Was RAGBRAI a success?

Aug. 3, 2016

Washington, Iowa

To the Editor:

We were so excited to be chosen again to be a RAGBRAI host city; after all, last time it was so much fun. I worked a food booth on the square that year. Most of the riders came in costume, each bike club with a theme. Everyone was polite. I loved it!

This year there was no room on the square for the little guys. Without a hefty $850 fee, no organization could set up a food booth on the square. Business owners who had invested in Washington were asked to pay a fee if they wanted to stay open on Friday (this is hearsay).

Friday night, as my husband and I came back to town, people were sauntering down our street, barely moving aside for our car to get through. They didn?t seem to notice the sidewalks on both sides of the street.

Later that night as I left for work (life goes on, even during RAGBRAI), several men were on the sidewalk near our house with open containers. We live seven blocks from downtown. I don?t care if people want to drink, but do it responsibly, in an established venue, not strolling past my house.

In the morning, coming home down Marion Avenue, I had to stop as a dozen riders ran a stop sign at full speed, then cycled south, using both lanes. They moved over when a truck came up the northbound lane. I only went down that street to mail a letter, or I would have avoided downtown altogether. On the SW corner of the square I encountered approximately 25 bicyclists running a stop sign, again at a good clip. When there was a break in the flow I slipped through.

This is so discouraging. I thought serious bicyclists obeyed the rules of the road. Did all our stop signs disappear Friday and Saturday? Didn?t we pay for extra police officers to control traffic? Where were they as these arrogant folks on two wheels treated our town like it was their private playground? Was RAGBRAI a success for Washington? Only for the little Piggies who rode through without a thought for those of us who live here.

Mary P. Delaney