Painted bike yard art offered to help welcome RAGBRAI riders to Charles City

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Colorful bicycles may soon be found parked in front of homes and businesses in Charles City, but these two-wheelers are more about setting a mood than providing transportation.

The bikes aren’t really useful for riding anymore, anyway, and the group that’s selling them hopes to raise a little money and also to provide a unique welcome to the 15,000 or so bicyclists who will spend a night in town later this month.

“The purpose of it is to create some yard art that helps welcome people from RAGBRAI to the area,” said Tami Vetter, the vice chair of the Main Street Charles City board of directors, and owner of The Rustic Corner.

The available bike colors – blue, green and orange – correspond to the colors in the Charles City logo and the new city flag.

Mayor Dean Andrews said he saw the idea in one of the many informational and promotional pieces he receives online from other communities, and thought it made a nice fit with the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa visit on July 28.

The bikes were donated to Main Street Charles City by Cedar Valley Realty and Auction Co., Vetter said. Schueth Ace Hardware donated the paint and her husband, Bill Vetter, did the painting.

“We did only 20, so it’s a limited edition, to help raise some funds for Main Street, but also just for some fun, to bring some fun to people’s front yards,” Vetter said. “We were looking for other ways to raise funds for the organization and provide some kind of yard art or decoration to people that they might normally not have even considered.”

Three sample bikes – one of each color – are in the bicycle rack in the parking lot across from The Charles Theatre.

“People can keep them up and decorate them for all the different seasons,” Vetter said. “It’s just another way to add something to your garden or to your front yard. ”

The bikes are available for $45 each, and can be ordered online or by stopping in to Vetter’s store. If she has the color requested in stock the purchaser can take the bike right away, otherwise Vetter said she would bring them in from her home where they are being stored and they can be picked up the next day.

To order online, go to www.facebook.com/MSCCIA and click the link in the story pinned to the top of the page.