When Sergeant Bluff Mayor Jon Winkel woke up and checked his email on Saturday morning, he had at least a 150 unread messages in his inbox. Almost all of them related to news from Friday night.
Organizers for the 49th Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa announced on Friday night that the cross-state ride would kick off in Sergeant Bluff on July 23 and go through Ida Grove, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, Mason City, Charles City, West Union and Lansing.
Winkel, who worked as an event co-chair when RAGBRAI went through Sergeant Bluff in 2006, said town planners had to do months of prep work before the announcement and were thrilled when they learned they'd be hosting.