RAGBRAI 2012: Hands across Hamilton County

Wed, Jul 25, 2012 | by Michael Morain

Jewell — Well, at least it was a good idea.

Locals in Jewell and Ellsworth were hoping to persuade RAGBRAI riders to set aside their bikes for a moment at 10 a.m. and link hands in a 6-mile line on the former railroad line that connects the neighboring towns.

The organizers thought photos from the stunt might help boost their campaign to pave the old track for a bike trail, a project that has been the runner-up for a Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) grant from the state for the last three years.

But the plans evaporated in the heat. Riders were reluctant to stop for a break as temperatures climbed to 100 degrees.

“It might be like herding chickens,” predicted Janet Young of Jewell, whose husband, Rick, is spearheading the bike-trail efforts.

Rick Young figured the hands-across-Hamilton-County photos might finally persuade the grant committee to kick in enough funds for the ribbon of pavement and new 60-foot bridge. (He mentioned that another city is willing to donate a used skywalk, but the costs to move it might exceed the price of a new bridge.)

The new trail would link the towns to Little Wall Lake and the network of trails inAmesand centralIowa.

But even though the hand-holding project didn’t quite work, a few riders walked away with the souvenir stickers: “I got a piece of trail between Jewell and Ellsworth.”

Rumors about that were neither confirmed nor denied.

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