More than 500 bike riders to take part in 43rd CycleFest

More than 500 cyclists are expected to take part in the Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club’s 43rd annual Gulf Coast CycleFest which will start and end at Lakewood Ranch Main Street on Sunday morning.

For the first time, the course will take cyclists across the recently completed Fort Hamer Bridge.

“It’s beautiful,” club member Jim Wheeler said of the Fort Hamer Bridge portion of the ride. “I took a group across the bridge recently.”

In the past, as many as 700 riders have taken part in CycleFest, described as a family event for riders of all abilities, rather than a race. Helmets are required.

This year the count is down about 200 riders, possibly because of the destructive hurricane season, Wheeler said.

Riders will be able to register up until race time. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. Breakfast and lunch are included with the registration fee.

There will be four ride lengths available for riders of skill levels: 20 miles, 35 miles, 62 miles, and 100 miles. The ride starts at 7:30 a.m. for the 100-mile event, at 8:15 a.m. for the 62-mile event, at 9 a.m. for the 35-mile event, and 9:45 a.m. for the 20-mile event. The ride ends at 3 p.m.

The routes will be marked along the way using temporary signs and degradable on-road markers. Also, breakfast, lunch, and roadside snacks, as well as ride T-shirts, will be available to all entrants. In addition, several support vehicles will be roaming the area to assist with fixing flat tires and to bring back those who can’t go any farther.

All routes, except the 20-mile route, will take advantage of the new bicycle lanes along Upper Manatee River Road to and across new Fort Hamer Bridge. This will be safer than the route used last year, which required bicyclists to ride along the busy two-lane portions of Lorraine Road and Rye Road, where there are no bike lanes.

The Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club was originally formed in Sarasota in 1974 by Dr. Charles Matthews, a city resident, at the request of public officials who asked him to assist with the development of a bicycling policy. Since then, their members have stayed at the forefront when it comes to working with city and county planning commissions and the commissioners in an attempt to create stress-free bike lanes and trails for the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

To see the 100-mile ride map go to: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19872399

To see the 62-mile ride map go to: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20009342

To see the 35-mile ride map go to: https//ridewithgps.com/routes/25708228

To see the 20-mile ride map go to https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20008320

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 11:05 AM with the headline "More than 500 bike riders to take part in 43rd CycleFest."