2015Poster | Newton MA News and Politics BlogThe 3rd annual Tour de Newton will be on Fathers Day, Sunday June 21, at 9:30 AM.  The 20 mile, 13 village leisurely bike ride has been a big hit with families and casual bike riders.  This year’s ride is shaping up to be bigger and better with substantially more riders.  The ride starts simultaneously in all 13 villages, with each village’s riders traveling as a pack with trained leaders and “sweeps” at the rear.  As you arrive at each new village, you make a brief stop, hear a bit about the village, have a snack or a drink and pick up a button for the village.

This year, we’re adding two new features to the Tour in response to feedback we received last year.

The Contra Tour – we heard from a number of experienced bike riders that they thought the relaxed pace of the standard Tour de Newton was a bit to0 slow for them.  This year we’ve added the Contra Tour for those folks.   The Contra Tour is aimed at the more experienced faster riders.  The regular Tour rides a counter-clockwise loop around the city.  The new Contra Tour will start off at the same time but will ride the same route in the opposite (clockwise) direction and will ride at a faster pace with shorter stops at each village.  Aside from accommodating the faster riders, we love the idea that all the riders will be seeing lots more bicyclists along the route.

The Petite Tour – We also heard from folks who love the idea of the Tour but were a bit intimidated by the 20+ mile length of the route, especially when riding with younger kids.  For them we’ve added the Petite Tour, a 5 mile mini-tour that will start at City Hall and make stops in three villages along a circular route.

All riders get a Tour de Newton T shirt, a route map and buttons for each village they ride through.  This year we’ll also be handing out a bigger “Mission Completed” badge to riders who make it to all 13 villages

So this Fathers Day – get on your bikes!!  We’ve got a route for everyone on this year’s Tour(s) de Newton.  Sign up today because registrations are limited.