Organizers, sponsors working on final details for first-ever tour

FARMINGTON -- Organizers behind the Tour de Farmington, a new bicycle tour of area farms, have learned that it takes a lot to pull together a community event.

TO REGISTER

Tour de Farmington’s registration deadline is tomorrow. For more information, visit www.westernmountainsalliance.org or call 778-3885.

In recent weeks, they have been tying up loose ends -- meeting with law enforcement and government officials while seeking more volunteers and sponsors -- before the ride on Sunday, Oct. 10, to support local agriculture, alternative transportation and healthy lifestyles.

The group has gained approval from county commissioners to use municipal parking for the event. Town selectmen have approved the use of Meetinghouse Park in downtown Farmington for event festivities.

Tanya Swain, an organizer with event host Western Mountains Alliance, said the group is close to completing a safety plan to distribute to riders.

The plan will include support vehicles, emergency first responders, police assistance with marking high-traffic areas. Even exact distances and elevations between farms and surface conditions will be available to riders.

"It's a lot of details, trying to put an event like this together," said Tanya Swain, an organizer with event host Western Mountain Alliance.

All of the attention to detail is part of getting people from farm to farm safely, she said, and it also helps cyclists choose from two routes with varying difficulty.

The 19-mile route centered around the Wilton area is meant for beginner and intermediate riders. A 70-mile route north that heads north of Farmington to the Western Mountain foothills has more difficult terrain meant for more experienced riders.

Participating farms have also been preparing for the event.

Amy LeBlanc and her husband, Mike, own Whitehill Farms in East Wilton, a stop on the shorter loop.

Their operation is an almost garden-sized farm, according to LeBlanc. But the tour offers the couple a chance to share their approach to a healthy lifestyle and promote the trend in eating local, she said.

LeBlanc said she is ready to display the farm's season-extension techniques and greenhouse system. Riders also can learn about heirloom seedlings, a specialty product offered by Whitehill, she said

"There's a lot of wanting to know where you're food came from," LeBlanc said. "There is an upswing in buying local."

Cyclists will be able to demonstrate this trend during the tour, as they are able to make purchases and place the farm-fresh items in the support vehicles.

Swain said there is still room for riders. For more information, or to sign up, visit www.westernmountainsalliance.org or call 778-3885.

David Robinson -- 861-9287 -- drobinson@centralmaine.com