Searing heat and torrential thunderstorms have beset the opening days of RAGBRAI this year.
The Des Moines Register, sponsor of the across Iowa bicycle tour for the past 33 years, reports temperatures soaring into the 100s over the weekend at the start in LeMars.
The National Weather Service office in Souix City, Iowa, forecasts cooler weather as the week progresses, with highs dropping to the upper 70s by Wednesday and but climbing into the upper 80s by the end of the week. There's a chance of thunderstorms, severe at times, through Tuesday.
An overnight thunderstorm is responsible for causing a tree branch to fall on a tent overnight in Sheldon, killing one of the men inside. The Register reports the man, Thomas Burke, 27, of New York City, was an unregistered Iowa ride participant.
Police 80 mph winds and heavy rain knocked down many trees and caused property damage throughout the area. Burke and two companions were camping at a private residence.
A rider, Jennifer Kobza of Wisconsin, told KELO-TV:
“This was just one of those God-awful accidents that no one can control. It can happen to anyone to anyone, and that's what's scary.”
RAGBRAI 2005 travels 485 miles from LeMars to Guttenberg. Every year the ride is limited to 8,500 participants, but the roads are free and many people join the tour as unregistered riders.
(Update, Aug. 1: Two persons on a team bus are injured, one seriously, when its brakes fail on a steep hill heading into Guttenberg on the final day of RAGBRAI.)
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