2020 Tour d’Apple Event Guide! 

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Thank you for joining the 2020 Tour d’Apple! We are so happy you’re joining us on Monday, September 7th, 2020 for this amazing annual ride! 

We encourage you to read this Event Guide in its entirety, as many things have changed for this year’s event due to COVID-19. We must plan carefully to accommodate safety guidelines and ensure social distancing between our riders, volunteers, and staff. The goal is to provide a safe, fun, riding experience at a ‘contactless’ event with group gatherings at 50 people or less at all times. 

iDaph Events will continue to monitor the progress of the virus and the guidelines set forth by the CDC, and state and local governments. In addition, iDaph Events is following protocols set forth by the endurance governing bodies in our sport: USA Cycling. The protocol is designed to ensure the safety of all participants, guests, volunteers, and staff. The protocol is subject to change based on updated guidance from governments and/or industry best practices. 

Packet Pick-up: Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Due to COVID-19, Packet Pick-up will be conducted drive-through style! You or a friend or family member can pick up your packet, bib, shirt and buff on the day prior to the ride, which is Sunday, September 6th from 1pm to 4pm at Blue Ridge Community College Parking Lot. To encourage social distancing, there will be no packet pickup or registration on the morning of the ride.

Other items to note:

• A registration tent with cyclists swag, bib, etc will be placed in the middle of an area at the BRCC parking lot. Cyclists will drive through on both sides of the tent to pick up their TDA event swag items. 
• Sycamore Cycles will have a tent on site that has basic supplies for the ride including some nutrition items and some store logo’d apparel such as t-shirts and hats at the drive thru packet pickup. Please bring cash or card and help support this awesome local business! 
• Staff and Volunteers will be drowning themselves in hand sanitizer and will be using gloves, face coverings and face shields. 
• Please do not get out of your vehicle! Just like a Chick Fil A drive through, we will deliver straight to your window. This also allows for less contact. 
• If you registered BEFORE August 14th, you will get a free Tour d’Apple shirt! If not, you can buy one on the online registration site while they are available. We will not have shirts for sale at the ride. 

Before you Attend a Cycling Event

Please read the USA Cycling Riders Recommendations

Consider bringing your own: 

• Nutrition and drinks. New cycling safety guidelines prohibit us from offering any prepared foods on site and at rest stops (i.e. there will be no PB&J sandwiches, fresh fruit, etc).

Important Contact Info During the Ride

• Support And Gear (SAG) and Other Help

• True Emergency: Call 911
• SAG #s: 828-329-8863 or 828-243-9499 

SAG staff cannot do repairs, but they will take you to the closest rest stop or, if closer, to the College Hub. 

Parking Day of Event

Let’s start with the basics: Where do I park? Blue Ridge Community College has ample parking for our participants. We ask that you leave a space between you and the vehicle next to you to allow for 6 foot distance when you get out of your vehicle, prepare for the ride, etc. There will be porta-johns available in the parking lot, but please no congrating in the lot! We ask that you stay in your vehicle or around it until the ride starts to prevent any gatherings. Our Hub Map allows you to see the parking area AND understand the flow for drive-through packet pickup and ride day. 

DON’T FORGET YOUR face covering! If you are not on your bicycle, you must wear a face covering. Face coverings are required while waiting for a porta john, at the rest stops along the route, and when you pick up your food item at the end of the ride. 

2020 HUB MAP

Ok I parked: Now what?

Did you print or download your cue sheet? A course profile and map is included in this email, so please print your own cue sheets and use RidewithGPS on your electronic devices to navigate the routes. To reduce contact between staff, volunteers, and riders, we will not provide printed copies this year.

Event Hub Area 

• Please look out for our pre-marked stickers on the ground when you’re in line. These stickers allow for six foot spacing while you wait for porta johns, food pick up, rest stops, etc. 
• Please do not form into groups, and we ask that you maintain 6 foot distancing while in the start/finish area, in the event hub, and at all rest stops.

Ok I’m ready to ride. Now what? 

Cyclists can start when they are ready between 7am and 10am. To allow for social distancing, cyclists will need to start the ride as soon as they approach the start line; no congregating at the start will be allowed. However, cheering, clapping and awkward dancing IS allowed and is strongly encouraged. 

• For those riders participating in the 100 Mile Ride (Century), please start as close to 7am as possible. Courses closes at 4pm, no exceptions. 
• You are allowed to ride with up to six people in this event. We ask that these people are your closest friends and/or family. 
• Please no drafting close to someone at this year’s ride, and refrain from spitting or getting to close to other riders. Use common sense and keep this a ‘contactless’ event. 

Ride Routes: What to expect

If you remember one thing on ride day and nothing else, remember this: Your route color! Once you are riding, the 4 different ride distances/routes will ONLY be marked by a particular color. You must follow your color to stay on your route! 

Printable Cue Sheets for each ride: (PLEASE PRINT YOUR OWN! WE WILL NOT HAVE PRINTED COPIES AT THE RIDE)

Yellow 100: Honeycrisp Unbelievable Century

Orange 65: Gala Metric Challenge

Blue 45: Jonagold Lite

Green 25: Green Apple Enthusiast 

Red/Pink X  wrong way

RIDE WITH GPS ROUTES

Tour d’Apple Honey Crisp Century – 100 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34030318

Tour d’ Apple Metric 2020 – 62 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34030473

Tour d’Apple – Jonagold Lite – 45 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28461610 

Tour d’Apple – Green Apple Enthusiast – 25 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28460908

Changes from last year’s routes:

A section of the ride has been changed/removed, and riders this year will NOT take Oleta Road.

