Welcome refuge

Exhaustion. Joy. Stress.

All of these and more were felt by the approximate 200 community volunteers who helped accommodate the rolling city of 20,000 for an overnight stay in Creston Monday as part of the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.

And, add one more — relief. It’s all over, until next time.

Clean break

By Tuesday afternoon, when the last of the approximate 17,000 riders and their support personnel had moved on to the next stop in Leon, there was barely a trace of evidence that Creston’s population had more than doubled the past 24 hours.

"(Parks and Recreation Director) Mark Huff told me his staff could hardly find any trash on the grounds during the day, let alone afterward when nothing was left behind," said Ellen Gerharz, Creston Chamber of Commerce executive director and a member of the city's RAGBRAI Executive Committee.

The Des Moines Register’s decision to plot a southern Iowa route for its 44th event for cyclists gave Creston a chance to showcase itself for the first time in 19 years. The atmosphere was considerably different than the 1997 stop, partly because of the demographics of the riders.

The average age among RAGBRAI participants is now 48, with 60 percent age 40 and above. It was a younger, more unpredictable mob of people in 1997. This time, campgrounds were reportedly quiet by 10:30 p.m.

“I was communications director when the ride was here in 1997,” said Jo Duckworth, Union County Emergency Management coordinator. “Some crazy stuff went on then. The age of riders is older than it was 20 years ago, and they (RAGBRAI officials) work hard to keep that stuff from happening anymore. The campgrounds were spotless the next day when I went around to pick up signs. You would have never known that so many people had been there the night before.”

Part of the reason for the relatively subdued environment in this year’s overnight stay was the long, grueling ride on Monday from Shenandoah.

For comparison, Sunday’s ride from Glenwood to Shenandoah covered 49.7 miles (67.9 miles with an optional loop) and 2,614 feet of climbing. With the loop it was 3,620 feet of climb on the southwest Iowa hills.

Monday was a reality check for the riders. It began rather harmlessly for 6.2 miles to Essex and 10.7 miles to Bethesda. From there, it was one hill after another, including some mountainous climbs on either side of Corning in Adams County.

The day’s total distance was 75.2 miles, under an afternoon sun with temperatures reaching the high 80s. It was not only the longest day of this year’s 419-mile route, but also the toughest in regards to hills with 3,994 feet of climbing.

“We got some reports that it was one of the toughest days they had ever been on from veterans of the ride,” said TJ Stalker, who coordinated staffing for the beverage garden in uptown Creston near the entertainment stage.

That crowd was strong between 9 and 11 p.m., but the late-arriving crowd of bikers from the grueling ride and the exhaustion many felt kept it a little less bustling on Adams Street than some had anticipated.

“Some of them said they’d normally go down to the town’s festivities, but they were too wiped out,” Stalker said.

Campgrounds were set up at Southwestern Community College, the grounds of Creston High School and Creston Elementary/Middle School and McKinley Park. Support vehicles were directed to the main campground at SWCC.

Tom Lesan, SWCC vice president of economic development, said a crew of 75 to 80 staff members of the college helped those arriving find parking areas and accommodations they needed for camping there. One of three information centers was also on campus at the Technical Center building across from Southern Prairie YMCA.

“We had vehicles rolling in as early as 8 a.m., and bikers coming in past 9 p.m.,” Lesan said. “They started filling in everywhere, like ants. They wanted shade. I heard from a lot of them that it was one of the toughest rides they remember. There were people who went into the dorms and we never saw them again. I think Hy-Vee had a really good day out here, because some folks just wanted to get a shower, find something to eat and get some rest. Our own food service cafeteria ran out of food.”

In hindsight, Lesan said some food vendors may have had better business locating in one of the campgrounds. But, the plan was to draw people to the uptown area for the food, beverages and entertainment west of the restored Creston Depot.

Shuttle system

Fortunately, a shuttle system was in place to get people from all three camping areas to the center of town and back again. Those vehicles ran until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“We had four school district buses and, at one point, 12 Southwest Iowa Trolley vehicles running six routes we had lined up,” Duckworth said. “They were very busy, but not with real long wait times.”

Duckworth’s responsibilities on the Executive Committee included working with local law enforcement, fire department and its EMS services, communications via the Law Enforcement Center and transportation issues.

“Sometimes it was like herding cats, trying to get everyone together for all of the planning,” Duckworth said, chuckling. “But we all worked very well together, just like we always do for any major event or incident. It’s different than a tornado, where everything is a response nature. This is something you plan for ahead of time, and we took it very seriously. If we messed up, this was life safety issues we’re talking about. Also, in regards to transportation, it was important to get people moved around quickly and safely.”

