By Barb Pert Templeton
If you’re in or around Harbor Beach next week and you see a large number of bicyclists it means the Tri-County Bicycling Association’s (TCBA)Summer Bicycle Tour has finally come to our area.
The 2023 event will bring nearly 200 bicycle enthusiasts to the North Park Campground where they will stay for five nights while spending their days riding throughout the area. The spot was selected due to its easy, level county roads.
Ginger Royston, from Ingham County, is the director of the summer tour and said the event is now in it’s 34th year bringing bikers from across the U.S. to Michigan’s lower peninsula each summer. The daily ride routes can be 30 to 70 miles or really any length the riders find suitable for their abilities.
The Summer Bicycle Tour has been hosted in venues across Michigan’s lower peninsula for 34 years now.
“It can be a short route, a medium route or a long route and this is a loop route, it starts and ends in the same place,” Royston said.
All registered riders, which was a task completed within days of the announcement about this year’s SummerTour back in January, paid $320 each to participate. The fee covers tent camping facilities, route maps, Support and Gear services (SAG) and eight catered meals, breakfasts and dinners, beginning with dinner on Wednesday. Spaces for RV/campers were available for an extra fee.
The TCBA is a non-profit organization that has served bicyclists in Michigan since 1972 and all of its members are volunteers who work together to make the group rides possible each year. Royston said it was founded with the idea of proving that bicycling was a great mode of transportation.
For the upcoming SummerTour ride in Harbor Beach Royston said they will have riders from Colorado, Canada, Florida and more places across the U.S.A. She said maps are provided but they can also participate using a GPS Application on their phone.
“This is not a race it’s a relaxing time to stop and smell the roses,” Royston said. “You may see someone riding alone, some small groups or even big groups and there will be riders of all ages.”
The 2023 SummerTour will come to Harbor Beach next week as bicyclists from across the country gather at North Park Campground for five days of leisurely biking and five nights of fun at the campground.
The SummerTour is geared to families and that’s why the registration for children is free to those 12 and under and 13–17-year-olds just pay for meals for the five days. Golden Crown Catering, of Port Huron, has proved the catered meals for the SummerTour for a decade now, traveling wherever the ride is hosted in lower Michigan each summer.
Keeping the rides interesting and doable for all ages is a big part of the planning for the summer event. Aging riders can set their own pace and the tour provides cars with volunteers along the route in case anyone needs a little extra help.
“We have support with the riders on the road each day and we cater to young families too,” Royston said. “I really want to influence the younger generation to bicycle.”
Back at the campground in the evening there’s plenty of time to socialize with special activities for children including campfires featuring popcorn and smores.
There will be 192 bike enthusiasts of all ages taking part in the SummerTour in Harbor Beach from July 19-23.
Royston and other volunteers do all the leg work and research to find a new SummerTour location each year. For example, North Park Campground had 63 spots available for campers and that allowed Royston to calculate how many bike riders should could accommodate this summer.
“The people in Harbor Beach and at the North Park Campground were just wonderful to work with,” Royston said.
Registration for SummerTour 2024 will open next January and interested riders can find out when and where the ride will be at biketcba.org/summertour. To keep tabs on rides across the state all year long visit the Facebook page TCBA (Tri-County Bicycle Association, Lansing Michigan).
