Tour de Big Bear To Bring 600 Cyclists to Big Bear Valley

Big Bear, Ca, August 2nd, 2011, 4:00pm – Over 600 cyclists will ride this Saturday in the Tour de Big Bear.  The Tour is in its 2nd year, but as Craig Smith Big Bear Cycling Association President puts it “this year the tour is new and improved.”  Last year, the Tour de Big Bear was in its infancy, as a complimentary event to the Tour of California coming to Big Bear, and it featured not only road rides, but mountain bike rides.  This year the Tour will feature three road rides, with distances from 25 miles to 70 miles.  The long metric century 70 mile ride, will take riders from the Village of Big Bear Lake, out to Lakeview point along Highway 18 the front grade, back along the north shore of the lake, around Baldwin Lake, up to Onyx Summit, through the Moonridge area, and back to the Village.   Riders are said to come from across the Western United States, and even Mexico to enjoy one of the rides at elevation.   Check in for the ride will take place Friday Night at Nottingham’s, with Goldsprints competitions taking place Friday and Saturday night.  For those that want to participate from the sidelines, the first 150 people to show up Saturday morning at the Christmas Tree Lot, which is the start of the Tour, will receive a commemorative Tour de Big Bear cowbell to ring as the riders go by.  The day of the Tour there will be a free bike valet, compliments of the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation, where riders can park their bikes and enjoy the Village, and the Cycling Expo.  For more information on the Tour, go to TourDeBigBear.com.