Glenwood, Mills County Give RAGBRAI Riders A 'Smashing' Sendoff
RAGBRAI riders head east on Gaston Ave. Sunday morning after beginning their week-long trek across the state of Iowa.
Leanne Nieland and Kylee Checketts paint a colorful scene to greet riders on Glenwood's Town Square Saturday morning.
Steve Gonzalez of Oskaloosa was among about 1,000 RAGBRAI riders that ventured to the Missouri River for the traditional RAGBRAI tire dip.
They rolled in by the thousands on Saturday and they rolled out by the thousands on Sunday.
By all accounts, Glenwood’s eighth encounter with RAGBRAI was a success.
An estimated 20,000 visitors descended upon the community over the weekend as the city served as the starting point for the weeklong bicycle ride across the state of Iowa for the first time in eight years.
“I have not heard one bad thing,” Mills County Chamber Of Commerce Executive Director Jennie Davis said Monday. “I have heard just great things from everybody. I have received a lot of great feedback from the community, including the schools, local business owners, other friends and community supporters.”
Davis said she credits the success of the event to the individuals and organizations in the community that stepped up to help make the experience a safe and enjoyable weekend.
“I cannot thank our community, our volunteers, law enforcement, schools, and every single person involved who made Glenwood RAGBRAI a smashing success for a historic eighth time,” she said.
Davis said RAGBRAI organizers were pleased with the way the event was handled in Glenwood. Prior to Saturday, the city had not hosted the ride since 2016.
“I spoke to them a couple times on Saturday night and they said that we did a great job. They were very pleased with how everything went in Glenwood,” Davis said. “I heard wonderful things from the vendors, saying that this was one of the smoothest events that they’ve every been to. And that is due, of course, to all those volunteers and committee members who helped organize all of that.”
Rain on Friday evening and early Saturday morning created some nervousness for event organizers but by midday skies were starting to clear and by late afternoon the sun was shining.
Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen said from a law enforcement perspective, RAGBRAI was a success.
“Overall, I think it went fairly smooth, considering as many people as we had come to town,” Johansen said. “We only had one incident and it involved some local juveniles, otherwise no arrests that I’m aware of.”
Johansen said there were minimal traffic issues and having Town Square shut down on Friday helped with the set-up process.
“I think it made set-up go a lot smoother on Friday,” he said.
Not counting troopers from the Iowa State Patrol, Johansen said 34 law enforcement officers were utilized over the weekend. In addition to the Glenwood Police Department and Mills County Sheriff’s Office, officers from Fremont, Montgomery and Shelby counties were brought in.
Riders were greeted by some foggy weather conditions as they rolled out of town Sunday morning, but by the time they reached Silver City for a breakfast stop, the fog had lifted and the sun was shining. From Silver City, the riders traveled to Henderson and Emerson before their overnight stop in Red Oak.