REDFIELD, Iowa, July 3, 2008 –  With many bicyclists in Iowa now doing extended training rides on weekends to get ready for RAGBRAI later this month, the board of directors of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association decided to treat all its members to a free picnic trailside on Saturday, July 12.

Board members will be grilling and serving brats, hamburgers and hotdogs from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. in Hanging Rock Park.  There will also be side dishes, cold drinks, tableware and utensils provided.  And it’s all free to members of the RRVT Association.

People who are not yet members, but want to buy memberships at the picnic, are welcome and will eat free, too. Non-members can eat at the picnic for $5 each.

“We know that a lot of our members and other cyclists will be out riding on July 12 and 13, because that weekend is one week before RAGBRAI will be starting,” said Carla Offenburger, RRVT Association president, of Cooper. “We thought having this free picnic would be a fun way to say thanks to our members for the great support they’ve given our trail projects the past two years. And we set the time of the meal, from 11 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon, to give people plenty of time to ride to Redfield from either end of the trail.”

She said the RRVT Association board members also wanted to introduce more people to Hanging Rock Park, which is a Dallas County Conservation Board property and is one of the prettiest spots on the whole trail.

It is positioned on the banks of the Middle Raccoon River, with sandstone outcroppings looming 45 feet above the water, and inspiring the name of the 440-acre park.  Generations of Redfield residents and other Dallas Countians have had picnics under the shade trees along the river in the park, and some think it’s one of the most romantic spots along the RRVT, too.

There are wildflowers along a paved spur trail, and also along a winding driveway, that take people a half-mile west and south of the RRVT, to the river.  The beginning of that spur trail is marked with a sign on the RRVT in the middle of Redfield.

The park actually has two levels — one along the river and the other on a rise northeast of the river.  That rise is the location of the shelterhouse where the RRVT Association board will be serving the meal.

There is also a nicely restored red tile barn on that rise, as well as an unusual astronomical clock the conservation board constructed, “designed to map the sun’s path throughout the annual cycle of sunrise and sunsets, marking the solstice and equinox events,” according to the Dallas County Conservation site on the Internet.

Offenburger said RRVT Association members will be asked to show their yellow 2008 Association membership card, “but if you have misplaced it, fear not – we’ll bring our roster of members with us to check for your name.” 

She asks that if you are planning to attend the picnic, send her a brief message at info@raccoonrivervalleytrail.org indicating you will be there, and also tell if you are bringing friends and how many.

Individual memberships to the association are $20 per year, and also get you the year’s pass to use the RRVT.  Family memberships are $35 and bring two annual trail passes.  Other details and benefits of membership can be found by clicking on “Membership” on the left side of the home page of this Internet site.

Article Published: 07-03-2008