CORALVILLE, Iowa- In about two weeks the annual RAGBRAI event will kick off in Glenwood. The event starts the 24th and rides through Coralville on Friday the 29th. On June 9th a training ride was held with a reverse route. More than 300 riders rode from Davenport to Coralville, 68 miles total. That course is the exact opposite of the ride on July 29th.

RAGBRAI rider, Clint Mecham says the training ride was a good tune up.”This is the longest ride we’ve done on a weekend,” Mecham said.
He said he enjoyed the opportunity to get out and ride with other bikers.”It’s good practice,” Mecham said.

All riders agreed that training is important for a week long bike ride like RAGBRAI. The training ride allowed riders to get a feel of what they can expect in two weeks.”The course was kind of hilly so that was a challenge,” Laurel Darren, of the Quad Cities, said.

Many riders agreed the course wasn’t the easiest.”People think iowa is flat and i’m here to tell you it’s not there is a lot of hills out there,” Darren said. “It was a lot of hills, it was a long hot ride. So I think it was a good test for RAGBRAI,” Bob Leham, of Cedar Rapids, said.

Though the weather warmed up as the day went on, most riders are hoping the nice weather rides out. “Hopefully this weather will continue into the whole week of RAGBRAI,” Darren said. Mecham agreed. “If it was like this all seven days it would be wonderful,” Mecham said.

Bikers aren’t the only one’s gearing up for the big event. All the cities and towns that bikers will pass through are all preparing. It was something bikers noticed as they passed through. “It was definitely good to see that Wilton and Durrant are ready for RAGBRAI,” Darren said.

The training ride got many riders excited for the week-long event. “It’s going to be challenging, it’s going to be fun,” Darren Said.

Laurie Haman is the Vice President of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. She is excited for riders to pass through. “We’re going to be challenging, it’s going to be fun,” Haman said. She also mention that the Bureau is still looking for more volunteers.

If you would like to sign up or find out more information you can go to their website: http://www.coralville.org/index.aspx?NID=466