The official logo for Sioux City’s 50th anniversary of hosting the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) on July 21-22 was unveiled today in a city news conference. It will be featured on t-shirts, signage, posters, emails, broadcast and print media, and www.ragbraisiouxcity.com.
The logo image and slogan were selected by local residents on the RAGBRAI publicity committee, based on the history of the event which first started from Sioux City in August 1973. Sioux City graphic designer Jeff Gordon chose colors and symbols to convey the history of the 1970s.
Volunteers serving on more than a dozen other committees are working on the event and meeting regularly. More volunteers will be recruited later this spring when specific needs are defined.
Sioux City has served as the starting point of RAGBRAI eight times (1973, 1978, 1988, 1993, 2001, 2010, 2015, 2023) in 50 years. Cyclists will leave Sioux City on Sunday, July 23 to stay overnight in Storm Lake, Carroll, Ames, Des Moines, Tama-Toledo and Coralville and end in Davenport on July 29.
More than 17,000 riders have registered to date and most of the metro’s hotels are booked.
Chris Larsen Park and Riverside Park will serve as campgrounds for registered cyclists. Cook Park will be the location for unregistered riders.
The Tyson Events Center and Long Lines Family Rec Center parking lot will host the entertainment and bike expo area.
“Sioux City is excited for the 50th anniversary of RAGBRAI,” said Sioux City RAGBRAI Chair Matt Salvatore. “RAGBRAI can showcase Sioux City like no other event and create a powerful economic impact. Cyclists and their support teams from across the country and around the globe will flood Sioux City on Friday and Saturday to eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels, shop, buy gas, and more.”
RAGBRAI began when John Karras and Donald Kaul, two Des Moines Register reporters decided to bike across Iowa and invited others to join them. The initial count of 114 riders exploded over subsequent years making RAGBRAI a major summer event across the state of Iowa.
Find the latest information about RAGBRAI in Sioux City at www.ragbraisiouxcity.com and on social media at Facebook @siouxcityragbrai, Twitter @scragbrai, and Instagram @siouxcityragbrai.
Original source can be found here.
