Bicyclists ride along the Susquehanna River during a past Tour de Belt.
Neither a long period of dormancy nor wind and rain were able to halt completion and maintenance of the Capital Area Greenbelt over the past several decades.
The Greenbelt’s annual bike ride, the Tour de Belt, has kept peddling forward as well, this June reaching a new milestone—its 25th anniversary.
City Beautiful planners first conceived of the Greenbelt trail in 1900, but it wasn’t completed until 1999. Designed by Warren Manning, the Greenbelt began in fits and starts and then lay dormant for many years. The Capital Area Greenbelt Association (CAGA) formed in 1990 and stepped in to help complete the over 20-mile loop through Harrisburg, as well as Swatara, Paxtang, Penbrook and Susquehanna Township.
In 2001, CAGA began hosting the Tour de Belt to showcase the trail and raise funds for its upkeep. Despite storms that have knocked trees and limbs across the route several times, CAGA volunteer Becky Schuchert said that she and her crews were always able to clean things up to ensure the tour would go on.
Schuchert, a former CAGA board member and trail maintenance manager, spun the idea for the Tour de Belt after participating in New York City’s Five Boro Bike Tour. She liked that “you don’t have to know a thing about New York. If you show up at the right place, you’re not going to get lost.”
She decided CAGA should re-create that, on a smaller scale, along the newly completed Greenbelt. She was joined on that first committee by Lora Hirschhorn, as well as Shirley Disend and Tim Poole, both founding members of CAGA, along with Tim’s wife Meredith Poole.
The first tour attracted fewer than 100 riders, but the event was born at the perfect time—when American cyclist Lance Armstrong was winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles. The enthusiasm for bicycling was taking off.
The Tour de Belt now attracts close to 1,000 bicyclists and, on June 1, will return for its 25th anniversary ride.
Fuel for the Ride
Schuchert has volunteered for all 25 Tour de Belts.
She starts the day at 5 a.m., driving the route and putting out directional signage. “Anyone can ride it and not get lost,” she said.
Then she drives it again, making sure all volunteers are in place and know what they’re doing for the 9 a.m. start.
The Tour relies on a myriad of corporate sponsors, such as Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, as well as registration fees and the help of more than 140 volunteers. Volunteers are Greenbelt members, neighbors and friends recruited by Schuchert and Harrisburg Bicycle Club members. They do everything from helping with check-in, passing out T-shirts, lining the ride route, acting as marshals, and following in a support and gear wagon that helps bicyclists who might encounter issues. Some also pass out drinks and snacks at three rest stops—at PennDOT, the Five Senses Garden and Reservoir Park.
Dick Norford, the communications chair for CAGA, has been riding the trail and helping with the tour since 2004. He said the ride attracts many families and first-time trail riders, all of whom enjoy the Finish Line Fest on the campus of HACC, where the tour starts and finishes. More than 25 exhibitors will offer food, products, music and information.
Those who cannot make the event or prefer solo rides can also complete the Tour de Belt on their own time by walking, running or biking sometime between May 25 to 31. All participants can earn a newly designed Tour de Belt T-shirt.
“People love it,” Schuchert said. “You see the shirts around town. So many people know about it, you don’t have to explain it.”
Changing Trail
As with the first ride in 2001, the proceeds from this year’s ride will support trail maintenance and larger projects.
CAGA plans to complete a major restoration of the Greenbelt next year on the Paxtang section. The planned trail diet will shrink the width to support nature around it and remove the risks of trail deterioration, said Doug Knauss, Tour de Belt chair and parks and recreation director for Susquehanna Township. CAGA also has plans for a streambank restoration along the Spring Creek in that area. Other improvements near Veterans Park and by the Harrisburg East Cemetery have already been completed.
“The Tour de Belt is a mechanism for all of those kinds of things,” Knauss said. “It’s a great way to preserve the years of hard work put in to reestablish the Greenbelt and keep it established for years to come.”
Additionally, the construction of three housing developments to assist the homeless in South Harrisburg has detoured the trail, impacting the Tour de Belt route. A section of the Greenbelt that previously ran through the land near the PennDOT building has been temporarily rerouted to Sycamore Street and then onto Cameron Street where the trail picks up again. Eventually, CAGA hopes to establish a safer, permanent route for the section of the trail by working with surrounding property owners. Those plans and funding sources are not yet finalized.
Beyond raising funds, Tour de Belt is a fun way for the community to get out, explore the area and make connections.
The Pooles offer an example of the family nature of the ride. Tim and Meredith and their son, Chris, have been riding or volunteering for the tour every year. What began as Chris being towed along in a trailer is today a 26-year-old Harrisburg resident riding circles around his parents.
“That has been an amazing, very personal part of it for me,” Tim said. “For someone who participated in starting all of this, it helps to drive home the point that we really are creating something to ensure that these types of resources and amenities are still there for our children and our grandchildren to enjoy.”
The Tour de Belt takes place June 1, starting from the HACC campus, Harrisburg. For registration and other information, visit www.caga.org/tour-de-belt.
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