Salem puts the pedal to the ground as they prepare for RAGBRAI

SALEM - Next week, thousands of bikers will take off on the 427-mile route for RAGBRAI. The town of Salem, population 383, is preparing to host those thousands on July 26 as one of the meeting towns along the route.

'I think we're one of, if not the smallest town ever to be a meeting town,” said Mary Hoyer, Salem City Council member and Salem RAGBRAI co-chair.

Riders will take off from Council Bluffs on Sunday to begin the ride and end on July 27 in Keokuk. The event will pass through Salem on July 26 as riders go from Fairfield to Burlington.

Usually, Hoyer said, there are two or three passing towns between meeting towns or host towns. However, there's only one passing town between Fairfield and Salem. She said they're trying to model preparations similar to the town of New Hampton, which was a meeting town in 2017 that only had one passing town come before it on the route.

'It's like have a party for 15,000 without any RSVPs or set arrival time,” Hoyer said, noting that some riders may pass through in the early morning hours before others even wake up. However, she said the riders are all supposed to be past Salem by 3 p.m. that day.

Hoyer, her RAGBRAI co-chair Joel Garretson and other volunteers have been working with multiple groups to plan for the town to see all of the RAGBRAI participants and supporters. There are 10,000 registered riders for the day of July 26, Hoyer said, and there also will be about 500 support vehicles stopping in Salem as well.

The county sheriff has been working to ensure safety of all cars and bikes that will pass through the town that day, Hoyer said, including plans to help manage traffic at intersections. She said to avoid Franklin Avenue if possible, since it will be closed down, and to use US-218 or some other bypass instead of driving through Salem. If drivers must come through town, she said, expect slow traffic.

There also will be about 10 food vendors set up for the riders, Hoyer said. In addition, there will be a craft beer tent, two to three vendors specializing in beverages like smoothies and the Underground restaurant will be having a limited menu.

There also will be three different local groups playing for entertainment, she said, including Joylynn and Jerry Smith, Tim Smith and Whiskey Friends.

Salem's RAGBRAI theme is 'Salem: the meeting place,” Hoyer said, which connects this year's RAGBRAI with the history of Salem.

Salem was settled by the Quakers after they moved there to escape persecution for being abolitionists, she said. Salem was the location of the first Quaker meeting town west of the Mississippi River, she said, and now is a meeting town for RAGBRAI.

The town also was a big part of the Underground Railroad before the Civil War due to its close location to Missouri, she said, a fact that may not be well-known.

'We have a tradition of welcoming strangers, feeding them, and sending them on their way safely,” Hoyer said. '(RAGBRAI is) a big responsibility, but it echoes with the roots of the town.”