The Harvest Tour is a new way to celebrate early autumn from the seat of your bike — with some interesting stops along the route.

Botetourt Co. Va. – Mary and I parked the car in preparation for the brand new Harvest Tour bike ride in Botetourt County, Va.. We pulled up in the shade of a tree at Stoney Brook Vineyards, the start/finish site for the ride.  Already the vibe was positive. 

We were there on August 14 – about six weeks before the inaugural ride, which will happen on September 26, 2021. 

I was glad we were not planning to do the entire 42-mile route in this day’s August heat and humidity. On the other hand, we were also anxious to see more of what the ride was all about and how organizers Lisa Moyer and Tim Miller planned to connect the dots that include a handful of new-age style farms – with a bike ride.

It’s not as if the concept is foreign to me.  The popular Farm to Fork fondos embrace the same mentality and sensibility.  I’ve ridden two of those and enjoyed them.  Farm to Fork also brought one of their events to Botetourt earlier this year.  So clearly, Tim and Lisa have channeled some solid thinking into the project.

First, the Farmers

Although we planned to ride through the countryside, it was easier to meet some of the farmers as they sold their goods at the weekly Botetourt Farmer’s Market at the Daleville Town Center. 

We arrived just as they were setting up their tables, and the first customers arrived as the sun burned off a bit of morning fog.  I grabbed an orange scone from one of the booths, feeling guilty I wasn’t eating fruit instead-but man, was it good.

I walked around and recorded some videos and interviews for the Biking 4 Boomers YouTube video I planned to produce as we went through the day.  (Click here to see video of the ride, with short interviews from the players!)

We met several of the people who we would be seeing along the way, including Tara Williamson of Williamson Farms. She was selling grass-fed beef about as fast as she could wrap it.

“We’re helping with outdoor recreation and getting people out seeing local agriculture – where their food comes from… Get you back connected to the land,” Williamson said. 

The next booth included some of the most perfect tomatoes you ever saw, grown hydroponically at Old Hollow Farms.

And just down the way was Sarah’s Petals, a cut flower farm that raises beautiful blooms for local florists.

The people were all friendly and excited to be hosting riders at the end of September.

Previewing the Harvest Tour course

We pedaled off from Stoney Brook Vineyards knowing a cold sangria awaited our return.  Tim and Lisa led Mary and me through about 25 miles of the ride.

Many of the roads were familiar, as we have ridden them in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Gran Fondo over the past few years, and plan to see them again on this year’s Fondo on October 10.

Click here to see my blog about the Blue Ridge Gran Fondo.

I recorded a few video clips on both my phone and a GoPro and really enjoyed what some people call a

“party pace” or a leisurely ride through the country. All as the folks from Muddy Squirrel talked to us about their love of the county and cycling as well as the farm-to-table movement.

“Our concept as I see it is, one where we want to showcase the farms in Botetourt County and the agriculture that’s historic here, but also how it’s changed,” Miller said.

“We went to a really grass roots ride in North Carolina. We met an organic farmer who decided, ‘let’s get together with our friends and string our farms together with a fun bike ride, and have a nice farm-to-table ride with everything we produce.’ So we went down there and did that ride and had a blast,” Moyer added.

Sunflowers forever

After a while, we turned in between a couple of fenceposts and joined a long gravel driveway that took us to what will be the entrance to the famous Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival. 

“Riders will see a sea of yellow,” promised Candace Monaghan, the organizer of the event and pretty much all things sunflower in the region.   “We’ve got approximately 620,000 sunflowers,” Monaghan said. 

I didn’t ask how they count them – but she said there were 20 acres worth – which sure seems like a lot.

Monaghan will give tours to riders on the day of the event and those who want will be able to ride their bikes on paths cut between the blooms. 

Talk about an Instagrammable moment.

You know, “Hey look, I’m riding my bike in a sea of sunflowers.” 

C’mon, where else are you going to do that!

Harvest Ride Details

The Harvest Tour takes place on Sunday, September 26, and is limited to the first 100 riders. The course is 42 miles, but there will be shorter options available. Click here to sign up.

Here is the route map, but it is subject to change. https://www.strava.com/routes/2831340626612432238

From the Muddy Squirrel website: The registration fee is $125 per rider and includes a well-marked route, two fully stocked aid stations, a branded mason jar mug, one glass of wine, and a farm-to-table meal catered by Pomegranate. This event will be capped at 100 riders and we expect to fill up, so register soon!