RAGBRAI

The RAGBRAI 2009 launch party July 18 in Council Bluffs will include live music, camping, a barbecue festival and a bicycle expo in the middle of the city’s casino entertainment district near the Missouri River.

The band Barenaked Ladies will headline an outdoor concert in the parking lot of the Mid-America Center to cap the RAGBRAI party. The celebration also will be merged with the Council Bluff’s arena’s sixth annual Mid-America RibFest, July 16-19.

The 37th annual RAGBRAI starts in Council Bluffs and ends in Burlington on July 25.

Registered RAGBRAI riders (about 10,000 of them) will be able to pay $10 for all-weekend (Friday through Sunday) admission to RibFest and related entertainment in Council Bluffs; all-weekend adult admission for the general public will cost $15 and will be on sale from April 24 through July 16 from www.ticketmaster.com.

Children 12 and under will be admitted free at RibFest with an accompanying adult. Parking also will be free. Riders’ campgrounds will be situated near the concert and festival to create a single-site celebration and headquarters for the ride’s launch on July 19.

Council Bluffs has hosted RAGBRAI four previous times, in 1974, 1986, 1994 and 2000.

Barenaked Ladies formed 21 years ago in Toronto and recently saw the departure of member Steven Page. The current lineup features the foursome of Ed Robertson, Kevin Hearn, Jim Creeggan and Tyler Stewart.

National barbecue-cooking teams scheduled to participate in this year’s RibFest in Council Bluffs include: Aussom Aussie Australian BBQ Co. of Sydney, Australia; Big Boned BBQ of Hixson, Tenn.; Texas Rib Rangers BBQ of Denton, Texas; Howling Coyote Southwest BBQ of Chicago, Ill.; Chicago BBQ of Burr Ridge, Ill; Texas Outlaws BBQ of Elizabethtown, Ken.; and Willingham BBQ of Minnesota.

The 37th Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, from July 19 to 25, will follow a 442-mile route through the southern half of the state, with overnight stops in Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Greenfield, Indianola, Chariton, Ottumwa, Mt. Pleasant and Burlington. RAGBRAI is the largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world.

For more information, visit the Council Bluffs RAGBRAI site or ticketmaster.com.