Team Cutter rolls through Sigourney

Among the tens of thousands of cyclists who rode into Sigourney, one group stood out along with their team bus, with the simple name of Cutter. A group that has been around for almost three decades, the co-ed team got together again for the annual event to bike across the state, the largest such biking event in the world.

RAGBRAI, or PIGBRAI as it was known in town, was all about variety within the group of riders. Several people had customized their helmets by adding décor and even more people were sporting team jerseys, wearing costumes or something to make them stand out from the crowd. Cyclists began arriving in Sigourney as soon as 1 P.M. on July 26 and continued to roll in throughout the afternoon. The small town of just over 2,000 residents swelled to over 20,000 in a matter of hours.

Team Cutter was being housed on more of the outskirts of the town with some other groups nearby. The team has been around for quite a few years and it all began with Geoff Perrill, the owner of the Cutter bus. The name is based off a film called Breaking Away which depicted a group of kids from Indiana who competed against some kids from the University.

Todd Burvee joined the team 15 years ago when he was with a smaller group of riders biking through Iowa City. Andy Barnett reached out to Burvee with an invitation to join Team Cutter and take on the challenge of RAGBRAI. Burvee has ridden with the Cutters for the past 14 years, with the team entering its 29th year of existence this July.

“Cycling was something I started to enjoy, and it was going to be a challenge to try and ride my bike across the state, it’d been something I’d never done before,” Burvee said. “It’s a unique experience and there are different ways of going about RAGBRAI. Some groups get up early and leave while others party all day and stay behind the patrol. There’s no wrong way of doing it.”

Team Cutter consists of roughly 20 members with a majority coming from Iowa City and Des Moines.

“These people on the team are the best part about the experience,” Burvee said. “Some of them I don’t see 51 weeks a year and then we get back together and it’s like we didn’t miss a beat. The comradery is fantastic.”

Sigourney was the smallest overnight town on the 2018 RAGBRAI route as riders trekked from Newton through Lynnville-Sully, New Sharon (Century Loop), Montezuma and Keswick before calling it a day and camping out in Sigourney.

“Amazing, amazing, amazing. We had a great experience in the town with good food and our host and hostess have been fantastic,” Burvee said. “When you get into bigger towns things tend to get spread out, but when you go into a smaller town that can support RAGBRAI, it’s easier to walk down town. Everything tends to be local and more centralized.”

Cyclists rode out of Sigourney the following morning and went through Harper, Keota, Wellman, Riverside and Hills on their way to Iowa City for day six of the week long event.