SIOUX CITY | The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will once again start in Sioux City in July. The ride began in August 1973 with a few hundred people departing Sioux City, but the scope has since exploded.
The event that's traditionally held the third full week in July is a rolling party on wheels, which people anticipate for months.
The ride isn't a race, but there are speedy riders to go along with more plodding-pace people who are as interested in finding the next great pie, cheeseburger or smoothie in quaint Iowa towns.
An estimated 10,000 bikers will participate most days, but the first day ride from Sioux City to Storm Lake on July 19 could draw around 20,000. With all the friends and family along, 30,000 are expected in Sioux City for the opening weekend of the 43rd RAGBRAI, said Erika Newton, executive director of the city's Event Facilities Department.
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"People will be quite entertained for the weekend," she said.
Newton said the first cities on each yearly event get a chance to make more of a mark on people, since participants start arriving as much as four days before. She expects city hotels to be nearly full.
"We are encouraging people to come a day earlier so they can experience Sioux City longer," Newton said.
The west side of downtown will be the main staging spot for activities. New options along Pearl Street will be a draw, including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which opened in 2014. Hard Rock on July 17 will feature some big music acts in the outdoor venue, which will be later announced.
“We have a couple of dynamite rock bands on the line," Hard Rock's General Manager Todd Moyer said.
The casino is near the Tyson Events Center, which again will be a prime place for RAGBRAI options such as food and bike gear. That includes a big RAGBRAI expo, where scads of tents will display new bicycle technology. Also there will be the big concert by Huey Lewis and The News on July 18, the night before riders leave.
The number of extra visitors can be bracing, but the weekend of RAGBRAI will be a much-welcomed boost for businesses, said Heather Poncelet, manager at Buffalo Alice on Historic Fourth Street.
“We’re going to have two really, really busy days that we can rely on,” Poncelet said. “It will be hugely profitable for all of us.”
The ride has begun in Sioux City seven times, most recently in 2010.
Lots of Siouxlanders relish the energy and fun-loving spirit the RAGBRAI participants bring. They engage in such traditions as dipping bicycle tires in the Missouri River water at the start of the ride.
The RAGBRAI length is more than 400 miles. After leaving Sioux City, the riders will have overnights in Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Eldora, Cedar Falls, Hiawatha and Iowa River Landing/Coralville before ending in Davenport.
