The Tour de Farmington is a new event organized by several Franklin County residents, some of whom were involved in organizing a 350day.org event in 2009. We have affiliated the project with the Western Mountains Alliance, a local community development organization whose work has included development of an online farmers market and coordination of the Franklin County Ag Task Force, an ad hoc group of citizens and farmers working to strengthen agriculture in Franklin County.
The Tour de Farmington is a one-day bike tour event that will invest the efforts of participating local farmers from the greater Farmington region, who will open their farms to the cyclists for tours and commerce on October 10, 2010.
Cyclists will travel one of three different length routes through agricultural areas in Farmington and surrounding towns. At the farms, cyclists can buy produce and other farm items and it will be transported by vans to the barbeque. They will be able to enjoy the healthy pursuit of cycling in a large group while learning about the agricultural aspects that make the greater Farmington area unique.
Beginning with the goal of creating more opportunities to enjoy locally grown food, this project also hopes to raise public awareness of eating local, through publicity and local efforts. This project will allow community members and visitors to become familiar with the agricultural treasures of the greater Farmington region.
Stemming from a variety of organizations and individuals supporting local efforts to create more opportunities to enjoy foods grown in this area, this project will be considered successful through the development of communication between the public at large and private enterprise. Also, the opportunities for participants to indulge in healthy activities on October 10, 2010, biking between farms to celebrate farm produce and other handmade offerings.
Our main goals for the project are to:
Increase visitors to Franklin County during October.
Increase farm sales on the day of the event and as a result of follow-up business.
Increase collaborations between farms, area restaurants and other cultural venues.
In year one, the event will be advertised and promoted in statewide and New England newspapers, through websites for cyclists, a facebook page, and brochures at businesses in Franklin County and statewide.
We will work with farms to develop special products for sale on the day of the event and with value-added food producers to be prepared to accept orders for shipping so that participants who want, for example, a jar of jam from a farm can have it shipped to their home or picked up by van, instead of having cyclists carrying it on the route. Farms will be encouraged to collect contact information from visitors so that they can be added to future mailing lists.
We are charging a $65 registration fee for cyclists 15 and over pedaling the 70 mile route, and a $30 fee for those 15 and over pedaling the 16 mile route. For children under 15, there is a $15 registration fee. A T-shirt, as well as an invitation to a light snack & refreshments provided by Chuck Snell of Big Mouth Burritos fame and music by the Sandy River Ramblers, is included in the fee.
We anticipate having 40-80 cyclists participate during the first year of the tour. Routes have been selected and the ride will encompass the towns of Temple, East Wilton, Chesterville, Farmington Falls, New Sharon, Industry, Farmington, New Vineyard, Strong, Avon, and Phillips. We have received a strong message of excitement from participating farms for cyclists to come visit! The farm list and brochure will be finalized and available on August 20 and we will post the map and online registration materials at that date.
Other area businesses may also benefit from increased tourist traffic during the event. In future years we plan to add additional routes to the tour and overnight camping. Profits from the 2010 event will be used to support the 2011 tour and we anticipate benefiting from substantial volunteer support from the community.
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