RAGBRAI LIII rolls through Dunlap
LEE ZION, EDITOR
Harrison County Times-Reporter
The 53rd annual RAGBRAI came through town Sunday.
RAGBRAI, or the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, was created by the De Moines Register. It is the oldest, largest, and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.
The event showcases small towns throughout the state, and Dunlap got a chance to welcome about 30,000 cyclists through town.
Jill Schaben, executive director with the Dunlap Community Development Corporation, said that when she learned Dunlap had been selected, she alerted the city council. They knew that the ride would be a tremendous undertaking.
The committee divided the work into several different categories — vendors, routes, signs, support vehicle parking, communications and volunteers, she said.
The hardest part of organizing the event was keeping the community engaged over several months of planning. And the most fun part?
“You’re looking at it,” Schaben said she enjoyed talking with the cyclists as they came through.
The atmosphere was joyous and cheerful. By 2 p.m., the cyclists got on their rides — mostly bikes, but a few tricycles, recumbent tricycles and at least one recumbent tandem — and headed east, which will end in Dubuque, IA on July 25.
