Le Tour de Mont Pleasant bicycle races, Summer Festival fill Mount Pleasant this weekend
Le Tour de Mont Pleasant and the Mount Pleasant Summer Festival will be held side by side for the first time this year.
Festival Vice President Robin Curtis said it was a collaboration to make both events bigger and better.
“We’re hoping for success on both sides,” she said.
The Summer Festival will begin with the carnival at 3 p.m. Thursday at Island Park, 331 N. Main St. After the start of the festival, the first concert of Max and Emily's annual summer concert series will begin at 7 p.m. in the street outside of the downtown eatery, 125 E. Broadway St.
Le Tour de Mont Pleasant will begin Friday with a sponsor reception at the CMU Events Center and the races will begin 8 a.m. Saturday.
“Summerfest provides after-race activities for our guests,” said Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Hadden. “It’s perfect for us that racers will have something to do.”
Hadden said almost 300 racers are registered for the third annual Tour, and she expects the number of participants to double by the start of the race. There were 400 racers in 2009 and 600 in 2010.
“We’re expecting more because we added the time trial event on Saturday,” she said. "There will be nonstop action."
Hadden said the race will begin at 5:30 p.m. Racers will begin biking every 30 seconds on a 4-mile course.
Along with the time trial, there will be nine other road races for racers of different levels and ages.
“Most Michigan races are level D or E,” Hadden said regarding the rankings of the USA Cycling organization. “We’re on level B, which is a really high ranking, so we get a lot of national racers.”
In addition to having a high-ranking race in Michigan, Hadden said Le Tour de Mont Pleasant holds the largest children’s race in the state.
April Osburn, vice president of membership programs for the Chamber of Commerce, said there were 110 participants at last year’s children’s race.
“We can accommodate up to 120 children, ages 3 to 9, and they can be on tricycles all the way up to regular bikes,” she said.
The Summer Festival consists of a carnival from Thursday to Sunday, food and beverage pavillions all weekend, a flea market from Friday to Sunday and a coed softball tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Curtis said there will also be a parade through downtown Mount Pleasant 7 p.m. Friday beginning and ending at Sacred Heart Parish, 209 S. Franklin St.
A full calendar of the weekend's events can be found at the Tour's website.
