RAGBRAI 33 Headlines

[Mark Wyatt]

RAGBRAI XXXIII goes north

By LAURIE MANSFIELD
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
January 28, 2005

The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa takes a northern route this summer across the top of the state. The 479 mile ride starts in LeMars and finishes a week later on the Mississippi River in Guttenberg.

Host towns for the overnight stops will be LeMars, Sheldon, Estherville, Algona, Northwood, Cresco and West Union. Although the ride has passed through LeMars and Northwood, a small town four miles from the Minnesota border, the ride has never overnighted in the two towns before.

Although the complete route will not be announced until February 20, RAGBRAI host Brian Duffy offers this peek at the ride's difficulty: "Northern routes are generally flatter terrain," he said. At least, he said with a smile, until the ride hits the river valleys in the northeast part of the state. To register, go to www.ragbrai.org. Deadline is April 1.

[Mark Wyatt]

RAGBRAI's coming back to Algona

January 28, 2005

The Des Moines Register announced today (Jan. 28) that the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) will make an overnight stop here.

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Algona Chamber of Commerce Vicki Mallory confirmed she had held a phone conversation with RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz to begin preparations for the thousands of cyclist who will overnight here on Tuesday, July 26.

The ride last visited Algona in 1999. According to Mallory this will be the ride's fourth visit to Algona and its third overnight stay.

"It's wonderful," Mallory said. "This is a great opportunity to showcase our community and it will provide a great boost to the community because it creates so much traffic in town."

Mallory and chamber volunteers will begin meeting soon to set up a housing committee, and as the ride draws closer, Algonans will be asked to help accommodate the riders with camping spaces or the use of rooms in their homes if available. Hotels will be booked solid and restaurant owners can also look forward to an influx of business.

"This is truly a community event," Mallory said.

Mallory said Algona will likely play host to a street dance that evening, but the event plans are just getting under way.

According to the Register's website the 479-mile ride will take place over the course of a week beginning at LeMars and ending at Guttenberg on the Mississippi River. In addition to Algona, the Register said riders will stay over night at LeMars, Sheldon, Estherville, Northwood, Cresco and West Union.

The complete route will not be announced until February 20.

To register to participate in the event, go to www.ragbrai.org. The deadline is April 1.

[Mark Wyatt]

Sunday, January 30, 2005 6:01 AM CST
RAGBRAI to buzz Northeast Iowa cities

By JESSICA MILLER and JEFF REINITZ, Courier Staff Writers

CRESCO --- Excitement was building in Cresco and West Union as the news spread that RAGBRAI will spend the night in both towns this July.

RAGBRAI, the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, announced its route Friday.

The week-long ride across Iowa will begin in Le Mars on Iowa's western border July 24 and end July 30 in Guttenberg at the Mississippi River.

The riders are scheduled to make an overnight stop Thursday July 28th in Cresco before moving on to West Union.

RAGBRAI spent the night in Cresco nine years ago.

Cresco Mayor Ronda Hughes learned Thursday that riders would return to the town. The town of 3,800 was told to expect as many as 15,000 additional people to stop.

"Oh it will be a great day. Our businesses, our civic groups, our churches all have the opportunity to work together to fund raise for special activities and present a great welcome to the riders of RAGBRAI," Hughes said.

Riders will find that Cresco has added additional campsites, a fitness center and a nature center since the last overnight stop nine years ago.

Hughes said the town built showers and other infrastructure for the previous ride, which remain intact.

West Union, which has also hosted the grueling bike ride in recent years, is geared up for another visit, said Mayor Merlin Dunt.

"It's quiet impressive. It's phenomenal how it grows during the day, Dunt said. "When you get 10,000 people in one day, its quite overwhelming."

He said RAGBRAI organizers have brochures to help host cities prepare for the tour. Top features include food stands, bathrooms, camping areas and, of course, a large bar area.

"They are all going to be thirsty and probably hot," Dunt said.

He expects festivities to reach a crescendo at West Union because it's the last overnight stop of the ride before reaching the end at Guttenberg July 30.

Although it is only about 50 miles between West Union and Guttenberg, the trip will likely be the most challenging because of the hills.

