News

$10 discount for Tour d'Apple signup ends Saturday night

By Bill Moss, Published: August 24, 2017

In what may be a first for a charity cycling event in the area, Tour d’Apple and Hunter Subaru are adding chip-timing at the fifth annual bicycling event on Labor Day, Sept. 4, at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock. All cyclists on the Tour d’Apple’s four routes will have timing chips added to their cyclist bibs. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and cyclists roll out at 8.

The deadline for early registration and a $10 discount is 11:59 p.m. Saturday. After that the cost goes up to $60.

Click here to register.

The Tour d’Apple is a fully-supported bicycle tour, providing four routes on Labor Day during Hendersonville’s annual Apple Festival. Pardee Health Care, Ingles Markets, Hunter Subaru and other sponsors enable this event.
“We’ve never had a lost rider - yet we are always striving to make the Tour d’ Apple a safer event,” ,” Ride Director Barry Macdonald said. “With chip timing we know exactly when each participant returns so we can let a rider’s spouse or other loved one know that ‘Yes, indeed. John made it back safely.’ Or near the end of the day, if John has not come back, we will send a SAG vehicle looking for him. We are grateful to Hunter Subaru for helping add the chip-timing safety to the Tour.”
Cyclists’ bibs include a timing chip which catches the time as each rider cyclists out under the start-finish arch and later the time of their return under the finish arch.
“Chip timing works only if cyclists remember to finish their ride and come back in under the finish arch,” Macdonald said.
The event takes cyclists from Blue Ridge Community College through many of Henderson County’s apple orchards and up and down several mountains. Choose one of four routes: Green Apple Easy - 25 miles with just 1,200 feet of ascent; or 2,300 feet of climb on the Jonagold (46 miles); or Gala Challenge – 4,961 feet of climb on a metric ride (65 miles) for avid cyclists; or Honey Crisp Century - a full century, 100 miles for 8,481 feet of ascent, for the strongest cyclists with three King/Queen of the Mountains climbs. For cue sheets visit www.tourdapple.com. Register at Active.com.
As organizer of the one-day cycling route, Four Seasons Rotary Club will provide cyclists with five fully supported rest stops and a post-ride party at Blue Ridge community College with a Chick-Fil-A entree. Hunter Subaru provides Support And Gear Subarus (SAGs) to provide help for cyclists along all routes. Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club and Henderson County Amateur Emergency Services support the Tour with HAM operators at rest stops and in SAG Subarus. Members of Hendersonville Camera Club will photograph cyclists during the Tour.