RAGBRAI XXXIII coming to Cresco

Tue February 08 2005
Posted Feb 8, 2005
4,064

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.