Officials in two Western Iowa towns are miffed about last week's announcement that RAGBRAI organizers were changing the route into Atlantic.

Kipp Harris, the head of the RAGBRAI committee in Atlantic, has threatened to withdraw the city's support of the ride. Randy Fischer, chief of Marne's volunteer fire department, is equally angered due to Marne being eliminated from the ride with the new route.

According to Fischer, the town had planned on operating a beer garden to raise money for the purchase of new equipment for the fire department. He suspects the change in the route has more to do with the beer garden than with rider safety.

"We've got the permit and that's about $700 to $800 we won't get back," Fischer said. "He [Jim Green] is concerned that people are going to stop in Marne and have too much to drink. Why didn't they tell us that three months ago?"

RAGBRAI officials are scrambling to find an alternative towns including Anita and nearby Lake Anita State Park.

A decision could be made as early as July 13th whether to revert back to the original route or select a new overnight town."

(This article was rewritten from a Des Moines Register article by Mark Siebert.)