Cyclists Will End Day One of Eight-Day "Heritage Ride 2016" Bikeway Tour From CT to Montreal in Kent

KENT, Conn. - July 13, 2016 - PRLog -- The community is invited on Saturday, July 23, 2016, at 4:30-5:00 p.m. to the private home of steel and bronze sculpture artist Denis Curtiss' "Sculpturedale" to welcome dozens of volunteer cyclists on the first day of "Heritage Ride 2016" Bikeway Tour. The Tour will begin that morning at Weir Farm in Wilton, Connecticut's only National Historic Site, and end Sunday, July 31^st in Montreal, Canada.

The eight-day tour will take the volunteercyclists through towns and rural back roads across western Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. The awareness-building tour will highlight the scenic and historic attractions along the Western New England Greenway – a highly-prestigious nationally-recognized "U.S. Bicycle Route" (USBR) by AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The "grassroots" Western New England Greenway was created by a group of volunteer cyclists who wanted to highlight the many beautiful bike routes available western portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. The multi-segment, multi-state Greenway bike route links New York City and Montreal and has been developed with supportive administration by the not-for-profit Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area (Housatonic Heritage), the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership in Burlington, VT, and the National Park Service RTCA – Rivers, Trails and Conservation -Program which provides technical assistance.

At 4:30/5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 23^rd the cyclists will reach their final destination of Denis Curtis' "Sculpturedale" in Kent for a celebration party to which the public is welcome. The volunteer cyclists are riding the Greenway to Canada to highlight some of the best cycling roadways throughout western regions of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. On the 23^rd they will have cycled along the New Milford River Trail after meeting Mayor David Gronbach and other officials on the Green at 12:30 p.m.  During their visits to New Milford and Kent, the cyclists will talk with area residents and cycling enthusiasts about the Greenway's highly-scenic and history-rich Heritage Bikeway.

The cyclists' journey on July 23 will bring them through Bull's Bridge in Kent and Cornwall Bridge to "Sculpturedale" located next to Kent State Park on Route 7. The morning of Sunday, July 24, they will ride from Cornwall Bridge along the Housatonic River to the West Cornwall covered bridge along River Road and Weatogue Road into Massachusetts. They will ride through Great Barrington and along Route 183 past the Norman Rockwell Museum and Tanglewood in Lenox where they will stay overnight.

About the Western New England Greenway and Heritage Bikeway:

The Western New England Greenway and Heritage Bikeway corridor follows mostly low-volume roadways through the very western portions of CT, MA and VT. The southern entry point connects the East Coast Greenway at the Merritt Parkway near Norwalk, CT with Quebec's Route Verte at the Canadian border. The Bikeway includes over 300 miles of mapped routes that include nearby lodging, dining, cycling shops and heritage sites.

Since 2010, the "grassroots" group of volunteers from CT, MA and VT worked to establish the Western New England Greenway by encouraging various local groups to collaborate on a larger vision. The committee of volunteers has coordinated four annual conferences, created a website and Facebook site, and published maps of the most favorable on- and off-road routes that now comprise the Greenway.

The Greenway's regional network of bicycling routes is also supported by organizations that include the Norwalk River Valley Trail , the Town of Brookfield (CT), New Milford River Trail (www.nmbikewalk.org), Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area (www.HousatonicHeritage.org), Housatonic Valley Association (http://www.hvatoday.org/), Berkshire Regional Planning Commission / Berkshire BikePath Council (http://www.berkshirebikepath.com/), Massachusetts Sept. of Transportation (http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/Main.aspx), Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/ashuwillticook-rail-trail.html), Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce, Manchester & The Mountains of VT Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, Local Motion VT,  and the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.

For more information about the Western New England Greenway programs download the flyer at http://wnegreenway.org/bike-route/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Bike-Tour-2016.pdf, visit www.wnegreenway.org, on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WesternNewEnglandGreenway or email: Info@WNEGreenway.org.