RAGBRAI Town Spotlight: Vinton (Thursday)

The RAGBRAI pre-ride rolls into Vinton Thursday, June 4, 2015.

Vinton, Iowa is our RAGBRAI Town Spotlight today, our meeting town for Thursday’s ride from Cedar Falls to Hiawatha.  Vinton hosted RAGBRAI as pass-through town just one other time, back in 2012.  The also served as an overnight town for RAGBRAI VI in 1978.

Vinton will welcome RAGBRAI riders into town in black & gold fashion, the colors of the community’s school and the Iowa Hawkeye dance team and Herky the Hawk, who will give the riders a warm welcome!  The route through town will be adorned by hundreds of American Flags with a giant flag flying from a ladder truck!

Entertainment, food & shade will be hot spots in downtown where all of the town’s festivities will happen. A local DJ will keep the atmosphere fun and inviting with music throughout the afternoon, so hang out on the courthouse lawn and listen to the music of our local DJ. Take a run down the giant inflatable slip & slide to cool off or have fun with Giant Beer Pong.   Have your picture taken at several photo ops around town! Don’t forget to milk the cow before you leave! (The last time Vinton hosted, the RAGBRAIers wore out the udders of the cow!)

Expect to see the return of the BIG BIKE that have appeared at a few RAGBRAIs but was built by Mike Elwick of Vinton for RAGBRAI XL.

Vinton will allow outside vendors into town along with some of our local groups coming together to help prepare some of the yummiest food around! Can you say PIE and ICE CREAM?

The Backpocket Brewery will have a beverage garden in downtown as well as the Ron-Da-Voo Lounge.

Some neat places you might visit include the Iowa Braille & Sight Saving School and the Historical Train Depot. Vinton also has over 25 chainsaw carvings around town as a result of the 2011 derecho wind storm that destroyed 75% of the community’s trees.  Vinton recently opened Celebration Park on the Cedar River.  The area was the former site of many destroyed homes during the floods of 2008.