Selma a stop on 100-mile bike ride
Published 11:56 pm Friday, April 15, 2011
If you’ve navigated your way around all the runners participating in Saturday’s Butterflies and Bridges Run and waited as the state championship parade for Ellwood Christian’s boys basketball team made its way down Dallas Avenue, you still have one more group to deal with.
Cyclists, participating in seventh annual Samford University’s Old Howard 100 Bike Ride, will be making their way into downtown Selma at around noon Saturday, stopping at a support and gear (SAG) rest stop at First Baptist Church on Dallas Avenue.
The ride, which provides cyclists options of different routes and distances, will begin in Marion at Judson College and is sponsored by Samford’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences.
The 100-mile route goes from downtown Marion through Perry County into Hale County and Greensboro, back to Marion, south to the Perry Lakes wetlands region and to Selma before returning to Marion.
Proceeds from the ride go to benefit Sowing Seeds of Hope, a ministry that seeks to improve the quality of life and work in Perry County through better education opportunities, health care, tourism, transportation and economic development.
As a result of the first six rides, more than $15,000 has been raised for Sowing Seeds of Hope. In addition, students and faculty in Samford’s nursing, pharmacy and exercise and sports medicine programs provide ongoing health screenings and other services to Perry County residents.
The Old Howard 100 celebrates the rich history of Samford and its Perry County roots. The school moved from Marion to the East lake area of Birmingham in 1881 and to its present location in Homewood in 1957.
Dozens of Samford students and employees will serve as volunteers at SAG stops to assist with the hundreds of bicyclists expected for the event. Each year, the event draws riders from throughout Alabama and the southeast, and as far away as Massachusetts.