RAGBRAI rolled into Knoxville on Wednesday for an overnight stay. 

It was a busy and jammed packed day while thousands of riders made the 75-mile trek from Winterset to the Sprint Car Capital of the World. The whole community was filled with people from all over the world who are participating in the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Sonic, a rider from New York, said it has been an amazing experience.

“It’s been really fun. The conditions have been great. We’ve done the event before and we really enjoy it because it’s always such good energy and good fun.”

Some riders have done this event for decades, but Tim from St. Louis says this a new experience. 

“It’s my first time. I’m riding with Steph, my girlfriend and she has done it a bunch. It’s been amazing to see the volume of participants. She had described it to me before, but until you’re here to be in it, it’s really hard to wrap your head around.”

Hundreds of volunteers stepped up from the Knoxville community to make this event possible, working in many different areas throughout the town. Knoxville City Manager Heather Ussery says after months of preparation, it is rewarding to showcase Knoxville in this way.

“It’s something different. It’s very exciting. I think we have done a lot of different things throughout our community over the last ten years since RAGBRAI was last here and it just gives us a great opportunity to highlight Knoxville.”

The downtown area was filled with many different food and merchandise vendors and there was musical entertainment all day that started at 1:00 pm. The evening closed with a concert from the headliner Hairball. The riders will leave Knoxville this morning and head to their next stop in Ottumwa. Tune into Let’s Talk Knoxville today to hear from different riders and people with the city about the overnight stop.