Tour de Pork Ride

Another year and another location change for Le Tour de Pork! This year the Fat Boys decided it was time for a big route change so we looked to Turtle Run Winery owners, Laura and Jim Pfeiffer to host Le Tour de Pork 2012. If you haven't riden through that part of Harrison and Floyd County then you are in for a treat. The Harrison/Floyd county area is well known for great scenery with plenty of route options to make cyclists happy.

Jim Pfeiffer is excited to host this year's event and passed along these thoughts to our Tour de Pork supporters:

"I've been an avid cyclist all of my life, and have lived all sorts of interesting lives on the bike, from early high school onward. One of the most enjoyable was in the 1990 or 1991 when I set up the route for the MS150 in Kentucky. This was obviously pre-internet days, and somehow over the two days of cycling we set up a route that was right on 150 miles. From competitive racing and training to triathlons to simple leisure tour work and riding with the Louisville Wheelmen, to today, just riding on my own or hooking up with a few other riders, I simply enjoy it. For the past 15 years, I have simply just relished going out when I have time to feel the rush of adrenalin that comes from charging up hills and gracefully gliding hairpin turns on the descents. I even worked for a few years with Greg Scheller at Scheller's Fitness and Cycling after college, which at the time was known as Okolona Schwinn and Fitness.

I know with the growth of Louisville, many of the old starting gates for riding, including Tom Sawyer State Park, are now surrounded by neighborhoods and the subsequent traffic. Out here, you can hop on a bike and just go. With those clear advantages, and with time commitments with the winery and family, I simply cannot fathom putting my bike on a car and driving to a destination which won't offer the zero traffic that I experience out here.

Because I love cycling and because I realize how special a venue it is that we have, I am more than happy to share our site as a starting point for a ride. Additionally, if we can expose our gem of a business to others, it just seems to make sense to establish Turtle Run Winery as a great starting and finishing location. And since Turtle Run Winery is open to the public, the winery has complete facilities to use before and after the ride."

Le Tour de Pork began with a group of cyclists who call themselves the "Fat Boys" and what started as fun and fitness is growing into an event with a purpose. Our first benefit ride in 2009 was a success with 70 riders participating in the event and in 2010 that number grew to 130 riders. In 2011 our numbers grew to just over 150 on a weekend when the heat of the summer broke with a beautiful 75 degree day. Le Tour de Pork has attracted riders from as far south as Knoxville, TN and north to Michigan so join in the fun to support the Ohio River Greenway.

The mission of the Ohio River Greenway is simple; to provide a common linkage between the Communities of Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany, Indiana along the banks of the Ohio River and to promote a passive recreational environment for river access, while allowing each community to construct riverfront amenities to enhance the overall project.

What does that mean? Once connected, the Ohio River Greenway will make the Ohio River accessible to bikers, walkers and commuters of Southern Indiana and Louisville and make one of our most valuable resources a source of pride for all of our communities that border the Ohio River. There's plenty of exciting news about the project's progress but it is going to take a grass roots effort to complete the project. Go to http://www.ohiorivergreenway.org for more information.

Click the map link below to view the Ohio River Greenway interactive map of the project's progress.

View Ohio River Greenway in a larger map

Just $25.00 per person during early registration or $35.00 day of the ride, buys you a fantastic ride, pork barbeque lunch and a piece of community spirit.

The routes will change this year due to the location change and we will share the route when it is ready. This year we will likely split off the 25-mile route after the first SAG to ride back to Turtle Run. The 50-mile route will continue out with two more SAGs before ending back at Turtle Run

We have decided to discontinue the Family Fun ride this year due to a falloff in registrations over the past couple of year.

Each rider can register for $25.00 online via the registration page. Online registration ends August 10th, 2012 with early registration ending on July 28th. The benefits for early registration include an official Tour de Pork tee shirt and the post-ride lunch for each registered rider. Additional adult lunch tickets can be purchased at the time of registration for $25.00 each. Children 12 and under eat free. Each rider will need to register, accept the waiver terms and complete the payment process. No multi-rider online registrations please.

Registration day of the ride will begin at 7:00am. Payment of $35.00 per rider day of the ride can be made via cash or check. Tee shirts and lunch tickets will not be guaranteed after July 31st.

All online registrations will be paid via Pay Pal's secure payment site. You may use your Pay Pal account to make payments or use a credit card if you are not a Pay Pal member. Your registration is confirmed only when you receive a confirmation email from Pay Pal stating that your payment has been received.

The name says Le Tour de Pork so after a great ride, a fantastic barbecued pork lunch with sides, drink and desert will be provided with each paid registration during early registration. Early registration ends July 28th.
Children under 12 eat free when accompanied by a registered adult. There's lots to do for all ages so come out and make a day of it with the whole family.