Mother Nature also cooperated.

“I prayed for months that we not get any storms, the two weeks leading up to it so the town wouldn’t be torn up, and also on that day,” Duckworth said. “We could evacuate people into shelters at SWCC and the schools, but at McKinley Park among all of those trees, that’s a different story. If we had a lot of wind, hail and lightning, I was prepared to use the Code Red calling system to all of the residents within a two-mile radius of McKinley and ask them to turn their front porch lights on if they were willing to take people in. When the house is full, turn the light off. Fortunately, we didn’t have to do that.”

There were only a couple of injuries, Duckworth reported. One biker fell and sustained a broken arm after hitting a rough spot on Sumner Avenue north of the underpass while returning to his campground late Monday night on his bike. There were no arrests of visiting bikers.

Volunteer force

Gary Bucklin was one of the co-chairmen of the volunteer brigade that included about 150 people, not including the SWCC and local schools’ staffs that helped at those facilities. One of the strengths of Creston as a host, several riders commented, was the availability of volunteers dressed brightly in the “official” green T-shirts who always seemed nearby to answer questions and help with logistical matters.

“It was kind of fragile for awhile trying to handle the traffic patterns at McKinley Park,” Bucklin said. “If we had it to do over again we’d probably staff that area with more people. Support vehicles were coming in through the underpass from Highway 34, and bikers were coming into the park from the other direction. But, everybody did a great job.”

Once SWCC was established as the primary campground, RAGBRAI officials told Lesan to expect 10,000 people on the campus overnight. Streams of trucks and bicyclists poured into the east and south entrances of the campus throughout the day.

“While you’re doing it, you kind of have the adrenaline and energy going and it’s kind of fun,” Bucklin said. “But when it’s all over, we had a lot of hot, tired people. We have to thank the city parks people, all the people who helped from SWCC and the schools, the Alliant Energy people who set up all the power needs of the vendors uptown. A lot of people went the extra mile to make it all work.”

Ty Rogers was busy overseeing committees that dealt with housing needs, the campgrounds, showers and sanitation and Creston Ride Right Committee that raises community awareness of bicycling safety issues.

Rogers said “all but less than 10” housing needs were met before Monday’s arrival. He said the layout of the city, requiring three separate sites for camping — all several blocks from the main food and entertainment area — provided some challenges. But the shuttle system helped alleviate many of those concerns.

“Sure, if we had one huge area where everyone could camp nearby the main section of vendors, that would be ideal,” Rogers said. “But we just don’t have that space here, so we have to divide them. In talking afterward to Tom Lesan at SWCC, (Superintendent) Steve McDermott with the schools and Mark Huff about McKinley, nobody reported any big problems or incidents. Mark said the park campground stayed pretty full of people throughout the evening. A lot of them just ordered pizza deliveries for something because they were tired and wanted to stay where they were.”

An Iowa State Patrol trooper who regularly counts RAGBRAI bicycles at major intersections told Gerharz that Creston attracted 17,786 riders Monday. There were more than 650 support vehicles. Some of those, such as those with shower facilities on board at McKinley Park, were full-sized semi-trucks.

Showers were also available at the SWCC Student Center and Creston schools.

Olympics comparison

Gerharz said trying to coordinate services for such a large group all at once is akin to a host city planning for the Olympic Games.

“There you work for years and you have them for two weeks on a much larger scale,” Gerharz said. “We had them for one day. And we didn’t build any great buildings. But, it’s similar in that all of that planning for six months is compressed into that one day that it finally happens. Then, they’re gone.”

Both Gerharz and Amy Hook, co-chair of committees involved in publicity, hospitality and the information centers, said a highlight of the experience was seeing so many from the community come together for a common cause.

“People just answered the call,” Hook said. “The things people did were so special, such as the hospitality committee putting the railroad sign out and sounding the train whistle when bikers got to that (Summit Lake) bridge coming into town. People were lined up cheering them into town. It was just fun.”

Timing wasn’t ideal, as many families were busy in Afton at the Union County Fair on Monday.

“It is too bad the fair was going on at the same time, and we missed those people because they are good families who would have been great help,” Hook said. “But they were where they needed to be. It all worked out.”

A recap meeting of the Executive Committee is planned for early next week to summarize the experience and go over budget items. Although none of the committee members interviewed Wednesday were anxious to tackle RAGBRAI again in the near future, perhaps it would be best not to wait two decades again, Hook noted.

“It would be best not to wait another 20 years and forget everything,” Hook said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to talk over things that went well or things to work on if we’re given another opportunity. It really is a great town event that makes you proud.”