Several members of the Gran Fondo Cycles cycling club are also very active members of the Middle Tennessee randonneuring community, including club member Jeff Sammons , who is the Regional Brevet Administrator (RBA) for Middle Tennessee. Accordingly, Gran Fondo will be very pleased to act as bike shop sponsor for several 2006 distance rides to be offered through the ultracycling group in the Harpeth Bicycle Club.

The Harpeth Bicycle Club (HBC), a bicycling club in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area, announced their 2006 Ultra Cycling Program early in 2006.  In conjunction with Randonneurs USA, HBC will offer a series of Randonneuring Events with distances of 100K (62 miles), 200K (124 miles), and 300K (186 miles) starting in March and running thru November.  The rides will be offered in several different venues around the Middle Tennessee area.  Randonneuring is long-distance, unsupported endurance cycling.  This style of riding is non-competitive in nature, and self-sufficiency is paramount.  When riders participate in Randonneuring events, they are part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of the sport of cycling in France and Italy.  Friendly camaraderie, not competition, is the hallmark of Randonneuring.

In October, HBC will host the annual “Ride Across Tennessee (RAT)”.  RAT has been held yearly since the late ‘90s.  It is a north-to-south ride across Tennessee of approximately 150 miles starting at the Kentucky/Tennessee state line near Fort Campbell and finishing on the Natchez Trace Parkway at the Alabama/Tennessee state line.

For more information, visit the HBC website at www.harpethbikeclub.com/Ultra or contact fellow club member Jeff Sammons.

3 County, 30 Hill ride . This route includes many of our favorite roads and will offer 81 miles of rolling, climbing fun (7,238 ft of elevation gain if you are interested).  There are many easy ways to modify this ride to make it shorter, but please bring a friend who you ride with a lot if you feel you may turn back early. We like to know that everyone has someone to see them back to the start!

 

 Feel free to download and print our map and cue sheets below.

 

The ride begins from the Model Airplane Field, directly across from the Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course off of Old Hickory Blvd. The Model Airplane Field parking area is the first left on Vaughn, immediately after you turn from Old Hickory.

Want to ride your bike to Chattanooga on safe country backroads? Use the cue sheets below: