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Tour de Stooges 2007

I'm just now starting to recover from this year's Tour de Stooges in Lebanon, Ill., which took place Saturday, May 5. We had a record-shattering attendance of more than 620 cyclists, which pushed me and our dedicated volunteers to the max.

We had some challenges this year that made the ride a bit more difficult for the riders and our volunteers. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience they caused for our participants.

The biggest of the challenges was parking. Because of several events that were to have taken place Saturday at McKendree College, the college had restricted parking at our lots. That meant we would have to put people on nearby private lots or on the street. We did catch a break because of several days of rain before the ride made athletic fields unplayable, which meant McKendree could open up some lots for us. McKendree opened up the lots as soon as it found out the events were canceled, but not before some people already had parked on the streets.

I personally want to thank Ed Willett, McKendree's director of operators, for coming out early, opening the lots and helping us guide people to them. McKendree's security officers also were a big help in guiding people to the right places.

A few people were disappointed that we ran out of bananas at our Highland rest stop, although we had plenty of oranges and other snacks available at that stop. While we do our best to estimate how much people will eat of a particular item, it's difficult to know for sure. And, of course, any time you throw T-shirts or other clothing items into the mix, there's a special set of issues there.

But from what I could tell, the overwhelming majority of people had a positive experience Saturday. The fact that the ride has had steady growth tells me we're doing something right. I think people enjoy the scenic routes we have. The roads have some hills to keep things interesting, but they're not so big to be intimidating to new cyclists.

And, of course, there's The Three Stooges. While a lot of people sat around talking to friends, the ride continues to introduce people to classic slapstick comedy or to bring back memories of classic episodes they may not have seen in years.

There will be some big changes in the ride in 2008, but I really can't write about those right now until we finalize them. Whatever we do, the changes are intended to make the event better than it is now.

Again, a big thanks go out to all our volunteers, and a bigger thanks go to all of you who attended the ride!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

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