Bicyclists raise funds for trail maintenance at Wabash Warm-up

MALVERN - Several hundred bicyclists from western Iowa, eastern Nebraska and northwest Missouri made their way to Malvern Saturday morning for the start of annual Wabash Warm-up, a fundraiser for maintenance on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail.

Built a quarter-century ago on an abandoned portion of the Wabash Railroad route, the popular 63-mile recreational trail runs from its northern trailhead in Council Bluffs to the Iowa-Missouri border town of Blanchard.

Saturday’s fundraiser was a 22-mile bicycle ride on the trail from Malvern to Shenandoah. Riders paid a $15 registration fee and could enjoy live music and beverages on the bridges along the way. A celebration  with live music also took place at the end of the route in Shenandoah.

The 2016 Wabash Warm-up raised nearly $3,000 for maintenance projects along the popular bicycling trail. Organizers were hoping to top that amount at this year’s event.