Beech Grove/Wintergreen
Nelson County, Virginia
Though the skies constantly threatened rain Saturday, the annual Wintergreen Ascent Bike Race went off perfectly! Our Paul Purpura grabbed these fantastic shots as the bikers headed up the mountains in Nelson County.
The annual race held each Spring consists of 18 different categories including men, women, junior, along with different age categories.
You can view the race results and more background information by going here.
The starting point was at our street- Moses Hughes Lane in Beech Grove- there was a large pile of trash left there. We were very disappointed to see that.
Courtney, that is so sad that folks using this beautiful area would leave that kind of mess behind, regardless of which individual(s) were responsible.
I was the starter of the race… first on the scene and the start area was littered with beer cartons, cans and bottles. I can guarantee you that the area was left cleaner than when we started. We did pile water bottles for pick up, and after the event all were picked up.
So nope, the race did NOT leave trash.
Is it still there? I’ll come clean it up and will check for it the next time I’m there. Thanks for letting us race in your backyard!
As the next to last person to leave the start area at the end of the day, roughly 12:45, I can confirm that the area at the corner was clean and that all water bottles had been picked up.
I have confirmed with several people that the water bottles that we left for the riders coming back down from the Mountain (and the awards ceremony) were picked up. As the bottles are expensive we wanted them to be reclaimed by their owners. We love the area, and always try to leave the course cleaner than when we found it. The start line crew cleaned up all the trash we could find (including beer cans, and assorted trash someone dumped their prior to our arrival) before we left, but did leave the bottles for the riders to retrieve on the way out. Next year we will try to have a box for these so there is no confusion.
I would like to post an open thanks to the residents for their ongoing kindness and hospitality. All of the racers raved at the beauty of the area, and how nice everyone is. We are happy to bring in over 240+ hungry and thirsty racers to patronize the local businesses. Thank you for your support, and we will see you on the road!
ps. We deemed the cute beagle who visited all the racers at the start the official race mascot
Yes, guys, the bottles, etc were picked up sometime late Sat- thanks for being concerned with that.
Eric- that cute beagle you’re referring to is also the neighborhood walk partner. :<}