Comments by the Riders 2008

Suggestions and Comments that have arrived on July 4 ~ 8 of 2008 show below as they arrived in the email forward to me from the form you filled out.

If no name was given, then no name was submitted in the form. The next group of emails will be preceded by the date of the arrivals.

If you have a email request for additional information at the end of your comments ~ please provide this info.

Anyone not getting their packets will receive them in the mail. Those that left their packets or socks with the start line ~ please contact me ASAP at fabulous4th@charter.net.

The Following person wrote a bad check in 2007
and has failed to make good on it:
Mark Tyma, Rock Hill, SC 29730

Mark sent in a email saying that he would make good on the check when he came
to ride in the event this year. However, we have no record of his ever trying to make
good on picking up the check. So he rode this year but his check is still outstanding.
If mark wishes to clear his record he will have to make arrangements to send a
money order for the $30.00 plus the $5.50 bank charge to us.

great route with great traffic control. the rest stop table before the watershed was 15-20ft off the road in soft sandy, gravel..... a safe place closer to the road would be better for the riders. river was refreshing!
Thanks for a great event!

1st time rider. food at sag fair- cookies & pretzels ( did people eat pretzels?), no PB&J at a couple
awesome pasta salad at end - I'm vegetarian, I did have options!! thx. I didn't see fig newton's- those are nice- not like :dry" cookies- harder to eat, good water, sports drink- did wish it were collld! Whoever had lemonade stand- very nice thanks again!! (That was not suppose to be there). can you tell I'm hungry again! haha.
GREAT help at corners stopping traffic- just none in Saluda I noticed at RR track intersection, but I'm sure there were arrows. (There were there with 3 plus 1 on exit - plus the firemen were on station till about 1:00 pm)

I hate climbing but absolutely love riding the Fabulous 4th every year. With the route change this year you have made the ride even better, except for that pesky climbing part that i hate. The deletion of the road around the lake brought an added sense of safety. Visualizing a head on collision with an on coming auto was always on everyone's mind in the past. Just keep doing what you do every year. You all seem to spend a great deal of time and effort recognizing short falls and correcting them. Didn't know about the swimming hole but I do now. Every year we try to bring more riders with us. And we never speak ill of such a fun ride spent in beautiful surroundings. I never forget to enter the event, but thank you for the offer of a email reminder.

Just one. We were cruising down a nice stretch of road, don't ask me where and happened upon to little girls and their mom handing out lemonade. This one simple act of kindness almost brought tears to my eyes. The mom explained that the girls had been watching us go by their house for a few years. When the girls had finally gotten old enough they all decided to give us a treat. And what a treat it was. The lemonade was delicious. The experience will last a lifetime.

Mike Edwards
1908 College St.
Columbia, SC 29201
Time: very slow, 4:06
Rider number: 8

This was my first Fab. 4th. recommended by a friend who has ridden in the past. Course was great. I ride Callahan Mt. and the watershed all the time so was very familiar with the last 3rd which helped.

did not notice announcements in either Greenville Spinners or Freewheelers websites. would help to promote, especially the Freewheelers since it is soon after Mt. Mitchell and some of the riders want to use their Mt. legs. (Both clubs have received request for inclusion in their web sites for announcements of the this event. Both clubs choose not to include it)

feelings: i understand the need for safety in the Lake Lanier section, but i really miss those curves. I hope that it can be put back in with the understanding that if riders are seen cutting corners that there number could be turned in and prevented from riding again in the future. The beginning of the ride is a little sketchy because it leads into a fairly fast descent with several sharp curves. There were some near misses there in regards to crashes. The other direction really let the field spread out and start separating into faster and slower groups. Dont want to sound like i am complaining, i have done this ride for many years now and really enjoy it. I grew up in Rutherfordton, NC.

improvements:
tell the state to pave that dang section near the boy scout camp or we will stage a road strike and put out all campfires at the camp until its paved! :)

river:
went straight to the jeep and the a.c. I may try the swimming hole next year!

