The City of Harlan is expecting about 15- to 20-thousand bicycle enthusiasts to roll into the community, Sunday. With the help of numerous volunteers, the visitors and their support staff will be given a giant welcome with food, fun and entertainment. Harlan will serve as RAGBRAI’s first overnight stop during the trip across Iowa, Sunday. Biking enthusiasts who have registered for the event will enter the City on Highway 44, before turning north on to 19th Street all the way to Cyclone, before making their way on Cyclone to 5th, and eventually gathering at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, off Broadway Street.

The Harlan Pit Stop will feature music from several local bands including Bob Fields and Swing Time, the Harlan Community Jazz Band and Jessica Errett, a former Harlan resident. While most of the entertainment will be on the square in downtown Harlan,  Errett however, will perform in the Harlan Community High School Auditorium.

Food will be served all over the city with vendors downtown serving everything from Italian sandwiches and burritos, to the American tradition of pie and corn dogs. The Shelby County Fairgrounds will have other food provided by local organizations, as well. Shelby County Community Outreach will open its food booth Sunday, from 4-pm until they run out of food.

The riders will leave Harlan Monday morning from 7th Street and head east on Highway 44.