Bike and bourbon loving Kentuckians rejoice – Bluegrass Bicycle Tours has announced the Bourbon Country Burn, an inaugural three-day event that includes bicycle tours of regional bourbon distilleries and thoroughbred horse farms.
The new bicycle touring company will host the first-year, three-day event from Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Registration is open to riders who are 21 and older.
Participating riders can choose between one-, two-, and three-day ticket options. Camping at the Kentucky Horse Park is included with registration fees, but the event has also partnered with a nearby hotel to provide tour-goers with a discounted rate.
The event’s founders Mollie Hanrahan and Austin Render, were inspired by their passions for bicycling, bourbon and the Bluegrass State.
According to Hanrahan, “Austin and I have been friends for the last nine years, with dreams of bringing a large-scale bourbon and biking event to Kentucky – in fact, the dream really materialized over a two-and-a-half-month long bike ride across Patagonia in South America.”
Hanrahan and Render – who have collectively spent time cycling in New Zealand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Panama and the Czech Republic – have since left their careers in order to pursue bike tourism, and last summer the friends co-founded Louisville Bicycle Tours, which offers guided scenic bicycle tours in Louisville, primarily to tourists visiting the River City.
The inaugural event features daily distance options ranging from 20-100 miles in order to accommodate riders of varying abilities. Each ride will leave from Bourbon Base Camp, located at the Kentucky Horse Park, and riders will stop at up to six different distilleries throughout the course of the event.
This year’s participating distilleries include Woodford Reserve, Town Branch, Castle & Key, Hartfield & Co. Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, and Town Branch; however more are expected to come aboard before the event takes place in September.
After a full day of riding, participants can kick back and relax with bourbon tastings, grub from local food trucks, and live music at the Bourbon Base Camp. For more information and to register, visit www.bourboncountryburn.com.