(Pocahontas)– The 49th edition of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, gets underway this weekend. RAGBRAI gets started on Sunday in Sergeant Bluff. The first overnight stop will be in Ida Grove on Sunday night, and will pass through towns including Battle Creek on the way. The second day of the route on Monday will go through several area communities including Galva, Schaller, Nemaha, Newell, and Fonda. The second day will wind up with an overnight stop in Pocahontas. This marks the first time that Pocahontas is an overnight stop in the history of the bike ride. Pocahontas Mayor Jada Hallberg says they’re now starting to realize that it’s “go time”…
“All those details, you know, that seemed like a far out situation are now here. We’re seeing them come together. And so there is a lot of excitement building in the community, looking forward to Monday and how everything will come together and our people are stepping up to the plate.”
Hallberg says entertainment on the main stage will start at 2pm Monday…
“If you’re familiar with Pocahontas you know about the Bohemian background. Staying with that, we have a little bit of a different type of Bohemian polka band called “Polka Toon”. They’ll start at 2:00 pm. They’ll go until 5:00. We have “Hometown Natives coming back to entertain us and get us ready for the main act, get everybody ready for “Pop Rocks” at 8:00.”
Impact Wrestling is also on the schedule. Hallberg says Pocahontas is still trying to round up volunteers…
“The RAGBRAI officials told us that yep, you’re going to need a lot but don’t be surprised people will still be stepping up at the last minute and we are seeing that and are very grateful to everybody who gives us a couple hours of their time in any capacity to help. Being a small community I’d say that is one of our largest challenges so we are maybe strung a little thin so the good thing is outside people are coming in to help us, just not from Poky but from our county and even relatives of people are coming in from out of town, out of state. They’re coming in to help.”
If interesting in volunteering on Monday, contact Pocahontas City Hall. On Tuesday, the RAGBRAI route will pass through towns including Havelock and Rolfe, on the way to an overnight stop in Emmetsburg. RAGBRAI will wrap up in Lansing on July 30th. This year’s route will cover 462 miles.
(Courtesy Community First Broadcasting station KAYL in Storm Lake)
