Native Iowan proud of her roots

To the editor:

During the recent RAGBRAI I had the opportunity along with some colleagues to provide hospitality along the riders' route in Hiawatha. Then the following day while out on our morning walk, my dog and I spent a good chunk of time providing route-side hospitality to the riders as they pedaled through Springville after their stop for breakfast.

In the early 1980s I had moved away from Iowa and had never heard of this thing called RAGBRAI until sometime in the 1990s when I was working for a large corporation in San Francisco. A colleague, when she learned that I was from Iowa, told me she was going to Iowa to ride her bike across the state with thousands of other riders. I had no idea what she was talking about; I couldn't even imagine why anyone would want to visit Iowa in late July with our soaring temperatures and stifling humidity.

But when I moved back to Iowa in 2002 and had an opportunity to experience RAGBRAI as an onlooker, I soon realized why thousands of people - riders of all ages, shapes and sizes - come from all over the globe to bicycle across the great state of Iowa. With its gentle rolling hills and small town virtuosity, Iowa is the perfect backdrop for a Sunday afternoon bicycle ride that lasts seven days.

Congratulations to all the 2015 RAGBRAI riders and thank you for keeping this awesome tradition so vibrant and making this native Iowan so proud of her Iowa roots.

Lena R. Gilbert

Springville