RAGBRAI XL: Lohrville’s RAGBRAI past left off the record books

Tue, Jul 24, 2012 | by Josh Hafner

LOHRVILLE, Ia. — Lohrville residents keep some tall tales about their small town.

One is that Bonnie and Clyde once spent the night sleeping in the town’s park, the same one that hosted a flood of RAGBRAI riders stopping by between Lake View and Webster City Tuesday.

Another is that, despite what’s claimed in a recent Wall Street Journal article and even on the official RAGBRAI website itself, this is not Lohrville’s first go-around with the weekly biking fest. A handful of residents claim it served as a pass-through down once before, several decades past.

“It’s not in the record books,” said Lois Irwin, a lifelong resident of the town who helped organize this year’s party. “It’s been some 30 years. It’s a tall tale.”

Shannon Hobbs, a stay-at-home mom and wife to Lohrville’s mayor, also heard the claim: “But there’s no records. So how do we prove it if it has been in town?”

Even Geobikes.com, the site full of RAGBRAI stats and relied upon by the ride’s organizers, fails to mention of Lohrville in previous years.

With little proof, the town pitched a slogan, “Lohrville: The ride’s 40-year-old virgin,” to honor the ride’s 40th year and, apparently, unprecedented visit.

Still, it doesn’t take long in town of 368 residents to find one who claims to have been there when RAGBRAI riders came to town. Wade Gemberling, a 55-year-old excavator, is one.

“They came through. The Lion’s Club cooked them some breakfast. It wasn’t that big of a deal then,” he said.

And Gemberling is more than just talk. The excavation of a home this spring turned up a scrapbook full of old newspaper clippings, several from The Des Moines Regsiter, that show RAGBRAI on the map.

“The route for RAGBRAI VII,” reads the headline to a story by John Karras, the ride’s co-founder. And there, on day three, just after the overnight town of Rockwell City, is Lohrville.

– Josh Hafner / The Des Moines Register

2012 ragbrai, RAGBRAI, RAGBRAI 2012, RAGBRAI XL, ride across iowa

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1 Response on “RAGBRAI XL: Lohrville’s RAGBRAI past left off the record books”

Donny Hobbs

July 25, 2012 at 11:06 am

Now it is certainly official that RAGBRAI has come through Lohrville. We all had a blast and would welcome you back again! Check facebook.com/Lohrville for pictures from the day. Thanks for stopping to see us!