RAGBRAI is falling apart, but Iowans have always hated cyclists. If you’ve ever dared to wade into the comments section under local news stories about bike lanes in downtown Cedar Rapids, you’re familiar with this hatred. “I’ve been stuck going 15 under the speed limit just because there was a group of bike riders in the street,” one Facebook commenter said under a recent headline. Others chimed in angrily about bike lanes messing with parking options — something Iowans do not take lightly. “How about reverting bike lanes to parking spots?” someone suggested.
If these folks were city planners, downtown Cedar Rapids would be an eight-lane highway that dead-ends into a parking lot.