First challenge of the trip ~ Floods in Rock Valley

We haven't even left for Iowa and know that the starting town of the ride had been hit with floods around June 17th.

Our campsite, we hear, may still remain under water.

Yet I am confident that Iowans are a resilient and tenacious lot. Moreover, as quoted in the Music Man Iowans "...will give you their shirts, and the back to go with them..." if adversity strikes. Other towns have already come to help with cleaning up flooded homes and low-lying venue sites.

Even less than two weeks after the floods Keloland News reported, on June 25th, that Rock Valley Will Still Host RAGBRAI. Rock Valley's mayor, Kevin Van Otterloo, said in a press release that "It’s hard to let go of something that we have worked for months to organize," and that the town looks forward to "...having the opportunity to showcase the community that we have seen rally together over the last week."

What and where and how large is Rock Valley? It is a city in Sioux County, Iowa, United States, along the Rock River. The population was 3,354 at the 2010 census.

That said, once again, we too are giving Iowa a Try.

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PIC CREDITS: Tim Hynds, Sioux City (Iowa) Journal