CHEROKEE — Foreshadowing a moment anticipated for nearly two years, about 30 riders in pedaled toward the morning sun, departing Le Mars in far northwest Iowa on Sunday for the first leg in a weeklong ride. Twenty-three months after the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa last set off on its cross-state trek, it was the start of the annual RAGBRAI pre-ride, a journey that gives the organizers the chance to inspect the route up-close and meet with representatives of the towns through which it will pass. Just seven weeks from now, 12,000 riders are expected to follow in their tire tracks, marking the return of RAGBRAI after a pandemic-induced cancellation in 2020 — the first time the ride had been called off since its beginning in 1973.