions.

Juskiewicz's assertion most recently came during a town hall in Ames on Sunday to promote his new ride. While fielding questions, he wondered aloud why no one had asked him about whether he could reunite with RAGBRAI, which is owned by Gannett Co. Inc. (Gannett also owns the Des Moines Register.)

"I don't think there's anything not doable or a compromise," he said in a video posted to the Iowa's Ride Facebook page. "… I’ve had conversations. There’s been third-party mediators that have started conversations who’ve also had conversations with them."

The longtime RAGBRAI director — who left to start the competing Iowa's Ride, scheduled for the same week in July — was quoted giving a similar account to the Cedar Rapids Gazette last month. But Anne Lawrie, senior marketing manager for events at the Gannett-owned USA Today Network, said Wednesday she has not met with any mediator. She also said she does not know of any other Gannett employee who has.

Juskiewicz did not return a call, text message or email Wednesday asking who the mediator is. He also did not return the same messages from a Register reporter Oct. 23, after he made the assertion to the Gazette.

Lawrie said she is interested in a meeting.

"RAGBRAI is open to conversations if it leads to one ride in July," she said.

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Juskiewicz has said he left RAGBRAI because Gannett officials censored a statement he wanted to issue distancing the ride from the Register after a negative response to a profile a reporter for the paper wrote about Carson King. The Iowa State fan became a sensation after his appearance holding a sign seeking beer money on ESPN's "College Gameday" in Ames went viral and morphed into a fundraising drive that led to a $3 million donation to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.

During his appearance in Ames on Sunday, Juskiewicz said he stood by his decision to leave. But he also said he was interested in coming together with Gannett.

"If you look at all the stuff that happened to get to this day, you will know my heart was in the right place," he said. "I absolutely love this event with every ounce of my existence. People that know me, absolutely. When it became apparent that it wasn’t going to work — I cannot stand in front of people and say the not-God’s-honest truth. And then even after that, we’ve had conversations."

Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Register. Contact him at 515-284-8215 and tjett@registermedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.