Iowa's Ride could have flat tire

An upstart cross-state bike ride is facing an uphill climb.

Iowa's Ride, which was established in 2019, was supposed to traverse the Hawkeye State from east to west last July on its inaugural trip. It was slated to pass through northwest Iowa with overnight stops in Emmetsburg, Sheldon and Rock Rapids, but the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the brakes on the event.

The ride was postponed to the summer of 2021; however, speculation about its viability has grown significantly in recent months. The mounting uncertainty led Sheldon's Iowa's Ride Committee to withdraw last week from hosting riders this summer amid doubts the event will even take place.

According to a statement Tuesday from an unnamed Iowa's Ride representative, more information will be released in the near future.

"We are still trying to figure out in all communities what the [COVID-19] restrictions and availabilities are," stated an email to the Sentinel-News. "We plan to update folks soon."

Royal is slated to be a pass-through community. Other towns on the planned route from Emmetsburg to Sheldon July 23 included: Ayrshire, Gillett Grove, Greenville, Rossie, Primghar and Archer. The 18-mile stretch from Royal to Primghar is the day's longest without a town in between. Iowa's Ride was listed on the Royal City Council's agenda Wednesday night as a topic of discussion.

The last update on the event's website was posted Feb. 12. It noted plans were still in the works to host a ride with "cyclists from all over the world."

"Although [towns] are excited to welcome riders to their communities, some have expressed safety concerns about riders staying overnight in the community and what facilities would be open to host riders to camp, shower, eat, etc.," the statement noted. "Hosts were anticipating using a combination of schools, parks, fairgrounds, churches and private property and there is some uncertainty about how much acreage might be available to host visitors this summer."

Registration has closed to additional riders until more information is gathered, according to the website.

The event's former director, TJ Juskiewicz, took a new job in Arizona last summer. In a statement posted to the Iowa Ride's Facebook page on June 11, he said the 2021 event would be a "semi-supported ride" and free for anyone that was originally registered to ride in 2020. It's unknown how many cyclists still intend to embark on the cross-state cruise if the event takes place, but Juskiewicz was originally planning to cap registration at 5,000 participants to "stay manageable" before the event was canceled last year.

Iowa's Ride was created in 2019 by Juskiewicz to compete with RAGBRAI. The Ankeny man was the event's coordinator for 16 years before resigning in October due to differences with Gannett, which owns RAGBRAI's organizing sponsor the Des Moines Register.

Iowa's Ride is currently slated to be held July 18-24. That's a week before RAGBRAI, which is in its 49th year.

In addition to Emmetsburg, Sheldon and Rock Rapids, other overnight towns on Iowa's Ride original route included Dubuque, Monticello, Vinton, Eldora and Clarion.