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The EISC bicycle ride on the Raccoon River Valley Trail the weekend of June 11^th-13^th  is coming up fast.  This 2 day outing on the RRVT will be replacing the annual Cedar Falls area ride that Wendall and Jane Sents host.  However, Wendall and Jane have volunteered to be the EISC camper trip leaders for this ride.  At the April EISC meeting Wendall said he has 5 electrical hook up spaces left in the loop of 12 campsites he reserved at the Prairie Flower Recreation area, Saylorville Lake, for the evenings of the bike ride, June 11^th and 12^th.   Wendall said these are big camp sites and there is plenty of room.   Please contact Wendall if you would like to go camping that weekend.  The Saylorville campsite is about 20 miles from the Perry trailhead and is a fun place to camp even if you don’t want to go on the bicycle ride.  The EISC has decided to use the Perry trailhead to start our ride.

We have 1 room left of the 7 we reserved at the historic Hotel Pattee, which is across the street from the trail head.  We know some members went onto the hotel’s website and reserved one of the cool, themed rooms.  https://www.hotelpattee.com.  The historic property has 40 individually decorated and themed guest rooms, a bowling center, a full service dining room and lounge, and its own dedicated library.  The Hotel offers complimentary secure bicycle storage. They have a bike repair station, a tire pump in front of the hotel and some basic bike tools to fix a flat.  Please contact Steve Cummings (steve@eastiowaskiclub.com) if you are interested in that last room the club has on hold.  Or some members made their own reservations at a Super 8 motel in town that has a more budget friendly rate.

The RRVT is a flat looping trail that travels through miles of scenic Iowa farmland and towns west and north of the Des Moines area.  The entire trail consists of 89 miles and the loop is around 60 miles.  However, we suspect most members will ride between the towns of Waukee and Perry, the 2 main trailheads and a popular stretch of the trail.  You can ride as far as you want and return to the starting point.  As on all EISC bicycle rides, everyone rides at their own speed & can ride as much as you want.  The trail keeps the railroad theme with the signs and old depots turned into trailheads in many of the towns.

On that Friday afternoon of June 11^th a number of members plan to ride the High Trestle Bridge Trail on their way in.  Starting at the Woodward trailhead - it is only a few miles from the Perry.  A short ride to the bridge or into Madrid or Sheldahl, where there are some fun places to stop and rest sounds like a fine idea to me.  The website for the RRVT trail is https://raccoonrivervalleytrail.org/ and one of the better High Trestle Bridge trail websites is https://www.traveliowa.com/trails/high-trestle-trail/28/.  We hope everyone who wants to can join us on this bicycle / camping trip - the EISC Raccoon River Valley Trail Ride weekend.  And Wendall really hopes there are 5 more people who would like a campsite in the loop he reserved at the Saylorville Reservoir

Friday bike ride option about 1:30pm starting at Woodward trail head, to High Trestle bridge (5 mile ride round trip). Contact Steve Cummings for details as time is not exact.