More information may be obtaineed on the event's Web site at www.ragbrai.org.

Jessica Miller can be contacted at [phone] or [e-mail].

[Mark Wyatt]

Editorials
Bike route heralds summer

By REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD

January 29, 2005

The RAGBRAI route is announced at exactly the right time each year. Six months have passed since riders dipped their bike tires in the Mississippi. They've forgotten about sore butts, downpours, gravel and headwinds. Only good memories remain.

That's the thing about RAGBRAI. It's magical. That single week in a hot, Iowa July plays tricks on the mind. As 10,000 riders from all over the world pedal across this great state, the toughest moments are
transformed into great, even comic, memories.

Like when it rained so hard on Thursday last year that people wondered whether it was possible to drown while pedaling a bike. Everyone wore garbage bags as make-shift raincoats. And garbage bags don't breathe. A stretch of gravel had turned to mud. Tents were wet.

The day, well, sucked.

But not really. Now in our minds, it was great fun.

A new route promises another week of memories for participants and the thousands of Iowans who share their towns. Announced in the middle of winter, it brings hope of the summer to come; when Iowa is so green and the skies are so blue and both go on for
miles and miles. This year will showcase the flat terrain of northern Iowa and communities like Sheldon and Algona and Cresco.

That's something to look forward to.

The best way to truly celebrate and enjoy the landscape and people of Iowa is from the seat of a bike. RAGBRAI riders will do that again this year.

And they know all the memories will be good ones.

[Mark Wyatt]

Doak: The invisible RAGBRAI reinforces community spirit

500 trash boxes, 7,000 showers and countless hours of volunteer help

By RICHARD DOAK
REGISTER COLUMNIST
January 31, 2005

The 2005 RAGBRAI route is set, and eight Iowa towns have let themselves in for a ton of work.

Actually, many more towns than that will knock themselves out trying to feed, hydrate and entertain 10,000 bicycle tourists July 24-30 as they pedal across Iowa. The eight have the biggest jobs because they are the starting and ending towns and the six places where the ride will pause overnight.

All the bucolic photos you've seen of bikes wending their way through the countryside fail to convey the countless hours of volunteer labor that go into making the whole thing work. RAGBRAI would be impossible without the good cheer of thousands of Iowans who pitch in for their communities.

This is the invisible RAGBRAI, the hidden part that isn't about the physical challenge of riding a bike 500 miles or about the zany team costumes or the camaraderie of riders from around the country. It's about community building, which is what happens when a town organizes itself to tackle a big job.

Imaging living in a town with a population of, say, 2,000 and being asked to feed and house 15,000 people overnight. That's the number that might be in town if you figure 10,000 riders and another 5,000 support drivers and others following along. It would be a seven-fold overnight increase in the town's population, equivalent to Des Moines putting up 1.5 million people.

The logistics of hosting RAGBRAI overnight are staggering, and we at the Register probably don't say enough to publicly thank the communities that undertake it. That's one purpose of this column - to say thanks to Le Mars, Sheldon, Estherville, Algona, Northwood, Cresco, West Union, Guttenberg and all the other towns that ever have or ever will host RAGBRAI.

But if RAGBRAI is working as it should, the communities get something back, too, beyond whatever economic boost may occur. They get the experience of scouring their community for volunteer talent, putting it to work and building relationships that will last long after the riders are gone and the last empty plastic cup from the beer garden is hauled away. A team that successfully hosts RAGBRAI can use the experience as practice for drawing other visitors to town or accomplishing some big civic project.

Jim Green, who retired last year after 13 years as RAGBRAI director, used to tell host communities that the job is too big to be handled by the usual small group that volunteers for everything. A successful RAGBRAI town must reach beyond the usual volunteers. Green used to say RAGBRAI won't consider it a successful visit until every person in town is somehow involved.

One of Green's favorite stories is the volunteer who was shedding tears as the cyclists left her town. When asked why, she explained her family had moved to the town several years ago but had never really felt part of the community until getting involved on a RAGBRAI committee. They were tears of joy.

Green was succeeded this year by T.J. Juskiewicz, who will carry forward the same philosophy of RAGBRAI as not just a bike ride but a community builder.

