By Erin Smith
The town of Elizabethtown is gearing up to welcome cycling enthusiasts, for the inaugural Grape Escape Metric Half Century and Metric Century cycling event, planned for Sunday, August 26th. Registration begins at 11 AM at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery and costs $45 to enter. The ride begins at 1 PM.
Town Manager, Eddie Madden, said the bike ride is a fundraiser for the Town of Elizabethtown Grape Escape Scholarship at Bladen Community College. All the funds raised during the event will be put towards endowing the scholarship for Bladen County students.
Madden stressed this event is not a race, but rather an event where cyclists can travel at their own pace, and enjoy the scenery of Bladen County and the town of Elizabethtown along the way. The event features a metric century and metric half century ride. The start-finish line will be at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery, with cyclists traveling to Lu Mil Vineyard in Dublin where they will have a rest break and can take a tour of the vineyard. Once the riders are ready to resume their trek, they will have two route options available depending on the distance they wish to ride.
The route for the metric half-century ride is equivalent to 31 miles, and the metric century route is equivalent to 62 miles, said Madden. Both routes will leave Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery and travel to Lu Mil Vineyard. From Lu Mil Vineyard, the half-century route travels to Dublin and to Bladenboro before returning to Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery.
The Metric Century route leaves Lu Mil Vineyard and travels to Tar Heel, where riders will cross the Cape Fear River. Once the riders cross the river, they will travel to NC 242 and back to US 701 North, and into Elizabethtown ending at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery.
“We (town staff) have been working on providing different events throughout the year. We’re hoping to have more runs and biking events and disc golf tournaments in the coming years,” said Madden.
Madden said the Grape Escape is an event that gives local merchants and town and county officials an opportunity to showcase all that Elizabethtown and Bladen County has to offer. He said Elizabethtown is growing the number of events being offered to residents and visitors alike. Madden said town staff decided a biking event, such as the Grape Escape, would be a good way to start things off for the fall season. He said the town staff hopes to draw a number of cyclists from across North Carolina as well as local cycling enthusiasts.
Madden said there are plans underway for the 2019 Scholastic Cycling event to be held at Browns Creek Nature Trail and Bike Park, more disc golf events are being planned, and the town of Elizabethtown will be an overnight stop for riders in the 2018 Cycle NC Mountains to Coast Ride.
Madden said following the event, there will be food and live entertainment provided at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery. Overnight accommodations are available at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery by calling 844-846-3386 and at Lu Mil Vineyard by calling 910-866-5819. To register for the event in advance, go to https://www.active.com/cycling.
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