Jefferson & Greene County to host the first “Iowa Bicycle Festival” on May 26 — a fun “celebration of the bicycle and those who ride it.” The festival will have a parade of RAGBRAI team buses and decorated bikes, there’ll be a juried art show with the bicycle theme, a bicycle apparel fashion show, seminars on a wide range of cycling-related topics, contests, food and more. Make plans now to be in Jefferson that Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
JEFFERSON, Iowa, January 27, 2012 – This town at the northern trailhead of the Raccoon River Valley Trail will be hosting a major new event, the “Iowa Bicycle Festival,” on Saturday, May 26 — that’s the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
The plans are being developed and coordinated by the local Cyclists Of Greene bike club. Their first announcement about the event was timed for this late-January weekend, when thousands of cycling enthusiasts are gathering in Des Moines for the Iowa Bicycle Summit, and for the big party Saturday night when the route of this summer’s RAGBRAI route is being announced.
The new festival is being promoted as “a celebration of the bicycle and those who ride it,” according to Craig Berry, who is president of the club and is also mayor of Jefferson. The City Council approved the plans at its meeting earlier this week. Berry said “the council is very much in favor of this event and will be encouraging all citizens and bicyclists in Jefferson, Greene County and Iowa to attend.”
It will be family-oriented, with activities for all ages going on from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., all around the courthouse square and stretching east to the Jefferson Depot and Raccoon River Valley Trailhead. All events will generally be with a bicycle theme, but they will be put together with the idea of appealing to the general public as well as bicyclists.
Plans include a late-morning or midday parade, featuring RAGBRAI team buses from all over Iowa, a couple of bands, people of all ages riding decorated bicycles, some highly unusual bikes, and more.
After the parade, there will be a “custom bike show” around the square, just like there have been “custom car shows” there, including team buses. And the crowd at the festival will be invited to paint a RAGBRAI team bus, too.
The festival will include a juried “bicycle-themed art show,” with artists from across the Midwest invited to enter work that will be for sale and also will remain on display for a few weeks after the festival.
There will also be escorted “bicycle tours of Jefferson,” pedaling to see our notable landmarks. And there will be competitions and contests involving bicycles, like a “fastest tire-changing contest.” Another event will be a “bicycle apparel fashion show.”
Local food vendors are being invited to serve on the square, but visitors will be encouraged to use all local restaurants, too. There will be no beverage garden or street dance, at least this year.
The Greene County Board of Supervisors has approved use of the courthouse grounds and the atrium of the building.
One activity in the courthouse will be a series of brief “bicycle seminars,” hosted by Chuck Offenburger, with such topics as the Raccoon River Valley Trail, other Iowa trails, RAGBRAI with that event’s director T.J. Juskiewicz, Iowa’s bicycle clubs, the Greene County Conservation recreation facilities & programs, and cartoonist & cyclist Brian Duffy has tentatively confirmed doing a program on his own bicycle artwork.
For more information, you can contact Mayor Berry or John & Ces Brunow at the All Ability Cycles shop on the square in Jefferson, or via the Facebook page for “Iowa Bicycle Festival.” An Internet site will be launched soon for the festival.