RAGBRAI 2012: Czech Village happily awash in bicyclists

Cedar Rapids, Ia. — “Friday fun day,” one of my team members coined today’s 42-mile jaunt on Day 6 of RAGBRAI, a well-timed rest after Thursday night’s birthday bash in Cedar Rapids with Counting Crows.

The Cedar Rapids celebration continued this morning to the tune of the Iowa Accordion Club in a pavilion in the Czech Village — the riverside cultural and business district that was devastated in the June 2008 flood that submerged much of Iowa’s second largest city.

“I’m so proud to see this many people come to our little slice of the Czech Republic!” John Szymanek shouted from the street corner he greeted bikers. He’s part Polish, not Czech, but he’s also an intern at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library. The 1,760-ton building was painstakingly raised off its foundation and moved to a higher knoll along the riverbank; it opened at 6 a.m. today to court the RAGBRAI throng.

Of course there was breakfast. Kolaches and other Czech pastries beckoned, with Bloody Marys or “Bohemian Brew” (a closely guarded recipe) to wash them down.

Chris Bigenwald from Rochester, N.Y., bit into an apple garnet. The 46-year-old works for Windstream and is on his inaugural RAGBRAI. He was oblivious to the 2008 flood here until talk of it at Thursday night’s concert. He’s enjoyed the week but took a wrong turn Tuesday and missed the Karras Loop.

“I am definitely using that as an excuse to come back,” he said.

The mother-daughter RAGBRAI duo of Tara and Amanda Gregus asked me to help with their photo opp in front of the Czech Village columns. Tara’s husband/Amanda’s father is Czech (and Polish), so they had to report back to him.

This is Tara’s second RAGBRAI, but she hadn’t ridden since 1984. Amanda convinced her mom to return to celebrate her 50th birthday.

Even though the Gregus family lives relatively nearby in the Chicago area (Riverside, Ill.), they also hadn’t heard tales of the 2008 washout in Cedar Rapids. They learned about it Thursday from a local cabbie.

Mother and daughter were among the campers Wednesday night in Marshalltown who suffered their own flood — a thunderstorm that soaked their tents. So they booked a hotel room in Cedar Rapids.

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