|
Congratulations
to
Frannie Jacobus
, the
Henderson
County
YMCA
and all the volunteers and sponsors who put on a great Tour de Leaves ride
on Saturday, October 20, 2007.
The Half Metric was a great 30 mile ride through
Polk County
,
NC
, beginning in
Tryon
,
NC
. This is a great starter ride for those who want to get back into riding
or for those who just want a nice easy ride through some very scenic
territory. There were well stocked and staffed rest stops at the 10
and 20 mile points. Traffic control provided by the Polk County
Sheriff
'
s Department, firefighters and
EMS
was excellent. Key intersections were well controlled and automobile
traffic was not overwhelming. Thanks to
Ralph Draves
of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, for designing a safe and well flowing
route!
Harmon Field, in Tryon, was an excellent start and finish location.
Easy to find, plenty of parking and great amenities. The signs from I-26
were very helpful! Preregistration was very smooth. $25 for
preregistration and $40 for day of event registration. When I picked
up my number and T-shirt at the preregistration table, there was no one at
the Day of Event registration table. Having a choice of shirt or socks was
great. Now I have both. A few more years and I'll have a complete wardrobe.
The course was well marked and there were several yard signs at key points
giving very welcome extra information. Course marking is a high
skill, underappreciated, attribute of a good ride. The course
marking and signs here were excellent! The sign at the 30/60 mile
split gave correct guidance. The individual directing me to take the
60 mile route was less helpful.
The first 28 miles were delightful. Easy rolling terrain with lots of
great scenery. The climb at mile 29 was a bit of a surprise.
Fortunately, there was a well placed sign warning of the steep climb
ahead. This climb caught several riders by surprise. A number
of riders became pedestrians on this stretch. It was a short stretch
and did give the ride enough challenge to be interesting. After the ride I
reviewed the climbing graph and did see that there was indeed a little
challenge climb at mile 29. The 3-D effect made it a little less
obvious.
Rough pavement was the downfall of two riders. It was a reminder to
me to be on the lookout for rough pavement and slow down and keep straight
when encountering it. It was a lesson I applied on Sunday to a rough
stretch of pavement on a steep decent on the Blue Ridge Parkway coming
back from the first tunnel past the Folk Arts Center.
SAG service was excellent. I was checked on by motorcylists and car
SAG at least twice. It was like personal SAG service. (Just
like Lance!)
The Barbecue at the end of the ride was great. Tasty and only a short
line! Again, Harmon Field is an excellent venue for this event.
Plenty of tables and a nice covered area for eating.
Mark you calendar for October, 2008, and go to www.ymcahendersoncounty.org
for details on next year
'
s ride.
Great job to
Frannie Jacobus
, the
Henderson
County
YMCA
, all the volunteers and sponsors!
Thank you!
PK,
Asheville
,
NC
Dear
Frannie,
I
'
m sorry we did not get a chance to meet you on Saturday. I just
wanted to drop you a note to say that we thought the event was excellent.
I came with 6 friends and we all had a blast. The rest stops were
well stocked, and every volunteer I encountered was super nice. I
can
'
t imagine a more beautiful route (even the pain of climbing
Green River Cove Rd
!) The BBQ lunch was superb, and it was nice that even though I
finished the metric a bit late, there was still plenty of food and
people to serve it. Near the end of the ride, I had to stop a few
times with leg cramps, and it seemed like there was always a SAG vehicle
around to ask if I was okay. I serve on the Palmetto Peloton Project
Board, and I know what a challenge it is to put on a cycling event.
It seems that you did everything with excellence. Having police and
volunteers at intersections was especially nice. This is definitely on the
"ride to do" list, and I will tell my other cycling friends
about it.
There
was one down side, and this had nothing to do with you or your group.
Just to make you aware the situation, we encountered a Miata club several
times (Ridgeland perhaps) and observed several instances of, let
'
s say an "unwillingness," to share the road. One member of
my group was yelled at by one of the motorists for simply being on the
road. Another was signaling to make a left hand turn and was passed
repeatedly on the left (which required crossing the double yellow line) by
numerous members of the same club. They were also seen coming down
Green River Cove Road
far too fast, and cutting inside corners. We are very thankful that
nobody was hurt. When it comes to bike against car, even a small
one, the car always wins. Since this appears to be an area club, I
thought you might like to know.
Thanks
again for an excellent experience
Sincerely,
TL
Hi,
Not
sure who to write, but I
'
d like to thank all those involved for a wonderful bicycle event Saturday
October 22nd from Harmon Field. I did the 66 miler and found the
rest stops well stocked with food, the volunteers friendly, helpful
and cheerful, the course well marked, visible SAG support and the
post event BBQ awesome. I do hope your goals were met. I did
hear some talk that the marketing for this fine event could improved, especially
with our local newspaper The Tryon Bulletin and more brochures available
in a variety of places, including the post office. I do know
some folks that would have participated had they heard about it.
Thank
you all so much.
CJV
Frannie,
I
was just wondering if the results of Saturday
'
s Tour de Leaves metric century will be posted on the YMCA web site or
elsewhere. Please let me know when you get a moment.
Also,
I wanted to let you know that I really thought the metric ride was very
organized, the volunteers were great, and the routes were clearly marked
and easy to follow. I have never done a ride like this before, so I
wasn't too sure what to expect, but I was very impressed!
Thanks
and have a great rest of the weekend!
EC
I
want to thank you all for putting together such a fine event. My
husband and I rode the 66 miler and found the course well marked,
volunteers friendly, encouraging and helpful, rest stops well
stocked (especially the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches at 28
miles) and good sag support . I do encourage your group to
do more marketing, especially in Tryon with the Tryon Daily Bulletin and
registration forms at a variety of places. I have cyclist friends
that knew nothing about it.
Many
thanks,
CJ
and KV
This
was my first time riding the TDL and I thought you guys did a great job.
That was a harder course than the July 4th ride.
You
would probably get more riders if you didn't jack the race day registration up so high. $25 is not too bad, but when
it gets to $40 to do something you could otherwise do for free, lots of
folks stay away. Many people (me included) don
'
t like to pre-register for most rides because you never know what the
weather is going to do. A $5 extra charge for same-day registration is
reasonable, but $15 is too much.
Thanks,
MM,
Spartanburg
Frannie,
great ride. super support on the entire course. This was a great ride for
me as my family did the 10 miler (their first organized bike ride).
I did the 1/2 so they would not have to wait too long for me but we will
definitely be back next year.
BE
Thank
You, For everything and the followup information. This would have been my
fourth if I hadn't hurt my leg (pulled muscle). You guys put on my favorite ride!
DE
This
was my first TDL and I just wanted to say Koodos to all the support staff.
I was very impressed with how many intersections were "manned"
by fire dept, police, etc.
There was more than plentiful food! and I really enjoyed seeing the
pretzels--a perfect biking snack The route was just beautiful
the whole time, but oh my lord, hard!!! & Hilly!!!!
I have one minor suggestion---as one of the slower metric riders, I would
have preferred not to hear "are you the last one"? or
"you are almost the last one" it
'
s quite discouraging -- and honestly, how would anyone know if they were
last? Or what place they were in at any given time. I know no ill
intent came with these comments/questions--but I'd like to recommend you ask your rest stop folks to just make idol chat
and not discourage us "tour speed rather than race speed" riders
by indicating they are in the back of the pack!!!! it
'
s not a race--so placement really doesn't matter to the riders (well I know it does or else I guess the comments
wouldn't bother me, eh? but you know what I mean!) I know for safety
the rest stop folks need to keep track--but I
'
d prefer not to hear what they know!
thanks,
J |
