When I came home from Minneapolis on Wednesday I had to dodge orange cones or witches hats as they call them in Australia. The road that goes in front of our house was littered with them –carefully protecting the newly painted signs on the pavement that signaled to me that something big is going to be passing through Mason City in July.
RAGBRAI is a big deal. When we first moved here I heard talk of RAGBRAI but had absolutely no idea what it was. It is a non competitive bicycle race across Iowa (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) that is organized by the Des Moines Register. Hence the name. The riders begin in a community at the western border of Iowa and bicycle to a community at the eastern border in the 7 day ride. A lottery is in place to select the 8500 riders who participate in the event. Overnight stops are scheduled and this year Mason City won a highly coveted overnight stop so that means a lot of folks will be not only riding through but spending the night in our fair city.
This year the event will take place from July 20 -26 and Mason City has the supreme honor of hosting the riders on Wednesday. A specially designed logo has been created for the event.
As you can imagine it is going to take a lot of work to get the city ready for the event. I can not even begin to imagine all that the committee has to think of to make this event safe and successful for all who participate. Along with the riders come support cars and people, family, friends, you name it—it is going to be a huge event. Local churches and businesses are making plans and will be serving food and offering services that will be needed by all who visit.
Perhaps the biggest draw is the free concert that will be happening downtown on Wednesday night. Brett Michaels and Warrant will be gracing our little community with their presence. I am sure it is going to be spectacular . I hope Mason City is ready…
I think I might just sit in my front yard with a nice glass of ice tea and say hello as they ride by. What about you? Would you want a front row seat?
If you want to know all there is to know about RAGBRAI click here to take you directly to their website with all of the details about the route, history and stops along the way.
