How did Tour de Turns get started?
The founder and route master, Lane Holbert, was a distance runner since middle school. As he was reaching his late 30's, he proactively reduced his mileage to save his knees, hips and spine from potential damage. To replace some of his cardiovascular workouts, he began mountain biking when trail conditions would allow. One of his good mountain biking friends was also a road cyclist. He kept nagging Lane to purchase a road bike. Lane was hesitant because he thought road cycling looked boring but mostly because of his concern with Charlotte's heavy traffic. After three years of listening to his friend's nagging, Lane finally bought his first road bike in 2004. It turned out road cycling was not boring but after a couple of very close brushes with high-speed automobiles and a couple of his friends actually getting hit, Lane stopped riding on thoroughfares and outlying country roads. Since he enjoyed being able to ride out of his driveway and get a great cardiovascular workout with the road bike, Lane started exploring backstreet neighborhood routes in south Charlotte where he lived. He ultimately came up with a 25-mile loop that was 93% inside of neighborhoods and only had one stop light (this is the 25-mile route of Tour de Turns today). His friends that rode the route with him nicknamed it "Tour de Turns." In 2011, Lane was riding 24 Hours of Booty with his oldest son. Because Lane rode 200 miles in the previous year's event, his son set a goal to ride 200 miles. As they were approaching the 150-mile mark, his son said he was going to stop at 150-miles because he was extremely bored of repeating the same 3-mile loop. He then said "Dad, you need to start a fundraiser on your route because it is so much fun and never boring". The following year Lane organized the inaugural ride with 57 riders that were mostly friends and family.
The founder and route master, Lane Holbert, was a distance runner since middle school. As he was reaching his late 30's, he proactively reduced his mileage to save his knees, hips and spine from potential damage. To replace some of his cardiovascular workouts, he began mountain biking when trail conditions would allow. One of his good mountain biking friends was also a road cyclist. He kept nagging Lane to purchase a road bike. Lane was hesitant because he thought road cycling looked boring but mostly because of his concern with Charlotte's heavy traffic. After three years of listening to his friend's nagging, Lane finally bought his first road bike in 2004. It turned out road cycling was not boring but after a couple of very close brushes with high-speed automobiles and a couple of his friends actually getting hit, Lane stopped riding on thoroughfares and outlying country roads. Since he enjoyed being able to ride out of his driveway and get a great cardiovascular workout with the road bike, Lane started exploring backstreet neighborhood routes in south Charlotte where he lived. He ultimately came up with a 25-mile loop that was 93% inside of neighborhoods and only had one stop light (this is the 25-mile route of Tour de Turns today). His friends that rode the route with him nicknamed it "Tour de Turns." In 2011, Lane was riding 24 Hours of Booty with his oldest son. Because Lane rode 200 miles in the previous year's event, his son set a goal to ride 200 miles. As they were approaching the 150-mile mark, his son said he was going to stop at 150-miles because he was extremely bored of repeating the same 3-mile loop. He then said "Dad, you need to start a fundraiser on your route because it is so much fun and never boring". The following year Lane organized the inaugural ride with 57 riders that were mostly friends and family.