Lying back in his seat and traversing U.S. 79 in his specially made bicycle, Kenny Gober of Little Rock rode with the wind heading into Wabbaseka, the furthest point northeast in all the Tour de Bluff stops.
“It is more comfortable, but I’m on it because I had some disks fused in my neck, and I got some that need to be replaced in my lower back, back from my college football (days) and all,” said Gober, a McGehee native who played at Henderson State University. “This is more aerodynamic, so it gives me a hand in that.”
Gober and the rest of his peloton cycled into the Willie K. Hocker Memorial for a pit stop before heading toward Pine Bluff to complete their ride in the 22nd annual Tony Carruth Memorial Tour de Bluff. About 115 riders took off Saturday morning from the Pine Bluff Civic Center and journeyed through one of six routes, from the Railroad Museum 8-mile to the 63-mile path, sending bikers as far southeast as Arkansas 88 and up to the heart of Wabbaseka, back down U.S. 79 Business and north into Arkansas 15 and 31 before heading south into Pine Bluff.
As usual, the Tour offered a Mayor’s Mile from downtown later in the morning.
“We do have people who come in from all over the state,” said Sandra Fisher, who along with her husband Kenneth co-organize the Tour. “This year I noticed we had people in from Little Rock, from Conway, Bentonville and Monticello, Star City, and we had a few people come in from out of state, from Memphis, from Alabama and Texas.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Arkansas has fast become a cycling destination in recent years thanks in large part to the biking trails in the Ozarks. But in the Delta, riders of different skill levels transition from narrow roads in Pine Bluff to open roads less taken in Jefferson County.
“I enjoy riding in the city,” said William Broadnax, a retired educator from North Little Rock who returned to his college hometown and selected the 25-mile ride in the Tour. “In fact, when I ride three or four times a week, I normally get up and ride around the city about a 20-mile loop around downtown Little Rock and the city.”
Many riders enjoy elevation, said Pine Bluff-born George Freeman, a Maumelle resident riding as part of Team Arkansas. But riding in the Delta seems to be in his blood.
“It’s a beautiful day, beautiful morning to get out and ride with friends,” said Freeman, who made his Tour debut this year. “Sometimes, that’s a lot easier to do when you’ve got a nice trail and everything to ride on and can just enjoy a nice ride with everybody. Different parts of the state offer different things, but I like riding in the Delta because I grew up here. I’m from Southeast Arkansas. My dad is from Dumas. Flat farmland is good, and it’s good for riding, too.”
Members of Team Arkansas, including fellow Maumelle residents Mark and Debbie Pharr, rode to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes. The team will do an end-of-year ride in Amelia Island, Fla., said Mark Pharr.
The Major Taylor Cycling Club of Little Rock, also known as the Rock City Riders, returned to Tour de Bluff. This was Arthur Muhammad’s fifth time to ride in this event.
“We’ll be going into Altheimer, and that’s (the length of) the routes that I take sometimes when I solo-ride,” Muhammad said. “It’s always much more fun riding with a group of people because you have somebody to get behind and get your heart rate down. When you’re by yourself, it’s just you.”
