Sunday, June 7, 2009, 8 AM
Fletcher Park, Fletcher, NC
Presented by the
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club and
Western North Carolina Bicycle Dealers Association.
On-line Registration at Active.Com until 10 PM, Friday, June 5 Here
Print mail-in registration Allow mail time (here)
Want to ride the Flyer for $15? Go to Volunteer Positions and Registration (here)
General Information:
The Fletcher Flyer returns for its 6th year to offer full, metric and half century rides that wind through the valleys south of Asheville. It is the least hilly ride in Western North Carolina, but it has plenty of rolling hills to keep all riders interested. There is terrific mountain scenery without the long mountain climbs.
The century (100mi), metric (64mi), and half century (50mi) have cumulative climbs of 4044, 3037, and 2216 feet, respectively. The event can appeal to a wide variety of riders. It is a great course for first time event riders on every route option. It is a fast ride for more experienced riders who want to do a century without spending all day. It is also perfect spring training ride for those who want to prepare for the summer climbing centuries.
Rider comments from previous years include:
- Fantastic ride in the beautiful hills of WNC.
- Every person we encountered was beyond friendly.
- Rest stops well stocked with goodies.
- Met a lot of nice people and had a great time.
-
One of our best rides
ever.
The first 500 riders to register will receive DeFeet cycling socks. All riders finishing by 5 PM will receive an after ride meal. Register early to make sure you receive the official Fletcher Flyer socks in the size requested. There will be massages available after the ride and on-route photos by Birds Eye View, both for a modest extra charge.
Helmets are required and all riders are expected to obey all traffic laws.
Registration Details:
You can register on-line at Active.com (Here) or print and mail in a registration form (here).
On-line registration closes at 10 PM on Friday, June 5th. Allow sufficient time for last minute mail-in registrations, since the last mail delivery before the event is Saturday morning, June 6th.
You can register and pick up ride packets in person at Fletcher Park on Saturday, June 6th from 10 AM until 3 PM and on Sunday (ride day) from 6:30 AM until the 8 AM start.
The ride fee is $35 through Friday, May 22nd, $40 through Saturday, June 6th, and $45 on Sunday, June 7th (Ride day). Extra meals are available at $10.
The first 500 riders to register will receive a pair of DeFeet cycling socks. Register early to make sure you receive the official Fletcher Flyer socks in the size requested.
Routes:
The Fletcher Flyer is a bike event, not a race. All riders are expected to obey all traffic laws. There will be police traffic support for the first few intersection, but after that each rider will need to follow the rules of the road and watch for motor vehicles and other cyclists.
There are three routes: century, metric century, and half century. All three distances follow the same route until the half century turns off at 26 miles and then the metric century turns off at 30 miles. If you want to ride with someone doing a different distance, you can ride together for about half of the shorter route.
The first rest stop is at about 15 miles at Fletcher Park. This is an opportunity to change cycling clothes, if you dressed too warmly or too lightly. Most riders will probably skip this stop and proceed to the second rest stop at 22 miles. The half century and metric have two more rest stops, and the century has four more stops.
There will be SAG drivers on the course from start until 5:30 PM. Riders have the option of continuing on their own after that time, but rest stops will be closed and there will not be SAG support.
Parking and Start:
Please follow the directions of parking marshals as you turn onto Howard Gap Road from Hendersonville Road. Those arriving early will be able to park near the start/finish in Fletcher Park. Those arriving later might be directed to offsite overflow parking.
There will be areas within Fletcher Park reserved for rider staging, volunteer parking, and park users not involved in the ride. Parking Marshals will be available to direct you to rider parking.
We will have a phased start again this year. Phased starts improve the safety and enjoyment of the ride for everyone by avoiding the confusion of a mass start of riders of varying ability. There will be three phases based on the estimate speed of the rider.
8:00 AM Riders who will average 18 mph and above.
8:02 AM Riders who will average 14 17 mph.
8:04 AM Riders who will average 13 mph and below.
Directions:
All routes start from the parking lot of Fletcher Community Park, Fletcher, NC 28732. The park entrance is on Howard Gap Road, about 0.3 mile southeast of the intersection of Howard Gap Road and U.S. Highway 25, about 10 miles south of the intersection of Hwy 25 and I-40 at Asheville. Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fletcher+park,+fletcher,+nc&sll=37.0625,-).
Team in Training: 
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has selected the Fletcher Flyer as a fund raiser ride for its Team in Training (TNT) program (link). Seven TN T Chapters from six states will be sending cyclists to ride the Fletcher Flyer full century.
TNT is the worlds largest charity endurance sports training program. Since 1988, more than 380,000 volunteer participants have helped raise more than $1 billion for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services. The TNT century riders in the 2008 Fletcher Flyer raised more than $150,000 through pledges and it will be even more this year.
The BRBC and WNCBDA are honored to have the TNT participation. Most of the riders will be new to the course and riding their first century. Please make these new riders feel very welcome. TNT cheer teams and extra SAGS will give their support to TNT and non-TNT riders alike.
Sponsors:
- Mountain Inn & Suites is located at 447 Naples Road, Hendersonville, NC 28792, (828) 684-0040
- Mountain Inn & Suites is 3.4 miles to the ride start. Click here for directions to the start.
- Mountain Inn & Suites will offer participants a "special rate" of $69/night + tax. Participant needs to ask for the special 'Fletcher Flyer" rate so the Front Desk Associate will give them that rate at the time they make the reservation.
Volunteer Positions and Registration:
The Fletcher Flyer cannot take place without the hard work of over 150 volunteers. Your participation is critical to the success of the Flyer and its support of cycling in WNC.
If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail the person listed below to get your name on the list. Once you receive confirmation that the position is available, print, fill out, and mail in the registration form. (here ) Volunteers cannot register on-line.
There are positions that permit you to ride the Fletcher Flyer for $15 and also positions for non-riders.
OK to
Position Ride? Date Time Contact E-mail
Packet Stuffing Yes May 31 5:30 9:30 PM Dave Pruiett dpruiett@charter.net
Registration/Packet P/U Yes June 6 9:00 AM Noon Dave Pruiett dpruiett@charter.net
Registration/Packet P/U Yes June 6 Noon 3 PM Dave Pruiett dpruiett@charter.net
Parking Marshal Yes June 7 6 AM 8 AM Tom Redinger Tom.Redinger@va.gov
Registration/Packet P/U Maybe June 7 6 AM 8 AM Dave Pruiett dpruiett@charter.net
SAG
Driver
No June 7 7:00 AM
NOON Bruce Rogers rbrogers@charter.net
SAG
Driver
No June 7 10:00 AM
3 PM Bruce Rogers rbrogers@charter.net
SAG Driver No June 7 1 PM 6 PM Bruce Rogers rbrogers@charter.net
SAG Motorcycle No June 7 TBD Bruce Rogers rbrogers@charter.net
Ride Day Floater No June 7 8 AM 1 PM Robbie Sweetser robbie@griffinarchitectspa.com
Ride Day Floater Maybe June 7 1 PM 6 PM Robbie Sweetser robbie@griffinarchitectspa.com
Contact Us
Ride Director Robbie Sweetser (robbie@griffinarchitectspa.com)
Registration Dave Pruiett (dpruiett@charter.net)
Safety Officer Bruce Rogers
(rbrogers@charter.net)