Overnight in Jefferson during the Bell Tower Festival
~by Chuck Offenburger for the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association
Bicycle riders from six states have pre-registered for the seventh annual “Tour The Raccoon” ride on the Raccoon River Valley Trail, set for this Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14. They’ll be in Jefferson Saturday night, with most of them camping at the Trailhead Campground at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
The ride is sponsored for the public by the Des Moines Cycle Club. There is online registration and more information at www.dmcycleclub.com. Riders can also sign up the morning of the ride at its official starting point, which is the Vince Meyer Learning Center, a school in Waukee.
Tour The Raccoon is probably the best event on which bicyclists can experience the full, 89-mile RRVT. Its route uses the RRVT’s north loop for the Saturday ride from Waukee to Jefferson, it overnights in Jefferson during the community’s annual Bell Tower Festival, then it uses the RRVT’s south loop for the Sunday ride back to Waukee and the Des Moines area.
The tour has typically had about 100 riders, one year jumping up to 175.
“We’ve seen something interesting happening in our pre-registration,” said Georgie Libbie, of Windsor Heights, president of the DMCC. “This ride seems to have caught the attention of a lot of riders from out of state. I think it’s because they’re hearing about the Raccoon River Valley Trail and wanting to find a time to ride it. We already have riders signed up from Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas and of course Iowa. We even had one from Montana that signed up, but then he had a conflict and had to cancel. So word is getting out there.”
A Saturday highlight during the ride is a zany scavenger hunt by participants in the trail towns along the way. Sunday highlights include a complimentary breakfast at the Jefferson Depot, provided again by McFarland Clinic of Jefferson. That includes the community’s famous Bunkers Dunkers glazed donuts, bananas, orange juice and coffee from Jefferson’s Greene Bean Coffee Co.
On down the trail on Sunday, Troop 153 of the Boy Scouts in Panora will once again host a Sunday morning breakfast/brunch at the Community Center. The Scouts offer that to the Tour The Raccoon riders but it is also very popular with people in the Panora area.
