Dubuque Tourism Leaders Want Ragbrai Riders to Linger Longer

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

Riders in the Ragbrai finished their journey this morning in the Port of Dubuque. Upon reaching the Mississippi River bikers dipped their bike tires into the water. (Brent Horstmann/SourceMedia Group News)

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Jul 31, 2010 at 5:58 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 31, 2010 at 6:32 PM CST

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Thousands of RAGBRAI riders and support teams rolled into Dubuque on Saturday dog tired and ready to call it a week. But Dubuque tourism leaders hope participants have a little more fun left in them.

The tendency for Ragbrai participants is to dip the tires in the Mississippi River and look for the quickest way out of town.

But a lot of attractions have opened in Dubuque in the 17 years since Ragbrai last rolled into town. And those in the hospitality industry here wanted a way to show off the vastly different Port of Dubuque area and other things to see and do.

Keith Rahe, director of the Dubuque Visitors Bureau, said organizers planned to run the entertainment venues a lot longer than normal for a final day in hopes of getting riders to stay awhile. But in reality, what tourism leaders are doing may be planting seeds for a future visit.

“Our goal is to get them to say ‘what an awesome community’—we want to come back here with our family and friends and enjoy and spent a little bit more time,” Rahe said.

Rahe admitted those in the tourism business are fighting a powerful pull that participants have to get home after a week on the road.

George Settle, a rider from Pennsylvania, was in a rush to head home after spending a week sleeping on the ground. Settle added “I’m sure there are some people who can stay if they can. But some of us have jobs we have to get back to.” Still, Settle said his wife was retired and didn’t have to get back to work and was thinking of staying in Dubuque a while longer.

And the tourism official’s message was striking a cord with Clark Ahrenholtz, a leader of team Huff ‘n Puffers as well. Ahrenholtz said “we found some areas where we may want to come back here and spend a weekend maybe later this fall.”

Rahe said while they are aiming at a long term strategy of bring riders back, Ragbrai did provide some immediate dividends for Dubuque. Some 1,800 hotel and motel rooms in Dubuque were nearly sold out for Friday and Saturday night. The community usually draws a strong crowd of weekend visitors, but that is a bit more than normal.

Still, Rahe said the best hope is to bring riders back without or without their bicycles when they have more time later. And comments like “we’re coming back” is what the hospitality industry wants to hear.

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