Down to the wire: Last-minute RAGBRAI visit preparations under way

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

FAQ FROM THE CHARLES CITY RAGBRAI COMMITTEE

The “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa” is expected to bring 20,000-25,000 visitors to stay overnight in our fair city. While this may result in a few inconveniences to residents for a day or so, it also is a huge economic and tourism boost for our community.

The Charles City RAGBRAI Committee want Charles Citians to be ready and to enjoy this special day as we show off our community. Therefore they have provided the following summary of what to expect and a few suggestions to make residents’ lives a little easier that day:

Answers to your questions

Most questions regarding RAGBRAI, like routes and other maps, entertainment, activities, etc., can be answered by going online to www.charlescityragbrai.com or reading the special RAGBRAI tabloid that was in Monday’s Charles City Press. Extra copies of the tabloid can be found around town where you buy the Press.

You can also follow along on Facebook at Charles City RAGBRAI, as well as Twitter and Instagram @CC_RAGBRAI.

Local radio station 95.9 KCHA FM will also be covering the action.

If you meet riders who have questions you cannot answer, please send them to one of our Information Centers (main center located at the High School/Middle School Campus or downtown at the corner of Court St. and Main St.)

Getting Around

Main Street and North Jackson Street downtown will be closed to vehicle traffic up to Hulin Street as the bicycle riders will be coming in on 11th Street, down South Main and into the downtown area. The route turns at Hulin and heads toward the High School via 6th Avenue, F Street and Owen Street. RAGBRAI support vehicles will be coming into town on South Grand Avenue and checking in at the Kmart parking lot to see where their assigned space is around town. Driving anywhere downtown will likely be congested and slow moving. Employees and customers alike should plan on parking elsewhere and walking to businesses or RAGBRAI activities on Main and Jackson.

Better yet, there will be a special RAGBRAI shuttle service operating Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Thursday, where for $1 you can hop on and let someone else drive you downtown and back. There will be four different color-coded routes offered: Orange covers the Armory, College Grounds, High School/Middle School campus, Messiah Lutheran Church and I.C. Ballfields. Blue covers the Sportsmen’s Park and Washington School areas. Green goes to South Grand Avenue, Andres Memorial Park and the Kmart parking lot. Red, meanwhile, goes to Wildwood Park and Lion’s Field Park. The route map can be found in the tabloid as well as www.charlescityragbrai.com. People wearing the official purple Charles City RAGBRAI t-shirt or orange volunteer t-shirt can ride for FREE!

If you don’t need to drive, don’t. That includes cars, trucks and motorcycles. If you need to drive, leave early and plan your route according to the RAGBRAI maps. Bikes are a great way to get around, but please stay off the official RAGBRAI routes to avoid accidents.

Officially licensed RAGBRAI golf carts will be running around the streets on Wednesday, but unless your cart or ATV is officially registered with the CC RAGBRAI Committee, it is illegal to use on the street.

Entertainment and Activities

Most of the official entertainment and activities for RAGBRAI will be on North Jackson Street and around the Central Park area, including both entertainment stages. Please see the tabloid or website for full schedule and map. All Charles City RAGBRAI entertainment and activities are open to the general public.

Cell phone service

With an extra 20,000 or so cell phone users in town, some cell phone service Wednesday may be slower than usual or flat out unavailable at times due to the systems being overwhelmed. Different service providers will be affected differently. Plan accordingly and be patient.

Groceries and Ice

The common sense approach here is to go to the store and buy your groceries and ice Tuesday, before the crowds arrive. Otherwise you will probably be standing in line and find a lot of things in short supply or sold out on Wednesday.

Gas

Speaking of lines, it would be smart to gas up by Tuesday night before the hundreds of support vehicles start showing up Wednesday morning.

Have fun with it!