• IMPORTANT: For Century Cyclists: A detour because Kanuga Lake Road is closed!
  At Mile 76, The Century route (100 miles) (Yellow arrows) turns LEFT at the Little River Rd stop sign onto Crab Creek Road for 2.2 miles and then turns RIGHT onto Evans Rd for 0.9 miles on to the intersection at Kanuga Lake Rd (and continues straight thereafter on the normal route). The detour adds 0.6 miles to the Century. 
• At the stop-light in Dana (Mile 4.2) all cyclists will continue STRAIGHT on Ridge Road.  The Yellow (100 mile) and Orange (65 mile) routes will NOT turn onto Oleta Road; they will continue along with the Blue (45 mile) and Green (25 mile) cyclists to a right turn on Piney Mountain Road at Mile 5.8.  
• The Yellow (100 mile) route adds beautiful 270-degree mountain views on Orchard Circle at Mile 88 before the U-turn at Jump Off Rock in Laurel Park. 
• There is a new roundabout at the end of the ride that is different from last year. Last year it was under construction, but this year it has been completed. 
• We will have Henderson County VIPs out on the course in various intersections and locations. 

Rest-Stops

• Participants are required to wear a face covering (the Tour d’ Apple buff meets this requirement) at all rest stops. 
• Please do not linger at the rest stops. Grab your drink and/or nutrition item and head on out! 
• Please remove your ride gloves at all rest stops.
• Please maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet between you and fellow riders
• This goes without saying (we hope), but please use hand sanitizer before and after using the portable toilets.  
• Honor the direction arrows to the water tables and portable toilets.
• We will provide increased hand sanitizer and hand washing stations, and will continually wipe down frequently used surfaces.
• All of our staff/volunteers will be required to wear a face covering at the rest stop and gloves. 
• Due to Covid-19, refreshments and snacks will be very limited. There will not be any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cut up fruit, however all four rest stops will have Gatorade and water for cyclists in individual cups, which cyclists can drink or pour into their water bottles. We will have snacks like packaged peanut-butter crackers, pretzels, etc. Clif Bar is providing a Clif Bar for each cyclist in the goody bags. We will not provide you water or fuel unless you are wearing a face covering or buff.

Rest-Stop Schedule 

Tour d’ Apple Courses close at 4:00 pm with no exceptions.

Rest stops will not be open for the entirety of the race, so please plan your ride around the following schedule:

You finished the ride. Now what? Post-ride lunch? 

Due to social distancing measures, there will not be a typical finish line experience at the end of this ride. When participants finish, they will be asked to grab their lunch bag and leave the event hub area. Your post-ride lunch bag will be available from 10am to 3:30pm. We have Chick-Fil-A meals prepared for you and ready to be picked up. 

• Participants will not be permitted to form in groups. They must maintain 6 foot distancing while in this area. 
• Spectators are allowed in the finish area in the designated Cheer Zone while wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing. 

Spectators

Spectators are allowed at the Tour d’Apple in designated areas. These areas will be socially distanced and face coverings are required. 

We highly discourage spectators in the ride hub – start/finish area. Instead, we have designated cheer zones on the course. Cheer zone locations are:

• Early spot (Mile 4.2) for all cyclists: Refuge Baptist Church on Upward Rd (address: 27 Oleta Rd, Dana) right at the stoplight in Dana.

• Later spot (25 @ 15; 45 @ 24 and 65 & 100 @ 44): All routes go by Dana Park which has rest rooms that should be open and plenty of parking. The park is on Upward Rd 1/4 mile south of the Dana stoplight. The house next to the park is 2795 Upward Road

• Later spot (45 @ 35, 65 @ 54 & 100 @ 72): park at Flat Rock Playground in Flat Rock near intersection of Greenville Hwy and Little River Road.

• On 100 route only at Mile 58: Tuxedo Park across from 1318 Old US 25 Hwy inTuxedo. Also has rest rooms and maybe some playground equipment (but not sure).

• On 65 & 100 routes at Mile 10:  Fire station at 2324 Gilliam Mtn Rd in Edneyville as cyclists come up Lamb Mtn Rd. 

• 1/2 mile further there is parking as cyclists turn onto Summer Rd (Mile 10.5)

• Dana Park on Upward Rd (bathrooms available)

Thank you for joining us this year! 

We hope everyone has an amazing time at this year’s Tour d’Apple! We know things are quite different than past year’s event, and we truly appreciate everyone’s cooperation and continued support. Please keep in mind that courses close at 4pm (no exceptions). Thank you for joining this year’s ride and we hope to see you again next year! 

2020 HUB MAP

View the 2020 HUB Map for parking information and to understand the flow for packet pick-up. 

Know your Route Color Before you Ride! 

If you remember one thing on ride day and nothing else, remember this: Your route color! Once you are riding, the 4 different ride distances/routes will ONLY be marked by a particular color. You must follow your color to stay on your route! 

Yellow 100: Honeycrisp Unbelievable Century

Orange 65: Gala Metric Challenge

Blue 45: Jonagold Lite

Green 25: Green Apple Enthusiast 

Red/Pink X  wrong way

Hincapie Jersey/Shorts

There’s still time to purchase a Hincapie custom Jersey and/or Shorts! The store will open September 1st thru September 14th at midnight. By placing your order please note you will receive the items at the beginning of November.

CLICK HERE to visit the Hincapie store. 

Please bring a canned good to Packet Pick-up or Ride Day! All canned goods will be collected for the Interfaith Assistance Ministry. 

Tour d’Apple Blog