Coralville, Hiawatha brace for RAGBRAI blowouts

CORALVILLE — Experience pays off when hosting the rolling bike festival known as RAGBRAI.

Hiawatha is getting its second crack since 2004 and Coralville its fifth since 1995 to host the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which rolls through on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

'We are feeling pretty good about where we are at, but we still have work to do,' said City Administrator Kelly Hayworth. 'For one thing, we still need another 100 volunteers.'

Playing overnight host for RAGBRAI, which is a seven-day, non-competitive bike ride across the state, is big business with a chance for a windfall in local commerce and exposure to thousands of visitors.

RAGBRAI 43 covers 462 miles, starting Sunday in Sioux City and ending Saturday in Davenport, which coincides with Bix 7 Road Race.

On Thursday, thousands of cyclists, support crews and fun seekers will be coming from Cedar Falls to Hiawatha, and then on Friday from Hiawatha to Coralville.

'We have grown so much since 2004 that I think for the people riding this year compared to 2004, it's going to be an eye-opening experience as far as how the city has changed,' said Kelly Friedl, Hiawatha Parks and Recreation director.

She said the city still is looking for volunteers and people willing to host riders at their homes.

Bands top the expense list

Parks will become campgrounds. School locker rooms will serve as community showers. And public gathering spaces will turn into beer gardens with stages for rock 'n' roll concerts.

The event budget in Coralville is $205,200, with the band Cheap Trick getting $75,000. Hiawatha projects expenses of $180,850, including $80,750 for entertainment, headlined by Dennis DeYoung, a founding member of Styx.

Only limited public resources are going to the events, said Hayworth and Friedl.

No public money is being used directly. The cities are contributing staff time — largely police — and public land — 140 acres for festivities in Coralville and 30 acres cordoned off for camping in Hiawatha.

City staff in Coralville are encouraged although not required to volunteer. When schedules permit, employee work shifts can cover a duty for RAGBRAI without using vacation time, said Mike Funke, Coralville human resources and risk manager.

'I have the morning shift driving the volunteer shuttle,' Funke said.

The cities are banking on sponsorships and beer sales to cover most of the costs.

Coralville has more than $40,000 in sponsorships committed, and anticipates concert tickets — $10 apiece for nonriders — and beer sales will land the event in the black.

Around 30 percent — $51,500 — of Hiawatha's budget is from sponsorships, and Friedl is expecting about $87,750 from the beverage garden.

Coralville Veterans Memorial Fund, the Coralville Community Foundation and the three Coralville schools partnering in the event will split profits. Hiawatha plans to divide proceeds among a variety of local charities.

Making plans in case of rain

Coralville and Hiawatha will plan for the worst.

Event insurance will guard against rain. Hiawatha paid $5,895 for rain/inclement weather and general event liability insurance.

Coralville has a $100,000 rain contingency, at a cost of $1,000. If it rains more than one-third of an inch between 5 and 8 p.m. at the Coralville event on Friday, the insurance kicks in, Hayworth said.

'If it pours down rain and no one comes, that's where you are going to get hurt,' Hayworth said. 'We can't risk it.'

Coralville leaders are preparing for 20,000 to 30,000 extra people in town that day and night, while Friedl said Hiawatha expects the city to triple in size, which would be about 22,000 people.

RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz said 62 percent of riders come from out of state.

The communities hope the next time travelers pass through on Interstate 80 or on the Avenue of the Saints, such as for University of Iowa football or basketball, they will remember the visit and stop again.

Experience with the ride helped shape the 2015 version.

Hayworth holds every detail, cost and key contact in a 4-inch thick binder in Coralville City Hall office. It's his 'RAGBRAI bible,' he said.

If he needs a reference, similar binders for previous years sit in a filing cabinet. Organizers made the habit of including a debrief with elements that worked or didn't from each year.

Coralville makes some tweaks

For example, this year, spotters will be positioned on the route into Coralville to help divert vehicles to their appropriate campground, and avoid gnarled traffic. In 2011, a movie in a dark, air-conditioned school gym proved an unexpectedly popular place for visitors to relax in the afternoon. This year they are ramping it up with Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Tommy Boy and Goonies, Hayworth said.

