Wit Tuttell, the Executive Director of Visit NC, announced the route for the 2016 Cycle North Carolina “Mountains to Coast” Ride with the help of town representatives at the Visit NC 365 Conference on Monday.
The 18th annual ride is scheduled for a Banner Elk to Atlantic Beach route, from October 1 to October 8, 2016. With beautiful tourist stops along scenic back roads, the “Mountains to Coast” trek is the highlight of the year for many cyclists from across the nation.
Cycle North Carolina will begin its full-service, cross-state ride on October 1st at the Tate-Evans Park in Banner Elk, and will end at the Atlantic Beach Circle on October 8th, with 1,100 bicyclists expected to participate. Over the course of the week, riders will bike an average of 60 miles per day. Additional overnight stays are planned for the towns of Wilkesboro, Lexington, Burlington, Sanford, Clinton and Jacksonville.
The Cycle North Carolina “Mountains to Coast” Tour is the state’s only fully-supported ride created in 1999 with the N.C. Division of Tourism, Capital Broadcasting Company, the N.C. Department of Transportation and North Carolina Amateur Sports as founding partners. Cycle North Carolina was developed to promote North Carolina’s scenic beauty, heritage tourism, visitor attractions, historic sites, state parks, fitness, healthy lifestyles and the benefits of bicycling to individuals and our state. During the past 18 years, Cycle North Carolina has stopped overnight in more than 100 North Carolina towns and visited nearly 700 North Carolina communities.
Registration brochures are available and online registration is open at www.cyclenorthcarolina.org. Cycle North Carolina will be capping registration at 1,100 riders, so interested riders are encouraged to register early, to avoid missing out on the highlight of the year for bicycling in North Carolina.
In addition to the “Mountains to Coast” Tour, Cycle North Carolina will host the Coastal Ride in Edenton, NC, April 22-24, 2016. Cycle North Carolina will also host its third annual Mountain Ride in Brevard, NC, August 13-14, 2016. Registration for the Coastal Ride is sold out, but registration for the Mountain Ride is open atwww.cyclenorthcarolina.org.
Cycle North Carolina is presented by Visit North Carolina. Partner organizations of Cycle North Carolina include: Powerade, Capitol Broadcasting Company, Lowes Foods, the N.C. Department of Transportation and Cycling Spoken Here.
North Carolina Amateur Sports is a 501c(3) nonprofit charitable organization that annually organizes the Powerade State Games of North Carolina and Cycle North Carolina. NCAS is dedicated to the promotion of the spirit of amateur sports, physical fitness and health to all ages and skill levels through the participation in organized events which enrich the state of North Carolina. For more information on NCAS and its events, please access www.ncsports.org.