PITTSFIELD–The inaugaural Farm to Fork Fondo-Vermont, a cycling ride, will be held July 12, at Riverside Farm in Pittsfield, organizers recently announced. Over 500 participants are expected from throughout North America. The accessible community athletic event will highlight Vermont’s local agriculture and the symbiotic relationship between cyclists, farmers and the state’s beautiful landscapes. The event is organized by former professional cyclist Tyler Wren and Wrenegade Sports, LLC.
Wren summarized the mission of the event: “As cyclists, it is natural for us to support landowners who are able to preserve the open space that we enjoy so much on our bicycles and who use that land to grow food that can make us better athletes and healthier people. With the Farm to Fork Fondo-Vermont, I want to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get on their bikes, experience this beautiful rural area, meet and support the hardworking local farmers, learn about the pressures that these farms face, and have a great time in the process.”
The Farm to Fork Fondo-Vermont offers ride distance options for cyclists of all abilities and will begin with a celebratory mass start lead by featured professional cyclists. Each of the four distance options, between 10 and 102 miles, includes aid station stops at a wide variety of working Vermont farms, with treats sourced straight from the farms. The beautiful rural rides pass bucolic Vermont landscapes and through the Green Mountain National Forest.
The Farm to Fork Fondo-Vermont will benefit local Vermont farms via the innovative Volunteer Competition. Volunteers filling jobs such as staffing aid stations and marshaling intersections will be organized into teams, each representing different local farms or charitable organizations with farm projects. With their support and creativity, these teams will compete for participants’ votes, and the volunteer teams will all win cash donations for the farms and organizations they represent based on the voting results.
The Farm to Fork Fondo-Vermont also includes a catered farm-to-table post-ride barbecue and pre-ride dinner, a bicycle skills clinics for beginners and advanced riders, a talk on the local agriculture from the Rutland Area Food and Farm Link (RAFFL), a vendor expo, prizes from event sponsors, live music, a kids’ Mini-Fondo, and more.
For more information visit www.FarmForkFondo-VT.com.