RAGBRAI's almost here; thousands of bicyclists to be in county on Friday
Chickasaw County is now less than two days away from welcoming thousands of bicyclists taking part in RAGBRAI, and New Hampton officials on Wednesday sent out a map that shows the route not only that cyclists will be taking but also the roads support vehicles will be taking Friday.
“We encourage traffic to avoid the route the riders are on,” wrote New Hampton Economic Development Assistant Megan Baltes, who is serving on New Hampton’s RAGBRAI Committee. “Please make sure your employees are aware of this.”
RAGBRAI will make an overnight stop on Thursday and will then head to Ionia, New Hampton and Lawler before entering Fayette County, where the route includes Waucoma, Alpha and Hawkeye before riders spend the night in West Union.
Lawler will serve as the “meet town,” where support vehicles will meet up with riders.
In New Hampton, Baltes reminded residents that Main Street and several downtown side streets — Walnut, Chestnut and Locust — will close last Thursday afternoon and remained closed until 3 p.m. on Friday.
The best news of all, though, for area towns ready to roll out the welcome mat is this: The weather is going to be absolutely gorgeous — with temperatures starting out in the early 50s and rising to the mid-70s by mid-afternoon.