Sheldon, Iowa — As the COVID-19 virus continues its course through northwest Iowa, we see more things canceled with each passing day. One bright spot to look forward to this summer is the inaugural Iowa’s Ride bicycle ride across the state.
Heidi Brown is co-chair of Iowa’s Ride 2020 Sheldon. She tells KIWA that with all the bad news around it’s nice to have something positive to look forward to.
(As above) “We are full on proceeding with the plan for the first ever Iowa’s Ride that’s coming to Sheldon on Friday July 17th. That’s four months away, it’s an outdoor event that’s in the summer and it’s awesome to have something positive to look forward to.”
Brown calls Iowa’s Ride 2020’s overnight stay in Sheldon a “blessing” for the community.
(As above) “What a blessing that they picked Sheldon as an overnight town on the Friday night because this will be a tremendous financial boost for our community and we’ve never needed one as badly as we’re going to need one this time around and so will I we are so grateful for that opportunity.”
While the ride will happen as scheduled, local preparations for it have become something of a challenge, with committees having to find new ways to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(As above) “Up until through March we had monthly large group meetings with the directors from Des Moines, they came in person and we all got together and now just like many of us are doing for the purposes of work and several other meetings that we have, we are reliant on email and technology to accomplish a lot of things but that’s okay. Technology is great and and makes it easy for us to do that so we’re just having to send a lot more emails back and forth.”
Brown expressed her appreciation for the Iowa’s Ride 2020 Sheldon committee chairs for their flexibility in how they’re forced to get things done.
(As above) “It’s a great to be able like I said to have something positive to focus on and Friday July seventeenth will be a great positive thing and so I appreciate all the work our our committee chairs are doing in continuing to work as best they can in ways that they’re having to kind of reinvent as we go.”
Iowa’s Ride 2020 will begin in Dubuque on July 12th, and will arrive in Sheldon from Emmetsburg on Friday July 17th. After spending the night in Sheldon, riders and their support teams will depart for Saturday’s destination, Rock Rapids, where the ride will end.
