With Ragbrai rolling into town Tuesday morning and the severe thunderstorms over the past few days, organizers are scrambling to secure the campsites and some possible alternatives.

“The concern at the moment is the amount of rain that we’ve had in the last couple of days, which has left the campgrounds soggy,” said Ames Mayor Ann Campbell.

Sunday night’s rain was a worry for Campbell, as it meant the possibility of having to move the riders’ campsites to different locations.

“We’re still in the process of checking alternatives,” Campbell said. “The options are not on every doorstep – lots of the other parkland is in flood prone areas.”

Campbell said the concern lies in finding other spaces that will hold such a large number of people and finding the riders access to showers and toilets.

Karin Sevde, Ames Ragbrai co-chair, said one option planners are looking at is moving the campsite to the Ames Middle School.

“We’re hoping for no more rain,” Sevde said Monday night. “They’ll be evaluating [the campsites] first thing [Tuesday] morning.”

Until then, the organizers were focused on preparing Ames and the ISU campus for the riders.

On campus, they are in “final prep mode,” said John McCarroll, executive director of university relations and member of the ISU Ragbrai Welcome Committee.

“I think the entryway was being put up [on Monday],” McCarroll said. “So far that I have heard all is going well.”

At the route’s entrance to campus, which will take riders down the normally barricaded section of Stange Road between Pammel Drive and Osborn Drive, organizers have set up scaffolding to hold a welcome banner that crews will raise Tuesday morning and a mister to help cool down the riders as they pass through.

Employees with facilities planning and management spent nine hours painting Cy’s footprints and other signage onto the road to guide cyclists through campus.

However, Sunday night’s rainfall washed away much of the day’s work and crews were out again on Monday repainting a small portion of the path.

“Down at the Iowa State Center the stage is going up, and vendors’ tents are going up,” Sevde said.

Main Street will be closed Tuesday morning. The block between Burnett and Kellogg avenues will be closed to make accommodations for a beer garden and food vendors, she said.

“I would say that everything will be ready by at least 10 a.m. [Tuesday] and we expect most of the riders to be coming in between 9 a.m. and noon,” Sevde said.

Sevde said she has spoken with her co-chairperson, Dave Kraemer, who is riding the entire Ragbrai route and the phrase Ragbrai riders are using to describe Ames is “crazy big.”

“Most of Ragbrai travels through small towns, so them coming to Ames is a big event and they’re all looking forward to it,” Sevde said.

– Daily staff writer Zach Thompson contributed to this article.