Two of Hiawatha's main event planners for RAGBRAI, Friedl and City Administrator Kim Downs, were not around for the event 11 years ago. Friedl said only about four or five people on Hiawatha's various RAGBRAI planning committees were involved in the 2004 event. Downs said the two are 'just starting from scratch' when it comes to planning, although RAGBRAI provided a large how-to guide gathered from years of experience. grocery stores gear up for business

The event is also new to the Fareway grocery store in Hiawatha, which is next to some of the planned camping sites. Fareway was built in 2005 but Barry Jarvis, grocery manager, said many other locations have experience and their corporate office has prepared them for what to expect.

Jarvis said he plans to increase the number of employees by 50 percent in the days leading up to RAGBRAI as well as order extra items like Gatorade, granola bars and bottled water. He said there also will be a semi-truck full of ice in the parking lot that day.

Hy-Vee in Coralville is a few blocks from one of the main campgrounds. Hy-Vee will be grilling on site at the RAGBRAI event, and the store will stock up on ice and ready-to-eat meals, said Jake Moore, manager of perishables.

'Last time they were in town, we saw a big bump in food service,' Moore said. 'Now we have the restaurant, which serves alcohol, so we plan to staff up.'

30 Hop, a craft beer-focused bar and restaurant in the Iowa River Landing, a developing retail district that will serve as a quasi-finish line for the RAGBRAI route into Coralville, has been open for about a year.

Cheap Trick, a rock band with hits in the 1970s and 1980s, will be playing on Friday evening on a stage in the Iowa River Landing, which patrons will be able to hear from 30 Hop's rooftop patio.

'More than anything, it's an all-hands-on-deck night,' Blum said. 'It's great for Iowa River Landing in general. It puts this area on the map.'

Guide to RAGBRAI 43 Towns, route and highlights

Starting today, RAGBRAI 43 tours riders through rolling prairie, flat agricultural land and urban centers that help define Iowa.

The route by design starts at the Missouri River and ends seven days later at the Mississippi River. This year it covers 462 miles from Sioux City to Davenport.

'For the most part, it looks like a pretty easy week, except the Hiawatha to Coralville day, that will be the hardest,' said Rick Paulos, 59, a veteran rider who's going with the Hawkeye Bicycle Association of Cedar Rapids.

Due to Iowa's hilly topography near its east and west borders, riders tend to find the beginning and end days most challenging.

'It's got some challenging spots — the day out of Sioux City and the day out of Hiawatha — but otherwise as enjoyable as every RAGBRAI and a perfect vacation,' Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, who already rode the full route.

The weather looks mostly promising with highs hovering in the mid 80s and peaking at 91 Friday in Coralville. There's a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms Tuesday in Eldora, and a 40 percent morning showers Thursday coming out of Cedar Falls.

DAY 1: Sioux City to Storm Lake

By far the hilliest day and the longest kicks off the week with a pass through the bluffs of western Iowa. The biggest climbs are at the beginning leaving Sioux City and continuing through Kingsley. In Washta, which bills itself as the coldest town in Iowa stemming from minus 47 degrees on the books in 1912, riders may find ice baths in honor of the town's claim to fame. Passing through Quimby, riders can grab a slice of free watermelon. The 3,200 acre Storm Lake should prove inviting after a long first day.

Route: Sioux City to Leeds to Kingsley to Washta (meeting town) to Quimby to Hanover to Storm Lake.Mileage: 76.5Elevation gain: 3,941 feetHighlight: Dipping the tire in the Missouri River is the traditional way to start RAGBRAI.

DAY 2: Storm Lake to Fort Dodge

Riders should be able to take it a little easier and a number of turns help break up the distance. The Allee Mansion, a restored Victorian home circa 1891 near Newell, will offer free tours. Manson is on the route for the first time. A 1.5 mile wide meteorite struck earth there, 74 million years ago, creating a massive crater, since buried over. In Fort Dodge, the Rosedale Rapids Aquatic Center is nearby to campgrounds.

