News

APPLE FESTIVAL: Spoke folk pedal off in Tour d'Apple

Bicyclists line up for the start of the 2014 Tour d'Apple on Labor Day.

By Bill Moss, Published: September 5, 2015

Now in its third year, the Tour d’Apple is gaining in popularity.

Sponsored by Four Seasons Rotary Club, the bicycle tour offers rides of 25, 45, 66 and 100 miles up and down the hills and mountains of Henderson County. Same-day registration starts
“We’ve had more registrations at this point in time than we did at same point last year,” Dick Miley, one of the organizers, said Monday. “Things are coming along nicely. We’re somewhat over 200. People can register on line up until Saturday or at BRCC on Monday morning.”
The Tour d’Apple starts at 8 a.m. on Labor Day. The Rotary Club is also again holding the Kids Crabapple Minitour with registration starting at 9:30 p.m.
“We’ve gotten lots of positive reponses,” Miley said. “At this stage — this is this our third year — we’re still building. Our goal is to make it the best possible ride for cyclists.”
Because it offers a variety of distances, the Tour d’Apple attracts the hardcore endurance rider to the more casual cyclist.
“We get about 20 percent who do the 25 (mile) and 20 percent who do the 100,” Miley said, “and the 45 and 65 is 60 percent. A lot of folks will start out saying ‘I’m doing the 65’ and then they cut back and do the 45 and that’s fine. If they look at the cue sheets they can see several places where they can choose the 45-mile.”