Tour 2009 Recap
Tour de Kingdom – Quick Wrap Up
185 participants, from 12 states and Quebec, rode in one or both days of the Third Annual Tour de Kingdom. This was well over double the 77 riders who participated in last year’s Tour. 25 riders from NH; 30 from MA, 15 from CT, 2 from RI, 6 ME, 8 NY 4 NJ, 2 TN, 1 from IL, 1 from SC, and 1 from GA. 2/3rds of the Vermont riders were from out of the Orleans County area. Even some Vermonters were surprised by our “hills” and the incredible beauty of the Kingdom.
Ages ranged from 10 to 73.
Three riders won awards for the furthest traveled to attend the Tour de Kingdom. Each was awarded a Tour de Kingdom Hat, Mug, and Poster to commemorate their participation.
- Becky Beagle, 55, from Atlanta, GA
- William Reichert, 66, Spartanburg, SC
- Adam Gilbert, 59, from Chicago, IL, Adam has ridden his bike in 37 states and did the Tour de Kingdom for his 38th, Vermont.
Fred Kirchoff, a 67 year old rider from NJ, won a four pack of lift tickets to Jay Peak for the most “mature” double day rider.
Top Fundraising Prizes went to the following
- Bryce Carson, Brighton, MA, A complete set of Howard Mosher works to date and A weekend Condo at Jay Peak
- Peter Dugan, Brighton, MA, Louis Garneau Jacket
- Shannon Williams, Burlington, VT, A Jay Peak Seasons Pass
- Wendy Franklin, 4 rounds plus cart at Jay Peak Championship Golf Course
- Peter Williams, A private golf lesson at Jay Peak Championship Golf Course
- Marc Bouchard, A Louis Garneau Jersey
Stowe Bike Club won largest Out of Area Day One Group – Tour de Kingdom Mugs, and Posters for All
White Mountain Velo Group won the largest Out of Area Day Two Group – Tour de Kingdom Mugs, and Posters for All
Tomasz Jankowski won the highly coveted Last One Back to the Barn Award for his persistence over two days of century riding, including a near crash on Day One and constant equipment issues, particularly one of his tires, during the second day of his rider.
Riders picked from a wide variety of options in Day One, through the Kingdom’s Lake Region, and Day Two though the Western “Hill Country” of the Kingdom.
Combined times of the Double Day Century Finishers are posted on the web site, www.tourdekingdom.org. Individual Times for Day 1 and Day 2 will be posted shortly.
Brett St. Clair and Joseph Homer placed first in the combined, Double Century Challenge and shared the first prize a Garmin 705 GPS Device. Each also won Louis Garneau customized Tour de Kingdom Prestige Jackets for winning individual Day One and Day Two events.
Becky Herbert-Sweeney also won a Garmin 705 GPS Device for being the top female overall finisher of the Double Century Challenge. Beth Saman, won the Louis Garneau Tour de Kingdom Prestige Jacket as female winner of Day One, and Sarah Kartluke, 18 of Stowe, VT won the Jacket as individual winner of Day Two.
Mark Premo, 41 of Winooski, VT won the 25 mile inaugural Unicycle Race, when his friend and competitor Eric Scheer from Rhode Island took a wrong turn at Lake Seymour and ended up doing the 50 mile loop. Mark may have won the Jersey, but Eric got more of a ride for his money.
Special Congratulations to Herb Maroot of the Kingdom Velo Group for coming in third overall and by beating out the young bucks from the Bare Bones Riding Team by just 4 seconds over the course of almost 14 hours of riding spanning both days.
Special thanks to Pete Kellaway, Julie Gunn, Holly Spencer, all the hearty staff and volunteers at IROC, and the Jay Peak Area Chamber and Island Pond Chamber volunteers and Ray Edwards and the folks at Vermont Highland Cattle Company who organized the event, handled the logistics throughout the two days, and made the riders feel welcomed and supported on the ride. Special mention to the Village Bike Shop for its technical support throughout the two days and to Hayes Ford for supplying the SAG Wagon. Many returning to IROC from their rides said that this was one of the best organized and best supported events they had ever attended.
None of this would have been possible without the underwriting of our major sponsors, Community National Bank, Louis Garneau and Jay Peak and the support of the Jay Peak Area, Island Pond, and North Country Chambers, as well as the following sponsors who helped promote the event, supported it financially, supplied the product and prizes that kept our riders happy and supported: NEKTTA, The Town of Derby, the Derby Village Store, Vermont Heritage Spring Water, Vermont Highland Cattle Company, Orleans Essex VNA & Hospice, Price Chopper, N-Take eco durable products, GPSforCYCLISTS.COM, Boston Sports Club, Paul Decelles Investment Planning, Poulin Lumber, Kinney Drugs, Pick & Shovel, North Country Bike Tours, North Country Health System, The Front Desk and Memphremagog Press, and St. Johnsbury Works.
PRESS
NEWPORT DAILY EXPRESS
By Christopher Roy
Express Staff Writer
DERBY — Bicyclists from across the United States came to the Northeast Kingdom this weekend for the third annual Tour de Kingdom, benefitting the Indoor Recreation of Orleans County (IROC) Healthy Changes Initiative. Read more.
BARTON CHRONICLE
by Bethany Dunbar
DERBY — The Tour de Kingdom doubled in size this year to 185 riders. Organizers and participants are predicting this is just the
beginning. Read more, pages one and two.
CALEDONIAN RECORD
by Gordon Alexander
DERBY — More than 180 riders registered for the IROC ‘Tour De Kingdom,’ all riding conventional mounts. Read more.