One fantastic day

It had been 40 years since RAGBRAI last made their way through Ionia and New Hampton and it never had been through Lawler.If the Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa participants have any say in it, the three Chickasaw County towns won’t have to wait until 2057 to see the bicycle ride again.“Iowa has the nicest people in the world,” said Casey Cohen, who hails from Santa Maria, California, “and honest to God, the nicest might be the people today. This is incredible.”As RAGBRAI made its way out of Charles City early Thursday morning, their first stop was Ionia before making their way to New Hampton, which served as the ride’s “meet town” for the day.“Next to an overnight, meet towns are the next best thing,” said Michael Anderson, a Twin Cities man who was riding his 23rd consecutive RAGBRAI. “And you guys, I’m dead serious, really rose tothe occasion.”For numerous organizations and clubs, RAGBRAI equaled great fundraisers.Nashua-Plainfield History Day students, for example, sold 800 breakfast burritos and 500 iced coffees in less than 3 1/2 hours at their stand in Ionia.In New Hampton, one of the big hits was the local youth soccer club’s “dunk challenge” in which participants kicked a soccer ball at a target, and if they hit it, their opponent got doused.“This is what I love about RAGBRAI,” said Julia Mee, an Oakland, Calif., resident. “OK, I’m soaking wet right now, but it’s so much fun and we know we’re helping great causes.”For the New Hampton RAGBRAI Committee co-chairs, Julie Winter-Havel and Phil Zwanziger, it was the best possible of days, albeit tad exhausting.Both said they may have slept, at most, an hour Wednesday night, but by 3 p.m. Thursday, they were celebrating.“Well, if we can do anything,” Winter-Havel said, “we can throw one hell of a party.”— For much more on RAGBRAI’s ride through Chickasaw County, see the Aug. 1 Tribune and the Aug. 3 Reporter