Logo revealed for Lansing RAGBRAI at Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting
Lansing RAGBRAI logo revealed ... The logo for Lansing RAGBRAI was revealed Wednesday, March 16 at the Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting held at the Safehouse Saloon in Lansing. Pictured above with the new logo are, left to right, artist and local minister Laura Gentry, who created the logo, and Lansing RAGBRAI Chair Ian Zahren. Lansing was selected as the end destination for this year’s RAGBRAI event, which is scheduled to take place July 23-30 this year. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond.
In January, it was announced that RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, in which thousands cycle the state from the west to the east, will be ending in Lansing this year. Preparations are already underway for the town to host the event, which takes place July 23-30. Wednesday, March 16, at the Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting, the logo for Lansing RAGBRAI was revealed.
Ian Zahren, vocal music director at Kee High School in Lansing and executive chair of Lansing RAGBRAI, convened a team to design this logo. That team consisted of artist and pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Rev. Laura Gentry, and Elizabeth Loberg, founder and CEO of Wood Media.
“We wanted our logo to reflect the charm and uniqueness of our town,” Zahren explained, “something that said ‘You are here, you made it, you have done it!’ while also encompassing the elements of the natural beauty of the area.”
“And that was quite a challenge!” added Gentry. “That’s a lot to express in a logo, especially as an image to greet the bikers after a week-long ride.”
When RAGBRAI riders reach the Mississippi River, they dip their bike tire in the river to mark the end of their long journey. At this point, they often hold up their bike for a photo. After bouncing around a lot of concepts, the logo team landed on that iconic image of a rider standing in the river, triumphantly holding their bike.
The theme for Lansing is “Pedal to Paradise,” so the team also wanted to evoke this by adding a blazing sun and birds in the sky. Lansing is, after all, “where eagles soar.” Ultimately, the design was painted by Gentry and edited into a graphic format by Loberg.
For the Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting, Gentry painted a larger version of the logo on a four-foot diameter circle. It was hidden by a shroud until it was time for the big reveal. Members of the Lansing community gathered for the meeting at the Safehouse Saloon created a drumroll sound effect to heighten the excitement at the moment the logo was unveiled.
“The logo reveal party was a wonderful success!” Zahren said. “It’s exciting to see our town locals come together to kick off our official RAGBRAI launch. I am so thankful to Laura Gentry for her amazing artistry and Elizabeth Loberg for her collaborative spirit in putting together the logo.”
The large painting of the logo will be on display at Lansing Office Works from now until RAGBRAI. “Lansing Office Works is honored to serve as the headquarters for RAGBRAI XLIX in Lansing,” says Maryann Baldwin, founder and owner of Lansing Office Works. “In addition to hosting all the committee meetings as the individual teams plan for the event, we also benefit from the display of Laura Gentry’s original artwork and RAGBRAI Lansing logo design in our space. It’s a great reminder of all that is ahead for Lansing this summer!”
Gentry said of the event: “I’m really excited we’ve launched our logo. You’ll be seeing a lot more of it in the weeks and months ahead as we add it to the website, signage, public art around town and eventually merchandise.”
Zahren added: “As we venture into our next stages of planning for our organization, we look forward to collaborating with our town members and committee chairs to make RAGBRAI a giant success for the entire region.”
The website LansingRagbrai.com is expected to launch this week. It will offer information, updates and volunteer opportunities.
