Bike tour to focus on county’s agricultural heritage

[Editor’s Note: We’ve updated this story with a map of the planned route (see below).]

FARMINGTON – You are invited to a bicycle tour that will explore the quiet hills and idyllic farmland in one of the most beautiful places in the country. You won’t even have to leave the county.

Organizers are planning a “Tour de Farmington” for Oct. 10, with a pair of routes aimed at novice and experienced bicyclists alike. The tour routes will take participants to farms, orchards and businesses throughout the county, with vans available to carry any purchases back to Farmington. The event will be capped by a bluegrass performance in Meetinghouse Park, pending town approval. Anyone interested in helping organize the tour are invited to attend a meeting Wednesday at the Western Mountain’s Alliance offices in the Church Street Commons, from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m.

The event is being organized by Jeremy Smith, who teaches in Maranacook but resides in Farmington. He is working with Western Mountains Alliance, Jean-Luc Theriault of the Center for Community GIS and Ben Godsoe of High Peaks Alliance, to coordinate the tour with local area farms.

The tour, Smith said, is designed to promote exercise and eating locally-grown, organic food. Smith and other organizers have already been advocating biking in the county with their Pedal-Powered Tuesday rides, and he saw the inclusion of an agriculturally-themed tour as a natural extension of that.

“It made sense to me to include the aspect of why people came here in the first place,” Smith said, speaking of the region’s long connections to farming.

A 19-mile and a 70-mile loop will be available. Riders will assemble in the Narrow Gauge Cinema parking lot at 7:30 a.m., starting off down Front Street at 8 a.m. behind a police cruiser. The vast majority of the route, Smith said, will be on secondary roads, not highways, to minimize the need for police coverage. Riders on the 19-mile loop will visit Morrison Hill Orchard, the Lone Antler, Whitehill Farm and Robin’s Flower Pot before returning the Farmington sometime after noon.

The riders on the 70-mile loop will turn up Weeks Mills Road to visit Triple D Farms, followed by the Marble Family Farm, Votervale Farm, Island Farm, Second Chance Farm and Longfellow’s Creamery in the Avon/Phillips region. There will be a lunch stop at the White Elephant in Strong, and Smith said he expected the riders to return to Farmington by 4 or 5 p.m.

“We really want to bring people up through Avon and Phillips,” Smith said. “There is some quality stuff up there.”

After the groups have reassembled in Farmington, they’ll meet with their purchases, trucked in from the various stops by vans, and be able to attend a performance by the Sandy River Ramblers. Smith is also looking into holding a supper of some kind as well.

The goals of the event, which Smith hopes to make an annual occurrence, is to attract attention and business to local businesses, both in downtown and at the scheduled stops, and to get people biking. Organizers are hoping for as many as a 100 participants, and are planning to advertise in bike shops and other related businesses across the Northeast.

People interested in assisting in the tour are being asked to attend a meeting Wednesday at the Western Mountain’s Alliance offices in the Church Street Commons, from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. Organizers hope to have the online pre-registration process running by the end of the week. Organizers are charging a fee of $65 for the 70-mile loop tour, $30 for the 19-mile loop tour and $15 for children under the age of 15. The fee will cover the expenses of operating vans and renting portable restroom facilities, and includes a T-shirt, water, refreshments and entertainment that evening. 

For more information, contact Jeremy Smith at tourdefarmington@gmail.com or Western Mountains Alliance at 778-3885.