Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995                   TAG: 9506230060
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BIKES TO GET ROLLING START FROM ROANOKE

If you see about 1,500 cyclists riding downtown this weekend, don't panic. The Tour DuPont hasn't called a rematch in Roanoke. Instead, the eighth annual Bike Virginia has come to the Roanoke Valley.

The five-day tour across the state and into parts of North Carolina will roll out of Victory Stadium at 7 a.m. Saturday. The cyclists will end up in Keysville five days later, with various stops each day.

The tour is not a race but a unique way to see Virginia, said Assistant City Manager Jim Ritchie, who will make the nearly 350-mile journey.

``You get to see Virginia in a way that you cannot see in any other way,'' Ritchie said.

Ritchie will be accompanied by Steve Aukward on a two-seat, or tandem, bicycle. Aukward will become the first blind participant in the event.

``Part of the fun is having riders of all abilities and interests,'' Ritchie said. A few of the riders are very serious about getting through the route quickly, but the majority are tourists and others who don't ride that often, he said.

The route in Roanoke from Victory Stadium will cover Jefferson Street to Campbell Avenue through the City Market. From there, the group will head to Vinton.

After stops in Stewartsville, Goodview, the Booker T. Washington National Monument and Rocky Mount, the cyclists will spend their first night in Ferrum.

Barbara Duerk, vice president of public relations for the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club and a member of the city Planning Commission, has been working to bring Bike Virginia to Roanoke for years, she said.

In 1993, when the tour passed through Floyd, Duerk rode with the group while promoting the Roanoke Valley as a future site for the tour.

Duerk, who will ride in her fifth Bike Virginia this year, said she is glad to see the tour not only go through Roanoke, but to start here as well.

While in Roanoke, riders also will have a chance to warm up for the tour with the Mill Mountain bike race challenge, sponsored by the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, Duerk said.

Alternative rides will include a time trial on the same course the Tour DuPont followed in May and a more leisurely route, which will cover such city attractions as Mini-Graceland and the City Market.

Some local bicycle shops are getting in on the action.

East Coasters Cycling & Fitness of Roanoke will have a booth set up where it will offer safety inspections and sell parts and merchandise, said co-manager Mike Glowczyski.

Although most cyclists will come to Roanoke prepared, bike shops do expect increased sales for spare parts such as tire tubes or extra chains or brake cables, said Scott Leweke of Cardinal Bicycle.

Most of the cyclists will arrive today on buses from Keysville.

Catherine Fox, the city's tourism development manager, said 22 buses carrying about 46 cyclists each will arrive in a staggered fashion between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.