So how big a job is it to host RAGBRAI? The RAGBRAI office put together a three-ring binder containing more than 300 pages of suggestions, representing the accumulated wisdom of the communities that have welcomed the ride over the past 32 years. The work for the towns begins now, just after the overnight towns are selected in late January, and lasts until the ride arrives in late July.

The handbook recommends creation of an advisory committee representing a cross section of community leadership, the appointment of three co-chairs and about 20 working committees. The committees involve finding campgrounds and private housing, coordinating food and entertainment, setting up hospitality and information centers, law enforcement and medical support, safety arrangements, finance, sanitation, electrical service and shuttle-bus service between the campgrounds and the food and entertainment, and other necessities. There also need to be emergency plans in case of a tornado or other disaster.

More than 1,000 volunteers will be needed. According to the handbook, overnight towns also will need to supply an estimated:

• 500 trash boxes

• 114 kegs of beer

• 22,000 printed tabloids that provide local information

• 103 portable toilets

• 170 medical treatments

• 2,600 homes willing to let riders stay

• 10 entertainment venues

• 7,000 showers

RAGBRAI is the oldest and largest cross-state bicycle tour in America. It simply couldn't happen anyplace else.

That's partly due to Iowa's extensive network of paved county roads, which makes it possible for the big ride to cross the state without unduly disrupting traffic on heavily traveled highways. Also, Iowa towns tend to be spaced roughly 10 miles apart, which happens to be about the right distance between rest stops for a cyclist.

But probably the biggest reason for RAGBRAI's uniqueness is the willingness of so many communities to pitch in and show the hospitality that has made the ride justifiably known among cyclists from around the world.

Only in Iowa.

Community is really what this state is all about.

[Mark Wyatt]

RAGBRAI XXXIII coming to Cresco

Cresco will be overnight host on July 28 of Des Moines Register's famous bike ride across Iowa

By KEN BECKER, News Editor

There're coming.

Thousands of bikers and support people will be staying the night in Cresco as the community has been invited to host RAGBRAI XXXIII on Thursday night, July 28.

The invitation was extended last Thursday by RAGBRAI officials and Mayor Ronda Hughes accepted it on behave of the town.

"We are extending an invitation for Cresco to be the sixth overnight stop for RAGBRAI," said T.J. Juskiewicz, RAGBRAI director for the Register. "Your official host from RAGBRAI will be Brian Duffy, Register front page cartoonist who has served as the RAGBRAI host for a number of years."

"We are very happy to accept this invitation and look forward to the opportunity," remarked Mayor Hughes. "The community of Cresco is excited about the opportunity to host RAGBRAI and we look forward to it with great expectations."

The official invitation was greeted by applause from about a dozen Cresco residents on hand at the Cresco Chamber of Commerce board room for the announcement.

This will mark the second time that Cresco has been an overnight host of RAGBRAI, the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. In July 1996, Cresco was also the sixth night host of the seven-night bike tour of Iowa after serving as a noon hour stop in 1993. The general chairman of the 1996 event was Tom Barnes, who was on hand for Thursday's announcement.

"I think this is fantastic," said Barnes. "We had a great time in 1996 and I would expect it will be a great time again this year. It is an ideal way to showcase our community and all of Howard County."

RAGBRAI will bring thousands of people to Cresco for the night. The official RAGBRAI participants selected by lottery, number 10,000 bikers plus up to another 5,000 support people. In addition, there are non-official participants that could push the total staying overnight in Cresco to 15,000 or more.

This will mark the 33rd annual RAGBRAI, which is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. The ride, a leisurely ride across Iowa and not a race, begins in western Iowa on Sunday, July 24, and concludes for seven days, ending at the Mississippi River on Saturday, July 30.

The overnight stops in addition to Cresco on Thursday night will be LeMars, where people will stay Saturday night in anticipation of beginning the ride Sunday, July 24, Sheldon on Sunday night, Estherville on Monday, Algona on Tuesday, Northwood on Wednesday, Cresco, and the final night at West Union before concluding the trip on Saturday at Guttenberg.

