About 2,000 Bicyclists To Pedal The Area In June

DAMASCUS, Va. – Preparations are already in place for some 1,800 bicyclists who will descend on the region next month.
“Number one [it] is for bicycling enthusiasts, people who like to ride their bikes a lot,” said Bruce Dwyer, a volunteer who test-rode the route last month and looked for good spots for 1,800 people to eat lunch.
“What we want to do as an organization is give these people a really good experience and exposure to all the beautiful things in Virginia.”
The group is from Bike Virginia, which puts together a bicycle trip every year somewhere in the state. It is their first trip to Southwest Virginia since the early 1990s.
This year the trip will be June 20-25, and it’s called “The Crooked Road Tour,” named for the music heritage route that runs through the region.
“We tease them so they want to come back,” Dwyer said. “The third thing we want to do is show the smaller towns in Virginia that bicycling is a way you can get around.”
While the three host communities are Bristol, Abingdon and Kingsport, the event will also bring bicyclists to and through many of the region’s smaller communities.
Local officials hope it will boost tourism in the region.
“We’re just very excited. It’s going to be a big deal. They’ll all be here at once like Christmas,” said Myra Cook, tourism director for the Town of Abingdon. “I love showing off the town.”
Cook said the town is sponsoring a concert on June 23 at the farmers’ market pavilion downtown, with the Dixie Bee Liners and Susan Brown and Friends, from 5 to 9 p.m., with local vendors and artisans displaying their wares.
“It will be something,” added Cook, who said she hopes the bicyclists come back to the area with their families in the future. “We’re tickled to death to have them here.”
In Kingsport, Frank Lett, associate executive director for the Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau, said much logistical planning has gone into making the city ready for the bicyclists.
“They’re actually leaving out of here to ride to Abingdon on Monday morning, so ... it was actually a lot of logistics to make sure they can get out of Kingsport,” Lett said. “I think the routes they’re taking are not going to cause any problems for the local citizens.”
The biking visitors will be staying in “tent cities” at three high schools during the six-day event: Dobyns-Bennett in Kingsport, Abingdon High School in Abingdon and John Battle High School in Bristol, Va.
“We are making plans for about 1,500 here on the hill,” said Mark Collins, director of bands for John Battle High School. “There will be another 500 to 1,500 staying in hotels at Exit 7.”
Collins said more than 150 people will be working to manage the camping, parking and luggage handling at the school, and hosting the event will help band and athletic boosters raise $8,000 for their organizations.
“This doesn’t include other funds that will be poured into our community, so this is a win-win for the Bristol region for [2,000] bicyclists to descend upon us for a four- or five-day period.”
Marc Sartori, event director for BikeWalk Virginia, said today is the last day to register for Bike Virginia, which is a program of BikeWalk. So far, around 1,800 people have signed up. Those who wish to participate can register at bikevirginia.org for $275.
He said the average age of participants is 52, though the group includes 67 people over age 70 and 14 riders under age 7.
“We think because we’re out in Southwest Virginia where it’s a little more hilly ... we’ve got people who are looking for a tougher challenge,” Sartori said. “We hope that the local community welcomes us, and they’re willing to put up with cyclists slowing them down a little bit.”

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Some places where you might see 2,000 bicyclists next month:

* June 20 – Bristol Border Bash.
* June 21 – Holston Dam, Downtown Bristol, Bluegrass Museum.
* June 22 – Exchange Place, Kingsport Greenway Trail, Downtown Kingsport.
* June 23 – Carter Family Fold, Saltville, Downtown Abingdon, Barter Theatre.
* June 24 – Parks Mill, Abingdon Vineyard & Winery, Virginia Creeper Trail, Damascus, Alvarado
* June 25 – Bristol.