Route: Storm Lake to Newell to Fonda to Manson (meeting town) — optional gravel loop to Pomeroy — to Clare to Fort Dodge.Mileage: 68.7Elevation gain: 1,308 feetHighlight: The first ever gravel loop, a recognition of the growing popularity of gravel road riding among cyclists.

DAY 3: Fort Dodge to Eldora

Another mostly flat day through farm country, but the many wind turbines signal trouble if it's windy, Webster City promises a break with a documentary about RAGBRAI shown in the community theater. The route passes into Williams, which will be showcasing antique vehicles from the Hemken Collection, and then Alden, which sits on the Iowa River. Just east of Eldora, which is the smallest overnight town this year with a population of 2,700, is Pine Lake State Park, which offers trails, fishing and shade.

Route: Fort Dodge to Duncombe to Webster City to Boondocks to Williams to Alden (meeting town) to Buckeye to Eldora, optional century loop to Radcliffe.Mileage: 72.9Elevation gain: 1,325 feetHighlight: Annually, on one day of RAGBRAI, the route has an additional loop. This year's loop adds an extra 34 miles by way of Radcliffe, bringing the daily distance to nearly 100 miles.

DAY 4: Eldora to Cedar Falls

The shortest day of the week, the route circles north and crosses the Iowa River in Steamboat Rock. In Parkersburg, riders can find Stinky's Bar and Grill, and a city of community gardens in New Hartford. University of Northern Iowa is offering camping space in Cedar Falls.

Route: Eldora to Steamboat Rock to Cleves to Ackley to Austinville to Aplington to Parkersburg (meeting town) to New Hartford to Cedar Falls.Mileage: 58.4Elevation gain: 1,644 feetHighlight: Just south of Steamboat Rock, riders can find the Wildcat Trail up into the bluffs overlooking the Iowa River, and provides access to Wildcat Cave and Rattle Snake Cave.

DAY 5: Cedar Falls to Hiawatha

The hilliest day since the first day, the climbs are more gradual and manageable after a few easier days. Riders will notice the brick roads of La Porte City, which also is home to a well known ice cream shop, Tootsie's Ice Cream & More. Vinton is supposed to have a giant inflatable slip and slide and a beer pong set, among other festivities. The hills pick up between Vinton and Hiawatha, making for a challenging finish.

Route: Cedar Falls to Hudson to La Porte City to Mount Auburn to Vinton (meeting town) to Shellsburg to Palo to Hiawatha.Mileage: 70.9Elevation gain: 2,377 feetHighlight: Primal Wear and the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival are giving away some 500 pounds of free bacon to riders during the breakfast stop in Hudson.

DAY 6: Hiawatha to Coralville

A relatively flat ride out of Hiawatha gains difficulty heading south out of Whittier. South of Springville the route crosses Highway 151, one of the busiest roads in Linn County. State Patrol will be stationed to control traffic. Cornell College campus in Mount Vernon and Sutliff Cider on county road X20 should draw crowds. Hills are the name of the game in Johnson County with the roller coaster called Sugar Bottom Road, crossing the Coralville Dam and one final monster of a hill along Brown Deer Golf Course before reaching the Iowa River Landing.

Route: Hiawatha to Whittier to Springville to Mount Vernon (meeting town) to Lisbon to Sutliff Cider to Solon to Coralville Dam to CoralvilleMileage: 65.6Elevation gain: 2,955 feetHighlight: The recently restored Sutliff Bridge is not far, and across the bridge the asphalt was recently laid on a road reconnecting with the route at F14 with the anticipation some will take the detour.

DAY 7: Coralville to Davenport

The day starts off passing Kinnick Stadium, the iconic home of Hawkeye football, and midway into the day the route passes Wilton's Candy Kitchen, known as the oldest ongoing ice cream parlor and soda fountain. Heading out of Johnson County and into Muscatine County, riders encounter rolling hills that pick up further east before descending to Davenport and the Mississippi River.

Route: Coralville to University Heights to Iowa City to West Liberty to Atalissa to Moscow to Wilton (meeting town) to Durant to Walcott to Davenport.Mileage: 68.5Elevation gain: 1,711 feetHighlight: As one iconic Iowa event ends another begins. Stick around after RAGBRAI to celebrate with the 41st annual Quad City Bix 7 Road Race.