Marshalltown leaders seek bike ride stop

Marshalltown leaders rode bicycles to Des Moines Tuesday to present RAGBRAI officials with a list of 150 reasons why the annual bike ride across Iowa should include Marshalltown as a stop next year. John Cahill said RAGBRAI would help the town celebrate its Sesquicentennial.Jim Green, one of the RAGBRAI coordinators, said he isn’t sure how Marshalltown will fare when it comes to planning a route for next year.Green said he enjoys seeing communities like Marshalltown being excited about hosting an overnight stop and promoting themselves.The Marshalltown delegation included Mayor Floyd Harthun, other community boosters and member of the Iowa Valley Bike Club. Representatives of the town of Hiawatha were also on hand to join with Marshalltown, pushing to be another overnight stop on the route.