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OSKALOOSA, IOWA -- Over the weekend, the city of Oskaloosa was informed they will host an overnight stop for RAGBRAI this year.

This is the fourth time the town has hosted the biking tour, and city officials said they were thrilled when they heard the announcement.

Now, of course, begins the work, but Mayor David Krutzfeldt said the town offers the culture and hospitality of small town Iowa that visitors will enjoy.

"That's where it's such a pleasure and a privilege to be the mayor of Oskaloosa, because we have so many people who can do such a wonderful job of organizing events such as this and they're used to it," Mayor Krutzfeldt said. "We do this fairly frequently, where we have events going on in town and so we have to get all our infrastructure up to speed in order to handle a large crowd of people and then get everybody to have a good time and enjoy themselves while they're here. I'm very confident it's going to be a wonderful experience, both for the people of Oskaloosa and for the Ragbraiers who are coming through."

Jon Sullivan, of the Oskaloosa Chamber of Commerce, said the city will be unveiling a theme of "note the difference" to highlight how much the city has grown in the past few years.

"When they get into town, they're going to think they're in a much bigger town because we have the amenities of a community of 40 or 50,000, and we only have 11,000," Sullivan said. "So they will be very well treated here."

When a community is chosen to host the event, the organizers of RAGBRAI send an email to each town, with suggestions of how to prepare. The Oskaloosa Chamber has already started organizing committees to coordinate everything from repair resources to hotel rooms and camping sites.

The route for this year's RAGBRAI event begins in Council Bluffs and ends in Fort Madison, with another overnight stop in Fairfield.