RAGBRAI® by the numbers

 

It is always interesting to look at the numbers. Looking over the list there is around 250 volunteers counted for Cresco (which doesn’t include Protivin volunteers), but there were many more than that, as so many individuals stepped up to help make this event a success.
 
Miscellaneous
Thursday riders: 24,000 - estimated
Support personnel: 5,000 approximately
Number of days planning: 187
Bands: 5
Campgrounds: 5
Bikes given away by Variety - the Children’s Charity: 40
Businesses that participated in Spirit Thursdays: 33
Videos: 5
Signs: 175
VIPs: 4 - Lance Armstrong (bicyclist), Jimmie Johnson (Nascar), Matt Kenseth (Nascar) & Ryan Dungey (Motocross/Supercross)
Special volunteers: 3 University of Iowa students for 20 hours each
 
RAGBRAI®
Years: 45
Miles over 45 years: 19,542 plus
Iowans riding: 39 percent
Average age: 47
Bicycle Shops: 10
Total towns passed through: 780 plus
Total overnight towns: 125 plus
Percentage of incorporated towns RAGBRAI® has passed through: 80
States/D.C. that have tried to copy RAGBRAI®: At least 35
How many have surpassed RAGBRAI®?: Zero
Communications (Jim Murphy, Zach Gooder, John Gooder):
Volunteers: 12
Radios: 64 Radios
Repeaters: 2
Drone: 1 
Command Center Trailer: 1
 
Hospitality (Hillary Klimesh)
Man-eating plants: 10
Live zombies: 10
Zombie ghosts: 5
Ghost kids: 10
Grim reaper: 1
Headless rider: 1
Guillotine: 1
Tombstones: 15
T-shirt goal: 500
T-shirts sold: 700-plus
PVC used: 150-plus feet
Cans of spray paint: 20-plus
Man hours for decorations: 100-plus
Beautification hours: 10-plus
 
Public Safety (Rod Freidhof):
Volunteers: 8
City Employees: 9
Barricades used to block streets: 100
 
Law Enforcement (Police Chief Tim Ruroden): 
City police: 7 full-time & 2 part-time officers
Contracted Officers: 12
Iowa State Patrol: 8 travel with RAGBRAI plus 2 for traffic control
Arrests: 2 arrests (1 in Protivin for OWI & 1 in Cresco for public intoxication)
 
 
 
 
Medical (Brady Norman):
Stations: 2 - Courthouse & Fairgrounds
Mobile units: 3
Volunteers: 22
First Aid needed: 103 (not including bandaid/Tylenol/Advil)
Referrals: 6 for a higher level of care
 
Housing (Dave & Shirley Sovereign):
Applications: 270
Local hosts: 93 (some riders pre-arranged their housing)
Total served: 1,963-plus
 
Vendors (Missy Hvitved & Kathy Rice):
Volunteers: 
Food vendors: 23
Non-food vendors: 4
Electrical needs: 15 (taken care of by Bob’s Electric)
 
Information Center (Jennalee Pedretti):
Volunteers: 34
 
Spirits Garden (Kris Riley):
Beer varieties: 14
Cases sold: 377 (9,048 cans/ 108,576 fl. oz.)
Bags of ice: 154 (3,080 pounds)
Water: 18 cases/432 bottles
Spirits tickets sold: 9,300
Wrist bands passed out: 3,000 estimate
People in garden: 5,000 estimate.
Volunteers: 12 individuals worked all or most of the day and 18 firefighters (roughly) volunteered seven-and-a-half hours
Weight of tent: 1,750 pounds
Size of tent: 40x140 ft.
Fencing: 1,100 ft.
 
Showers/Sanitation (Lucas Merritt):
Porta Potties supplied by RAGBRAI: 86
Porta Potties supplied by Cresco: 69, including 11 handicap
Porta Potties for personal: 35-40
Hand-wash stations: 11
 
Crestwood K-8 & HS
Donated towels: 250
Showers at H-W: 2,000 
Dinners served at H-W: 500 - est.
 
Transportation (Brian Swestka)
Volunteers: 10
Miles: 270 (noon-1 a.m.)
Buses:  2 (noon-1 a.m.); 2 more  added at 3:30 p.m. - plus 2 passenger trailers (noon-9:30 p.m.)
Support vehicles (golf carts & UTVs): 13
 
Notre Dame Supper
Lasagna dinners sold: 735 (one-third were vegetarian - all sold out)
Volunteers: 70 (40 prepatory on Tuesday & 30 Thursday)
 
First Lutheran Supper
Chicken parm with noodles dinners: 600 (sold out)
Volunteers: 35
 
First United Methodist Supper
Sloppy Joes, mac & cheese, pie supper: over 400 (sold out)
 
Cresco Fitness Center:
Showers: 650 (1/3 included full facility use)

Cresco Times

Phone: 563-547-3601
Fax: 563-547-4602

Address:
Cresco TPD
214 N. Elm Street
Cresco, IA 52136

Sign Up For Breaking News

Stay informed on our latest news!

Manage my subscriptions

Subscribe to Breaking News feed