Time for bicycle tourists to thank the Trail Angels

Can you think of anyone who:
Took you in on a stormy night;
Let you camp in their back yard;
Gave you and your busted bike a lift into town;
Basically saved your butt on your last bicycle tour?

The Adventure Cycling Association is asking bicyclists to nominate these folks for its 2005 June Curry Trail Angel Award.

Named for the TransAmerica route's famed Cookie Lady, the association says, “The phrase Trail Angel refers to a generous individual or group encountered during a bicycle tour that makes the cyclotourst’s journey easier, or in some cases even possible, by helping the cyclist as a form of goodwill.  Any individual or group that went out of their way to do something special for a cyclotourist, even if it was a one-time occurrence, is eligible for nomination.”

Nominations can be made through August 15 by visiting the Adventure Cycling Association's nomination site, emailing awards@adventurecycling.org, or calling 800-755-2453.

The award is named for June Curry, the Cookie Lady of Afton, Va. Not only has she dispensed cookies and lemonade to hungry and thirsty riders cycling up the hill to Rockfish Gap, but she has set up a house where bicyclists can spend the night.

The second award went to Dave and Jo-An Martin of Dubois, Wyoming. The association says, “The Martin’s home is just off the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail and the Great Divide route providing a resting place, copious amount of food, and top-notch hospitality to hundreds of touring cyclists.”

I can think of a whole host of people who made our cross-country tour easier back in 1984. One was the Cookie Lady. There was the guy who let us camp in his back yard our first night out in Charles City, Va.; the couple who put us up the day my friend and I became separated in Kansas; the residents of Tribune, Kansas, who left the church open overnight so we could get washed up; the couple who put us up in Berea; the family that put us up in Pueblo.

For those who might not be familiar with Adventure Cycling Association, it was founded in Missoula, Montana, in 1973 as Bikecentennial. The group provides maps for its TransAmerica route, as well as maps for other routes. It also conducts supported and self-contained bicycle tours.

Any Adventure Cycling member can nominate one deserving person or group for the 2005 Trail Angel Award.  To make a nomination, submit your name and contact information, plus the name, location, and contact information for the person you want to nominate, and a 100 to 300-word explanation of why you think this person or group should win the 2005 Trail Angel Award.