Bird: RAGBRAI "shut down" no reason for concern

Decorah City Administrator Chad Bird is also co-chair of the Decorah RAGBRAI committee.  Wednesday night he gave assurances to city council members that RAGBRAI's plans for a 2:00 p.m. "shut down time" in Decorah July 28th is something all communities along the RAGBRAI route will have.

Bird says the Iowa State Patrol and RAGBRAI provide support along the bike route only until 6:00 p.m. each day.  As a result, it's important to keep bike riders moving from town to town.

Since Decorah is a "pass through" community, RAGBRAI and Iowa State Patrol officials will ask bike riders to leave Decorah at 2:00 p.m.  Bike riders will still need to ride through Ossian and Postville before arriving in Waukon for their overnight stay, so the 2:00 p.m. Decorah shut down is being used for safety reasons.