Bike ride across Iowa puts vibrant small-town America into sharp focus

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

COLFAX, Iowa (AP) — It’s become easy to say that “small-town America” is slowly dying. That opportunities for young people have dried up, just like businesses and main streets, and that the only way of life involves life in a big city. But the reality is many small towns are flourishing, and that quickly becomes clear on RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across the state of Iowa. In places like Madrid, the population has grown from just over 2,500 to nearly 3,000 since the last census, and there are many towns like it. Those towns have leaned into their strengths to buck the trend toward population movement into urban areas.