For Immediate Release: RideTHISbike.com/Amtrak Partnership
Supports New Orleans, Hattiesburg & the Longleaf Trace

NEWS RELEASE

October 10, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana - RideTHISbike.com is pleased to announce a partnership with Amtrak that supports the communities of New Orleans and Hattiesburg as well as the Longleaf Trace bike trail.

Amtrak has contributed a limited number of seats on board the Crescent between New Orleans and Hattiesburg for participants of the Jerry Ryan Memorial Ride. Proceeds from the group bike ride benefit the Longleaf Trace bike trail. To register for the bike ride, log onto www.longleaftrace.org.

Scenic, well shaded and offering fewer road crossings than similar trails, the Longleaf Trace is one of the nation's best, long distance bike trails. Following the route of a rail line abandoned decades ago, the trail is virtually flat. With work underway to extend the Trace from the USM campus to the doorstep of Hattiesburg's newly restored train station in the center of town, cyclists will soon be able to hop off the train and ride a paved, car free trail over 40 miles to Prentiss, Ms.

With special fares available for groups large and small, Amtrak is the best way to visit the Longleaf Trace bike trail as well as all the other sites in the Crescent City. New Orleans is served daily by three Amtrak routes, the City of New Orleans (New Orleans - Memphis - Chicago), the Crescent (New Orleans - Atlanta - Washington - New York) and the Sunset Limited (New Orleans - Houston - El Paso - Los Angeles).

Amtrak's Train # 20 (The Crescent) rolls out of New Orleans' Union Passenger Terminal at 7:20 am. Equipped with a lounge car, large windows, food service and restrooms on board, passengers arrive rested in Hattiesburg at 9:43 am and have over 6 hours to enjoy local attractions including the Longleaf Trace. With the return journey on Train #19 leaving Hattiesburg later that day at 4:19 pm, rail passengers can even have dinner aboard the train while enjoying the passing scenery. Train 19 arrives in New Orleans at 7:10 pm.

To qualify for this special offer, register to participate in the Jerry Ryan Memorial Ride using the registration form found at the Longleaf Trace web site (http://www.longleaftrace.org/). Cost to participate in the ride (including a ride t-shirt, food, rental bike for the day and staffed aid stations along the ride route) is $40. Memorial ride participants from New Orleans should submit the registration form and bike ride payment locally to Larry Lagarde at RideTHISbike.com by no later than October 19, 2007.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Larry Lagarde
RideTHISbike.com
PO Box 9025, Bridge City, LA. 70094
Ph: 504-324-2492
Email: larry@ridethisbike.com
Web: RideTHISbike.com

Labels: Amtrak_Crescent, Jerry-Ryan-Memorial, Long-Leaf-Trace

On Tuesday, the Hattiesburg American published a story by Reuben Mees titled "Longleaf park gets donations". The story is about the upcoming Jerry Ryan Memorial bike ride that will be taking place later this month on the Longleaf Trace. Although the story is primarily about several donations that are being made to enhance the Longleaf Trace, four paragraphs in the story are from a telephone interview that Mr. Mees conducted with me. To read the full story, follow this link...
http://tinyurl.com/2xv94j

Larry

Labels: Jerry-Ryan-Memorial, Long-Leaf-Trace