RAGBRAI

By Mark Wyatt, Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition

Wow! What a great weekend. I don’t know how many people have approached me to say how much fun they had at the RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party.  Let’s just say many are looking forward to next year.

Just so you know, this was also a fundraiser for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition and the RAGBRAI Dream Team. $9,955 was raised for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition through the silent auction, live auction and raffle.  The Dream Team raised $1,690 from the silent auction.

This money raised during this event is combined with individual donations from Iowa Bicycle Coalition members. You can help by becoming a member of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.  Just visit  the Iowa Bicycle Coalition web site.  

Your donation can help fund programs like:

Iowa Bicycle Summit: Educating 80 engineers and planners to build better bicycle facilities in your communities.

Safe Routes To School: Getting kids walking and bicycling to school once more through encouragement and education program. Our program had outreach to 14,000 students in 2009.

Bike to Work Week: Our 2010 goal is 7,500 participants who pledge to ride a bicycle to work on May 17-21, 2010.

Share the Road: We work on Share The Road signs, license plates, and bike safety education all across Iowa.

The RAGBRAI Route Announcement Party would not have happened without the generosity of our sponsors, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors, and the Des Moines Register. 

A huge thanks to the RAGBRAI staff and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition staff who worked very hard over the past couple of months to put on a extraordinary event.

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition is a state-wide bicycle advocacy organization with 1150 members throughout Iowa.   The Iowa Bicycle Coalition builds partnerships, educates Iowans, and helps to establish safe and enjoyable bicycle transportation and recreation networks throughout Iowa.