Tim
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What do you folks think about another metric century ride in the Spring? Sometime just before or after the 3 State 3 Mountain (late April, early May).
Chime in here with your thoughts. Nothing in concrete, just trying to gauge the energy surrounding another club supported “major” riding event.
1. Would you ride in the event?
2. Would you volunteer to help with the event?
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sray123
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that would be awesome! we need elevation  in it. where would the event take place?
also, the other day I was thinkin how crazy would it be to have an event where you used both your road bike and mountain bike? some what of a riding duelathalon. Where you started a 30 or so mile loop on your road and then finished with a 12 to 13 mile trail ride…that would be awesome!
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Jason
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I want to go ahead and expand a little bit on what Tim is posing to the group. I am a Club Officer of the Highland Rim Kiwanis. We are the same group that hosts the annual 41-A Music Festival. We are looking at having some sort of Spring event to raise money to further our mission of “changing the world, one community and one child at a time”. I approached Tim with the idea of collaborating the Highland Rim Kiwanis Club and Highland Rim Bicycle Club to host the Highland Rim Miles for Smiles. The way we envision the ride, it would be a metric century, with ~30 and ~45 mile options. The ride would feature stocked rest stops every ~15 miles and would offer a two-sided t-shirt and a post-ride meal of burgers, dogs, chips, drinks, and desserts.
The event would also host a free, closed course 3-5 mile ride for children. The theme of this part of the ride would be “cycling safely”. We would target children ages 8-10 for this ride and would award each child rider a finisher medal.
The Kiwanis would handle fundraising with corporate sponsors and would use the Chamber of Commerce to promote the ride locally. We would also provide volunteers to work registration, stops, etc. The bike club would partner with route planning and general expertise and consultancy for hosting events.
With the 41-A Festival being our biggest fundraiser, we do not want to hammer the same businesses for sponsorships and will likely raise only $3,000 to $4,000 for sponsorships. We would charge $25 for registration ($20 for HRKC and HRBC members). In return for the support from the bike club, the Kiwanis club would donate $500 to the HRBC to help fund bicycle safety and awareness programs for children.
Putting on this type of event, which would have a community-wide outreach, would provide exposure to the bike club and promote cycling awareness while also help the Kiwanis to raise money to continue their good work in the area.
Tim and I spoke about this earlier and we are both excited about this possible event. I have discussed the idea with the Kiwanis President and she is on board with us. I will present the idea to the full Kiwanis board of directors at our December meeting. Once we get approval, we need to start moving fast. I am looking forward to everyone’s support.
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Geo
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I agree… I think this would be a great opportunity for both organizations! Time is critical, if you are gonna do it you will need to make advertising your top priority. Active.com, other bikeclubs, local newspapers, and anything else you can think of!
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sray123
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we def need this put into some stone or something. another ride would be awesome!!! advertising is huge, so we all need to reach out and get a hold of local clubs and bike shops and get them talking about this and see where it ends up hitting.
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Jason
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Stephen and Geody, I really appreciate your enthusiasm. As I metioned, the Kiwanis president is behind me, but I still need to get full Board approval. She and I only represent 2 of the 11 votes. Once we get it approved, I would love it if you guys came to our club meeting as I present this to the entire club. There’s a free lunch in it for you.
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Chris
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I am already excited about the prospect of another century ride – some of us aren’t getting any younger so the sooner the better!
My little experience with these type of events leads me to suggest that timing is of the essence. We all know who will win out if we pick a date too close to an established event.
1. 3 state 3 mountain took place on the first weekend in May (7th) this year, so this would suggest April 21 for our new ride (2 weeks before) – isn’t that about the time the Winchester Dogwood ride used to take place; and wasn’t that event traditionally plagued with bad weather?
2. The next event that I know of is the Harpeth River Ride, which took place on June 11 this year, thus suggesting May 19 or 26 as good potential dates for our new ride.
3. Then there is that June/July/August period when only “mad dogs and Englishmen come out to play” (a quotation from Rudyard Kipling about life in a different colony) – you would have my vote if consideration was given to moving the ERV 100 into an earlier time slot (say July). It is possible that we could attract more out of town riders if we have some separation from the bunch of rides that take place in September.
All this means I heartily agree with a new century ride – my only problem is that I want to help with the organization, but I also want to ride.
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Geo
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Chris you addressed two of my concerns… Weather and I want to volunteer and ride
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sligerd
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I suggest we take a look at the surrounding area rides and pick a date that is still early spring albeit the weather could by a factor. I will help, but also will ride the event.
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sray123
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exactly, i will help but i def want to ride more than anything. it wouldnt be cool for our organization to run an event and have nobody from the club join in on the fun.
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brian
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Having been involved with the Dogwood 100 on an organizational level, You have to know that weather will be a factor in the spring. We changed dates at least once, hoping for better weather, but to no avail. The farther into May the better, but there is no competing with 3 State. We need to pick a date, and HOPE for good weather. When we turned the Dogwood over to the United Way, it seamed that the flyers were not delivered early enough, or to enough people. The first year was the most profitable due to having Amy H from Fayetteville doing 90% of the leg work. She had industry sponsors, not just local sponsors. Our out of pocket was $0, and we had a ton of pre/during/post race food. The post race feast was provided by a local restaurant, and seamed to be a big hit.
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