Cyclists welcomed warmly in Iowa

Hamburg, Iowa ? When word reached communities of approaching border raiders in the late 1800s, residents would most likely hide or take up arms to defend themselves. Tuesday, as the group of cycling Border Raiders swept into the Iowa communities of Sidney and Riverton, the townsfolk welcomed the arrivals with open arms. They offered homemade strawberry jam, air-conditioning and a wagon ride to a scenic overlook.

“We figured biscuits and homemade jam would be good,” said Evelyn Birkby, with the Fremont County Historical Museum in Sidney. The group had set up what cyclists call a “support and gear” stop at the museum’s entrance on the town square. In addition to the food, volunteers were on hand to give a tour of the museum.

“They said you were interested in history,” Birkby said. “And we like to help people.”

Cyclists dropped donations in a jar, signed a guest book and toured the unique museum, which included a horse-drawn hearse from the 1800s and a mastodon tusk.

“That’s the best museum I’ve ever been in,” said one rider.

James McKenzie, Lawrence, one of the 193 bicyclists participating in the tour, sat outside the entrance to the museum eating a plate of biscuits and jam. Nearby, Bob Birkby, Evelyn’s husband, was admiring McKenzie’s 1888 English Light Roadmaster bike.

“I couldn’t get on it, let alone ride it,” said Birkby, ringing the bell on the big-wheeled bicycle.

McKenzie, who rode 725 miles on the bicycle from Lawrence to Defiance, Ohio, to a Wheelmen’s convention in 1996, chose the Roadmaster instead of his modern bike for Tuesday’s ride. But winds slowed him down.

“I haven’t been able to do that much today,” said McKenzie, who in normal conditions can average 14 to 15 miles per hour. “I’d rather have hills than the wind.”

McKenzie and the other Border Raiders riders got both as they entered Iowa on Tuesday. Fortunately, for every uphill there was a downhill and at the bottom of one of those hills was the SAG stop of Riverton. Residents there welcomed the Border Raiders with 14 flavors of homemade pie.