The exact route will be announced in the Des Moines Sunday Register in its Feb. 20 edition. No one will know until then how the bike riders will travel from Northwood to Cresco or how they will leave Cresco on Friday to ride to West Union. The announcement on Feb. 20 also will include the towns that will host RAGBRAI as pass through towns.

Duffy from the Register said he is impressed with Cresco and has no doubt the community will be able to host RAGBRAI, especially given the success of the 1996 experience. "I think we should have been back before now," he told those gathered, referring to the nine year wait between RAGBRAI visits. "You have a lot to offer."

The community is better equipped to handle RAGBRAI this time than it was nine years ago. Additions include the Cresco Fitness Center, camping at the Fairgrounds and a new campground at Vernon Springs, which is expected to be ready early this summer.

It will take a large number of volunteers to help host RAGBRAI XXXIII and an important community meeting is scheduled tomorrow (Thursday) night in the auditorium at Crestwood High School. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will include outlining nearly 20 committees that will be organized to make the experience a success.

"This is going to take a lot of people and the cooperation of groups, organizations and individuals in order to be the best hosts we can be," said Mayor Hughes. "I strongly encourage everyone to attend Thursday night's meeting to learn what needs to be done and for people to volunteer to be a part of this great experience. We are inviting everyone, people who have lived here all their lives to people who just moved to the Cresco area, to participate."

The committee structure explaining how the event will be organized locally will be explained. People will have the opportunity to fill out volunteer cards, stipulating which committee(s) they prefer. Tom Barnes and Linda Miller, two of three co-chair members, will conduct the meeting.

[Mark Wyatt]

Easy rider

RAGBRAI XXXIII cuts across the northern part of Iowa, offering a flat, shorter route.

By RICHARD DOAK and BRIAN DUFFY
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
February 20, 2005
Is this heaven? No, it's Kansa . . . er, Iowa. RAGBRAI XXXIII might just seem like a ride through Kansas this year.

Five of the seven days of the 2005 Register Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa feature relatively easy terrain. The final two days include some big ups and downs as the ride heads into the Mississippi bluff lands, but this route isn't as hilly as some in northeast Iowa.

After years of proving to newcomers that Iowa isn't as flat as they think it is, this will be a RAGBRAI that's an exception to the rule. It's flatter than most and will feature:

• The fifth least feet of climbing of any RAGBRAI.

• A tie for the 16th fewest miles, at 485.

• Overall the fifth easiest ride, judged by the combination of miles and climb.

And for all the whiners who complained about a few little stretches of gravel last year (just because it happened to rain on a gravel day), the 2005 route has no gravel (barring last-minute route changes).

For the reasonably well-conditioned cyclist, this RAGBRAI should be a breeze.

Figuratively speaking - literally speaking, a breeze could be a problem.

The flat, open terrain of northern Iowa offers magnificent vistas, but almost no shelter. In heat and head winds, flat ground quickly loses its appeal. So daydream about a mild summer and gentle tailwinds, but train yourself for a tough ride, just in case.

The weather is the biggest unknown on any RAGBRAI, but there is never any uncertainty about the warm welcome in the overnight communities and the pass-through towns. RAGBRAI XXXIII revisits several of the most well-remembered towns. (How many past riders have a photo of themselves by the world's biggest bullhead at Crystal Lake or the home of Bily Clocks in Spillville?)

Along with many old favorites, there will be a new starting point this year and one new overnight stop.

Le Mars, on the Floyd River in Plymouth County, has been a pass-through town three times previously but never the launching point for RAGBRAI.

Northwood to Guttenberg
Northwood in Worth County is a town of 2,050 just four miles from the Minnesota border. RAGBRAI passed through in 1996 but has never stopped overnight. Northwood's main street is being restored. A county fairground is being improved, and a city park on a bend in the Shell Rock River is described as one of the most pleasant park sites in Iowa.

There are also three new pass-through towns - Sanborn in northwest Iowa, Stacyville and Lime Springs in the northeast.

If this year's ride has a theme, it might be seen as a tour of northern Iowa's varied cultural roots. The starting point, Le Mars, had an unusual beginning as an experimental place for the second sons of British gentry to learn about agriculture.

