The meeting room at the Main Library in downtown Pine Bluff was a gathering place Friday for cycling enthusiasts prepping for the start of Saturday’s Tony Carruth Memorial Tour de Bluff rides.
The Bike Room was one of the newest additions to this year’s festivities. The 21st annual Tour takes off from the Civic Center area at 500 E. Eighth Ave. into multiple routes, two of which are going through the Arkansas Railroad Museum, and others as far northeast as Wabbaseka and back downtown for a 63-mile round trip.
The railroad museum routes, another addition to the Tour, give some cyclists a chance to ride gravel and asphalt.
“I’ve ridden all the routes, but I’m kind of more excited to see what people think about the railroad routes,” Tour co-organizer Kenneth Fisher said. “The railroad museum, they approached us and said they wanted to be a part of the Tour de Bluff, so we tried to incorporate the railroad museum into the Tour de Bluff and see how it goes. We’ll see what the riders think about it.”
Road cyclists are advised not to try the railroad museum ride, because the levee poses a hazard to road tires.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“My bike is strictly a road bike, but that’s a nice addition to it,” Vincent Tate of Pine Bluff said. “You always want to have additional things to try to attract a different community.”
Tate plans to take on the 50-mile ride through Altheimer with the Major Taylor Bike Club, named after the first Black world cycling champion.
“It’s a nice, flat route, so it should attract cyclists from Little Rock and some of the areas,” Tate said. “You don’t have to worry about hills, just a nice, flat route, plenty of scenery, and I think it’s going to be a good ride.”
The Tour has added to the growing cycling landscape of Arkansas, a state known for its mountain-biking opportunities. Levi Savage of TREK Bicycles of Little Rock believes even drivers in the state have taken notice of the growing road cycling communities.
“I will say the Little Rock area — and there are some other great cycling areas around Arkansas — there is so much great cycling along the river trail and things like that,” Savage said. “Cycling has become so big in Arkansas that people worry about the traffic being on a road bike. Especially since the state has bought into road cycling, drivers tend to expect it. It’s a lot safer to road bike here in Arkansas than I’ve seen in other states.”