RAGBRAI XLIV route inspection pre-ride to stop in Ottumwa

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Mon June 06 2016
Posted Jun 6, 2016
10,498

OTTUMWA-A team of 40 seasoned cyclists will arrive in Ottumwa on Thursday, June 9 as part of the RAGBRAI® XLIV Route Inspection Pre-Ride. The cyclists will ride for a week beginning June 5 to examine every mile of the RAGBRAI® route in preparation for the actual event beginning July 24.

This is the twelfth year that the annual route pre-ride has taken place 50 days prior to the event. Cyclist joining the ride this year include RAGBRAI® Director T.J. Juskiewicz, RAGBRAI® Assistant Director Scott Garner, RAGBRAI® Merchandise and Media Manager Andrea Parrot, GeoBike’s Rich Ketcham, and State RIDE RIGHT Chairman and Iowa Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Mark Wyatt.

The pre-ride cyclists will arrive in Ottumwa from Centerville on Thursday, June 9, spend the night and leave Ottumwa at 7 a.m. on Friday to ride to Washington with stops in Hedrick, Hayesville, Sigourney, and West Chester. Upon the cyclists’ arrival in Ottumwa, they will meet with local RIDE RIGHT committee members and provide them with instruction regarding the actual event. They will also observe traffic patterns and road conditions.

Daily blog updates and photos of the route inspection week will be posted to the official RAGBRAI® website at www.ragbrai.com. Members of the public are invited to ride along with the inspection team to observe the RAGBRAI® route.

RAGBRAI®
Des Moines Register Media owns and produces RAGBRAI®, a trek across Iowa that’s the world’s oldest, largest and longest annual bicycle ride. RAGBRAI® XLIV riders will overnight in Glenwood, Shenandoah, Creston, Leon, Centerville, Ottumwa, Washington, and Muscatine this year.