From there, the parade of Iowa heritages passes through Dutch country in Sioux County. Fort Defiance State Park at Estherville is a reminder that American Indians once occupied the vast prairie.

There is a wide swath with a Scandinavian flavor featuring big, sturdy Lutheran churches, a restored pioneer farm near Wallingford and a statue dedicated to Norwegian settlers at Lake Mills.

Then it's onward through Amish settlements in Mitchell and Howard counties, and chances to experience Czech heritage in Protivin and Spillville. The ending town, Guttenberg, rests at the foot of spectacular Mississippi River bluffs and features German architecture.

Here's a day-by-day look at what to expect:

Day by day
Day 1 - Near Le Mars, Iowa's steep Loess Hills fade into gentle swells. Expect a few hills as the ride begins and scenery that includes picturesque views of terraced fields. The hills and the terraces continue into Sioux County and through the side-by-side neighbors of Alton and Orange City. The land becomes more gentle approaching the overnight in Sheldon.

Day 2 - The route follows a checkerboard path as it strikes out across the broad, flat prairies of northern Iowa, heading south, then east, then north, then east for a long stretch that skirts the Iowa Great Lakes region at Milford. A notable landmark is a wind farm to the north as the route approaches Milford. Then it's north into Estherville on undulating, occasionally rough road. At more than 84 miles, this is the longest ride of the week.
Day 3 - The ride heads south into what was once the marshy prairie pothole region of Iowa, turning east across the West Fork of the Des Moines River and curling around the edge of scenic Ingham Lake. After passing through Ringsted ("A Small Town with Big Ideas"), the route heads due south for about 16 straight miles to Whittemore. This could be a grueling stretch if there happens to be a strong south wind. The route continues on mostly flat ground and through some scenic woods on the approach to Algona on the East Fork of the Des Moines River for the overnight. Day 3 also features the optional John Karras memorial loop for those riders who want to experience a 100-mile day.

Day 4 - Continuing through flat to gently rolling open country, the ride heads north and east through the prairie communities of Titonka, Woden and Crystal Lake, north through Thompson, then due east through Lake Mills and beyond toward the Top of Iowa Welcome Center on Interstate Highway 35. The crossing of the interstate is the traditional halfway point. It's just five miles before arriving at Northwood for the night.

Day 5 - This day continues mostly due east, with a few north-south jogs. The terrain continues to be mostly flat with some undulations. There is nice scenery approaching St. Ansgar along the Cedar River. The roads are a little rough in some spots, and occasional hills begin to appear. Heading toward Cresco for the night, riders may notice some Amish farms along the highways.

Day 6 - The land begins to change beyond Cresco. Hills become more frequent, and the prairie begins to be dotted with woodlands. There are picturesque villages such as Spillville and Fort Atkinson. There's a long hill coming out of St. Lucas and several other climbs through scenic country heading southeast into West Union.
Day 7 - This is the shortest ride, about 54 miles, but it also features probably the steepest hill, an 8 percent grade climbing out of Fawn Hollow at St. Olaf. This is followed by a series of lesser hills until it turns onto a portion of the River Bluffs Scenic Byway, which offers fine views along a ridge.

The day is a mixture of hills, woods and limestone cuts on sometimes bumpy roads. Riders might glimpse an occasional eagle soaring above the bluffs. The last leg follows the Great River Road southward along the crest of the Mississippi bluffs. Extreme caution is urged on the long, steep descent into the valley before arriving in Guttenberg.

TO APPLY

•See Page XX or you can submit an application online (www.ragbrai.org) as well as download an application for mailing.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

April 1. Results of a lottery to select 8,500 riders for the week will be available May 1. (RAGBRAI has been able to accept everyone in the lottery since 1998, but there are no guarantees.) Daily passes will remain available after the April 1.

FEES

The cost is $110 for riders and $35 for nonriders for the full week. Up to three daily passes may be obtained for $25 per day for riders and $15 for nonriders. A vehicle pass is $30.

MORE INFORMATION

Call [phone]; visit http://www.RAGBRAI.org; e-mail [e-mail]; or write the RAGBRAI office at P.O. Box 622, Des Moines, Ia. 50303-0622.