The Tour de Madison 2017

Another Tour de Madison is in the books. After last year’s challenging weather situation, we were surely fortunate to have comfortable temperatures and cloudy skies, but no rain, for the 2017 edition.

We had 365 registered cyclists this year, though the folks running our on site registration desk report that there were about 30 no-shows who had pre-registered. It was great to see more than 330 cyclists out on the roads of Madison County.

Thanks are owed to the many wonderful groups that volunteered to provide essential services. First, we should thank the Rochelle Ruritan Club whose folks always do such a great job with the parking. Your entry fees make possible a $1000 donation to their college scholarship program.

The next folks you encountered were the women of the Madison Running Club. For their help in making on-site registration run smoothly, we make a $500 donation to the Cancer Center at the University of Virginia.

As always, the young people who play in the Madison Youth Hockey League made the rest stop at Brightwood Ruritan Club one to remember. Not only is the food they prepare always good, the cyclists really appreciate the roadside service.

The Madison County High School Band Boosters do the work that makes the great food at Good Hope Church rest stop possible. Those various roll ups are always a treat.

And who could forget the smiling faces and the potassium rich potatoes at the Hoover Ridge rest stop? Those are the children of the Madison County 4-H Club.

The treats awaiting the cyclists back at Graves Mountain Lodge are always appreciated. A great BBQ meal served up by the staff there, plus the tunes laid down by Bud’s Collective, and, the massages provided by Erin Haggerty and her colleague were all appreciated.