With more than 10,000 RAGBRAI riders expected to ride into Creston in about one month, the Creston RAGBRAI Committee’s Ride Right committee reminds Crestonians what to expect on July 25.
“Safety is important and they (residents) shouldn’t be doing certain things when the riders come by,” said Ride Right Committee Co-chairperson Larry Richardson.
Richardson offered several tips for residents to keep in mind that will help keep everyone safe on July 25.
Residents should be careful not to park their cars on official routes coming into and leaving town, as well as be cautious when opening car doors with all of the extra traffic.
Children who want to ride their bicycles on July 25 should also be kept out of the streets because of extra traffic.
After RAGBRAI’s Ride Right team rode its course preview a few weeks ago, members reminded the Ride Right Committee in Creston residents should not spray passing riders with their garden hoses, even if temperatures are hot.
“A lot of them (riders) have equipment on their bike that shouldn’t be wet,” Richardson said. “Also, kids sometimes want to come out and give riders a high-five as they go by, but that’s dangerous, too.”
Pet owners should take extra care to make sure their animals are not running loose on July 25.
The Creston Ride Right Committee will also partner with the Variety Club of Iowa to give away 35 bicycles to children in uptown Creston on July 25.
“The way they went about getting names was through the public school for kids who can’t afford it (a bicycle) or have a need for it,” Richardson said.
Letters to residents along the official RAGBRAI routes will be sent out on July 11. Those letters will describe what residents should expect on the day RAGBRAI passes through.
Housing update
The Creston RAGBRAI Committee has received 192 housing requests from teams or individuals. Only 90 of those 192 requests have been filled thus far.
The deadline for teams and individuals to file housing requests is July 1.
“We still need quite a few more people to come and be host homes for these different-sized groups,” Housing Committee Chairperson Wayne Pantini said. “That’d be very helpful for us. I would encourage folks to come in early so they can hand-select who they want and start talking with the riders and get all the details taken care of early on.”
Of the 102 open requests, Pantini said about 16 are requests from people needing beds in the home. Those group sizes range from one individual to four people.
There are about nine requests from groups looking to park their motor home or bus in a driveway. Those groups range in size from three to 17 people.
About 10 requests remain for individuals or groups looking for floor space in a house, basement or garage. Those groups range in size from one individual to 11 people.
The majority of the remaining requests are individuals and groups looking for places to camp in their tents. About 60 requests remain for tent-camping, ranging in size from one individual to 30 people.
A book containing information on all individuals and groups requesting housing can be found at the Union County Development Association and Creston Chamber of Commerce offices.
“I would say if they’re still on the fence about whether they want to host somebody, we encourage them to come into our office and look through the book of requests and read through the information,” Pantini said. “They can kind of hand-select who they want to host and the size of group they want.”
Host homes do not need to provide meals for riders, just a place to stay the night.
“Thank you to all those who have volunteered their homes already,” Pantini said. “We’ve shown a lot of great hospitality from Creston; we just need a few more (volunteers).”