recommend:
I have told many people about the ride, but one of the key features of this ride is the problem why more people don't come. Its a holiday! On my street alone, over 40 percent of my neighbors leave for the beach or the lake. I think the ride size is good, 600 or so is great. If you got up to 1000 or so, the start would have to be moved somewhere else (not enough room) I never forget this ride, it the fourth!

othercomments:
need some vendors-i needed some gloves. rest stops-great, each and every one, including the family giving out free lemonade! bad-can you do something about the heat? thanks for a great event

I liked the new route but I missed the ride around the lake. No I did not know that hole was there.

feelings_:
I liked the new route - it was more challenging than last year. This is about the maximum length I would like for this ride; any longer would take away from the fun/joy it is to take a day off and enjoy the mountains on a bike.

improvements_:
I like having the Callahan Mt - Greenville Water Shed at the end of the route. Please have workable showers next year. It is a long ride home feeling hot and sweaty from a long ride

river_:
Neither. The showers were in such poor condition I just took a sponge bath. (Unfortunately I believe that the shower building will be history next year. That will leave the river and the swimming hole. Remember that this property has been sold and the new owners are planning on removing the outdoor gym)

recommend_:
Definitely to all of the above. When is the Tour de Leaves scheduled this year? I enjoy this ride as well - the temps are more to my liking anyway.

_improvements_: crossing Hwy 14 at downtown Landrum could be a little squirrelly if the light turned red - (The Landrum Police were on hand for the first 2.5 hours of crossing.)

_river_:
Took a dip in the river! Didn't know about the swimming hole or would have gone there! That would have been great! I'll remember that next year

_name_:
Becky Strahler, second year doing this ride! Did Blood Sweat and Gears ride last Sat, so this ride is always hard for me cause my legs haven't fully recovered. This ride always falls on the sat after BSG. However, still enjoy the scenery and the people! Both years have been a good experience. Thank you for putting on such an enjoyable ride!

feelings_:
1st time doing this tour, but ride the area a lot. The route was safe, riders were warned of danger areas before the start which is a very good idea.

_improvements_:
Consider taking the official finishing time in Saluda and adjust the route so that the metric ends there. This may prevent riders unfamiliar with the area from 'racing' down the grade and putting themselves at risk. Just a thought.

_othercomments_:
My first time riding this tour, and was quite impressed with the level of rider support all along the course. I had major mechanical problems, got picked up by rider support in no time.
Great Job, I'll be back.

_feelings_:
I thought the route was very good. The only negative was the segment on Hwy 11. This section was a little dangerous, but I understand you can't stay away from everything. The route was VERY WELL MARKED and this is a very important thing. Also volunteers and/or police at major intersections was GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO THE POLICE AND VOLUNTEERS at the intersections!

_improvements_:
Ice at the rest stops would be great if possible. I realize this would be hard to do, but ice or at least iced coolers of water and Gatorade would be great. The few rides that manage to work out ice for a summer ride are always a major plus. (ICE on the 4th is a good idea but logistics are very hard. We will consider this for next year)

_river_:
I went to the showers and expected the cold water since this is the fourth time I have done this ride. But the lights were out in the shower and it was pitch black dark in there. So that was a problem, but I took a shower anyway.

_recommend_:
Yes, I always do recommend this ride and encourage others to do this ride. After Mitchell I really enjoy a shorter mountain ride that doesn't wipe you out like Mitchell.

_othercomments_:
The weather was perfect this year. Any chance you can arrange that every year? (just kidding, but the weather was perfect this year. The parking is always a little tough and I did have a fair walk to the registration area.

_feelings_:
First time I rode the ride and I was very satisfied with the route and the clear directions at all points and intersections. I will be back next year.

_recommend_:
I will recommend. Yes I will spread the word. Yes, I will recommend site.