Having RAGBRAI in town is a special and rare occurrence. They will be in and out before you know it, so please have a little patience and understanding knowing this is a one-day deal. Better yet, enjoy and have fun with it. RAGBRAI is a spectacle to behold and a great chance to meet and interact with riders from around the world. In addition, hosting RAGBRAI offers local residents a chance to sample food vendors and enjoy entertainment that they usually don’t see in town. This is supposed to be about having fun and celebrating Iowa, so join in on the fun and celebrating!

 

Volunteers are still needed and can still sign up to help out.

“We’ll take anyone and everyone,” said Kelsey Forsyth, one of the Charles City RAGBRAI Committee executive chairpersons in charge of volunteers.

“We need ’em everywhere,” she said.

Persons interested in volunteering can contact Forsyth by calling First National Bank at 641-228-5315 and asking for her, or by contacting the committee on the Charles City RAGBRAI Facebook page, facebook.com/ccragbrai.

An estimated 15,000 people or more are expected to visit Charles City Wednesday as part of the annual cross-state bicycle trek known as RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

Riders will likely beginning to trickle in Wednesday morning as some early risers attempt to beat the heat and the crowded roads by pedaling over early from Tuesday’s overnight stop in Clear Lake. The stream will turn into a torrent through the day as bicyclists by the thousands roll into town.

In addition, several thousand more people will come by vehicle for support teams, law enforcement, health care, baggage handling and more, and area residents are also expected to drop by to join in on the fun and free entertainment.

Phoebe Pittman, Charles City RAGBRAI Committee hospitality chairwoman, encouraged every local resident in town on Wednesday to help make the visitors feel welcome.

“We want lots of people waving, welcoming them into town,” she said. “For houses along the route, for people hosting — decorate. Put up a welcome sign. Put out a bicycle with a pot of flowers.

“If your kids are sitting around bored, have them make a sign,” she said. “Those kind of things will make riders think, ‘Oh, this is America’s Home Town.’”

Pittman echoed the call for volunteers still being needed.

There are a number of photo sites being set up around town with the Charles City RAGBRAI logo, such as the Bayou Bend Park with the cable bridge in the background, the Revival statue, Central Park, the public library, whitewater course, Floyd County Museum, Charles City Art Center and several others.

“We’re still looking for volunteers to take rider’s phones and take their pictures at these sites,” Pittman said.

And the committee is looking for help with cleanup during the event and on Thursday after the riders have left.

“It sounds like a dirty job but it really isn’t,” Pittman said. “Mostly it’s just pulling bags from containers and tossing them in dumpsters” from 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Eric Whipple, the Charles City fire chief and and a RAGBRAI committee executive chairman, said he wants to encourage people living along the bike route to make arrangements for alternate parking rather than parking on the street.

“No parking” signs will be placed by Wednesday morning, he said.

“Maybe park around the corner and walk around,” he suggested.

He said there is a possibility of rain in the forecast, with a chance for severe weather.

There are storm shelters established around town in schools, churches and other buildings that should have enough room for people camping, he said. The shuttle buses will begin transporting riders to the shelters if severe weather threatens.

For people who are hosting riders on their lawn, be prepared to take them into your home if severe weather threatens, Whipple said.

“We’re keeping  very close eye on the weather and keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. “Hopefully if we do get anything it’s just rain.”

People in the city Wednesday should also be aware that cellular phone service may be spotty.

“Some of the service providers are bringing in signal boosters,” Whipple said, “but there still may be some interruptions.”

Text service should work OK, but cellular voice calls may not always be available through the day, especially during peak times, he said.

Forsyth encouraged people in Charles City to use the shuttles that will be running Wednesday. Routes were printed in the special RAGBRAI sections in Monday’s Press, and are attached to this story at www.charlescitypress.com

Shuttle rides are free for people wearing Charles City RAGBRAI T-shirts or volunteer shirts. For others rides are $1.

“It will be a lot easier and a lot less frustrating” to use the shuttles instead of trying to drive around town Wednesday, Forsyth said. The shuttles are definitely for the city residents’ use as well as RAGBRAI participants, she said.