The 50th Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) is underway and tomorrow bicyclists are due to come through Greene County.

While the City of Jefferson is a pass through town on this year’s route as cyclists will be coming from Carroll to the next overnight stop in Ames on Tuesday, the City of Rippey is designated as the “meeting town.” This means that Rippey will serve as the lunch destination and for cyclists to meet up with their support vehicles for the day. 

Iowa State Patrol District Four Resource Officer Trooper Shelby McCreedy tells Raccoon Valley Radio they will have their hands full coordinating thousands of cyclists and vehicles in Rippey, as they safely get people on their way.

“It is going to be incredibly congested in and around Rippey. And I say it’ll be incredibly congested for probably several miles because of just of the vast number of people and vehicles coming in and out. If onlookers could please stay away from the Rippey area. Obviously if you want to watch a large number of bikes you can do that in Jefferson, but please stay away from the Rippey area just because there is going to be so much congestion between an upwards of 40,000 bikes and an upwards of 5,000 support vehicles of getting them in and out is going to be quite a process.”     

McCreedy acknowledges and appreciates coordinating with local law enforcement and other governmental entities in Greene County to ensure safety at all times between the cyclists, pedestrians and other motoring traffic.