_othercomments_:
It was my first time in your ride and though fatigued, I loved every bit of it, especially now looking back and planning my strategy for next year.

_feelings_:
I really like going around Lake Lanier. The homeowners are very supportive of the riders and I enjoyed seeing their patriotic faces. Nevertheless, I certainly understand your reasons for changing the course and since this is consistently the best run ride around, I am confident the course change was for the better. (One thing that everyone did not know was the the homeowners on the lake were having a big on the water festival complete I believe with fireworks.)

_improvements_:
Bike rides have a hard time keeping people together after the ride to take advantage of everything the town has to offer. I would suggest doing door prizes (must be present to win) after the ride to keep the riders around for a little longer and to give the local businesses some exposure.

_river_:
No, I did not go in the river. I did not go to the showers. I was in somewhat of a hurry after the ride to get to my July 4th destination. I did not know about the river, I did know about the showers, however I failed to bring adequate items to get wet immediately after the ride. Thank you for educating me as to the river, I will return to Tryon soon to swim there.

_recommend_:
I live in Greenville and I am a Level 3 coach. I tell all of my riding mates about Fabulous 4th. This is my third year riding in the tour. I love that you ask for feedback from riders....(no other ride does that). I recommend this tour to everyone. Aside from the fact that there is no other ride around on the 4th, the people and the riders are so great, I would feel like it wasn't July 4th if I did not do the Tryon ride. I was pleasantly surprised by the additional food this year. I enjoyed the sandwiches and the chocolate in addition to the traditional pasta salad. Also, this ride has one of the best "ride gifts" around. Socks! I mean seriously, how many T-shirts do you need???? I will encourage others to use the website for next year's ride also.

Sean C. McElveen
Greenville Spinners Race Team
Category 4 Racing
USA Cycling Level 3 Coach
Taylors, SC 29687

thank you for putting on a great ride on the 4th, very nice course, good organization, good support. we riders sometimes take for granted or forget all the people it takes to organize and run an event such as yours. I want to say thank you and tell you all the riders appreciate all your work to put on such a fine event!!

_feelings_:
the route was great , fast, scenic, traffic free, difficult and varying. very good job.

_river_:
I didn't know about the river or swimming. better make more mention of it on the web site info next year.
This will be corrected for next year with out fail.

The lake Lanier section was a highlight for me in past years, so I missed that. I didn't care for the section on highway 11 either.
No other way around this nasty section since it is the only road unless you want to add about 18 more miles south of Route 11.

_improvements_:
If you have a clock at the end, and many people ride this event as a 'race', how much more would it take to have time chips for everyone, or at least record times at the end and post them.
I will contact John Bryan of the Assaults and find out who to contact for this. You are aware that it will require that the vast majority of you are going to have to be PRE REGISTERED for this to really work. I do know that this is very expensive for such a small ride as ours.

This was my first Tour, I really enjoyed the Ride in particular the climbing, I just took my time and enjoyed the wonderful scenary. I will be back next year, no doubt.

_feelings_:
I, too, miss the loop around the lake and the families with their flags...however...I liked that we didn't spend all that time on Hwy 14. I'm not sure if it was related to going in reverse onto Warrior in the beginning, or some other factor, but the front didn't seem as bunched up this year and I didn't see as many people over the yellow line. Regardless, the VERY best part of this tour is the police support and other traffic control. It always amazes me to come to an intersection many miles into the tour and STILL have someone to direct me through. THANK YOU!

_improvements_:
A few different kinds of cookies at the W/S would be great...if i could visualize some Oreos or fig bars i think it would help me get over Camp Old Indian faster !

_recommend_: Team Bi-Lo brought 8 ladies in pink to support your ride. We'll be back!

Bring your whole gang and then some and have a field day here. Do not forget that the swimming hole that is specially dug into the river will be marked next year. The river is cool and nice. Just don't let the trout tickle your toes. ! ! ! !