It’s not unusual to see a few bike riders pass through the town of Urbana on any given summer day due to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail running through its center.
But on Thursday, July 29, 2021, town officials expect bicycle traffic to swell by 15,000 to 20,000 riders as the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) passes through on day five of its weeklong journey.
This is the first time Urbana has been part of the RAGBRAI route in any official capacity since 1985, according to the Des Moines Register.
Last year’s RAGBRAI was cancelled due to the pandemic but organizers all along the route this year—generally the same as what was announced in 2020 besides two overnight town switches—are hopeful plans being made now will stick.Marcy Johnson with the Urbana Visioning Committee is one such hopeful organizer.
“[I] am extremely excited to be a part of this event that takes place across our great state … The [Urbana] Visioning Committee is currently working towards putting a veterans park in our town—this will be a great opportunity for us to raise funds and complete that project.”
Johnson said the City of Urbana was unofficially notified they would be a pass-through town a few days ahead of the virtual announcement RAGBRAI held on Saturday, January 30.