With the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) in the rearview mirror for the city of Jefferson, organizers are reflecting on how the day went.

Jefferson was selected as a pass through town on RAGBRAI’s route on Tuesday and Jefferson Matters Executive Director Matt Wetrich was very pleased with how everything went. He appreciated the Jefferson Police Department for controlling traffic, to the Jefferson Public Works Departments setting and tearing down equipment and other items, along with the Greene County Secondary Roads Department preparing the county roads for the bike riders, and all of the volunteers who helped the day of.

“That positive attitude to be willing to help and chip in as possible is everything for those of us doing the organizing and trying to fit pieces together. And it really makes a tremendous difference.”   

Wetrich says there were no major incidents and problems, which made the day that much more enjoyable. Wetrich was also one of the co-organizers in 2018 when Jefferson was an overnight stop with RAGBRAI. He says being an overnight stop and a pass through are two different worlds in terms of how to organize what’s going to happen.

“When you’re an overnight town you’re the final stop of the day and people trickle in throughout the day. I mean starting in the morning and all the way up to dark. So you have probably 15 or more hours of people infiltrating the community. (As for the pass through town) The bulk of riders were coming through between 6am and 1pm I would say. It’s just a lot more hot and heavy, it’s intense, there are several people who just ride through.”      

Wetrich adds that he’s proud of how Jefferson came through and looked like a well oiled machine on Tuesday in front of all of those thousands of cyclists.