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HOME Here’s a day-to-day breakdown of the 2013 RAGBRAI XLI Overnight Host
Communities: Council Bluffs, Saturday July 20 Harlan, Sunday July 21 Perry, Monday July 22 Des Moines, Tuesday July 23 Knoxville, Wednesday July 24 Oskaloosa, Thursday July 25 Fairfield, Friday July 26 Fort Madison, Saturday July
27 For more details: Council Bluffs, Saturday July 20 The border city of 62,230 shares a pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River
with Omaha at the base of which is the soon-to-open River’s Edge Park. RAGBRAI
has come to the seat of Pottawattamie County five times before, most recently in
2009. The starting point of the historic Mormon Trail, Council Bluffs saw many
settlers and explorers pass through its limits, including members of the Lewis
and Clark expedition. The county’s pie-shaped revolving “squirrel cage” jail,
located here, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Harlan, Sunday July 21 Just 5,106 residents will welcome riders to their first overnight stop in the
least populous of this year’s RAGBRAI towns. Located along the West Nishnabotna
River, Harlan is home to the Shelby County Speedway, where the Tiny Lund
memorial races held each fall honor the town’s own Daytona 500 winner of 1963.
And Harlan has more sports claims to fame: its high school has won 12 state
championships in football. This is Harlan’s sixth RAGBRAI, and the first in five
years. Perry, Monday
July 22 At just 4.17 square miles, this bike-friendly town is the smallest on the
route. A host of the annual BRR — Bike Ride to Rippey (coming up Feb. 2) — for
die-hard winter cyclists, Perry pays tribute to another legendary ride at the
historic Hotel Pattee. Themed rooms are devoted to topics as diverse as Central
America, cream and eggs — and, of course, RAGBRAI. It’s the town’s first time
hosting riders since 2001. Des Moines, Tuesday July 23 With some 70 percent of riders coming from out-of-state, Iowa’s capital will
be new to many of this year’s participants; it’s the first time RAGBRAI is
rolling through Des Moines in 16 years. With the Iowa Cubs in residence at
Principal Park, cyclists can check out a home baseball game against the New
Orleans Zephyrs. Knoxville, Wednesday July 24 This town of just 7,313 residents knows a thing or two about speed; the “dirt
racin’ capital of the world” is home to the Knoxville Raceway and the National
Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum. Side-trippers looking to get away from
wheeled recreation can head six miles north to Lake Red Rock, the largest lake
in Iowa. Though it was a pass-through town in 1988 and 1992, Knoxville has
hosted RAGBRAI just twice before — last in 2000. Oskaloosa, Thursday July 25 The home of William Penn University invites cyclists to unwind for the first
time in 10 years, and its fourth time overall. The town was known for its
coal-mining operations until an explosion in 1902 killed 20 workers. Today, it’s
known for its summertime Sweet Corn Serenade, an acclaimed Christmas parade, and
the Oskaloosa Municipal Band, which plays Thursdays in downtown’s city park. Fairfield, Friday July
26 Foodies can look forward to a night in this southeastern Iowa town, which
claims to have more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. (Granted,
Fairfield is just over six square miles.) And art lovers will find something to
gaze at in more than 25 galleries. Home to the Maharishi University of
Management, Fairfield also features a sub-city devoted to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
teacher of transcendental meditation, where weary riders can “restore balance”
at the Raj Maharishi Ayurveda Health Spa. Fairfield last welcomed RAGBRAI in
1997. Fort
Madison, Saturday July 27 It’s been 10 years since Fort Madison’s 10,980 residents welcomed RAGBRAI to
their banks of the Mississippi, in the southeastern corner of Iowa. Fort Madison
is known for its historic downtown, the oldest prison west of the Mississippi
(although a new prison is being built), and the world’s longest double-deck
swing-span bridge — the last remaining of its kind. But as much as it looks to
the past, Fort Madison is also nodding to the future as the home of Siemens’
wind turbine blade manufacturing. The town previously wrapped up RAGBRAI in
1975, 1988, 1997 and 2003. The complete route including roads and pass-through towns will be
announced in mid-March. |
