Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2007-04-17

More than 200 bicycle riders are expected to participate in Samford University's third annual Old Howard 100 Bike Ride Saturday, April 21. Participants will depart from the front gate of Judson College in Marion at 9 a.m. for the ride through Perry and Hale counties.

The event features routes of 30, 55, 70 and 100 miles. The 100-mile route will take riders on County Road 20 to Newbern, to Greensboro and Magnolia Grove via Hwy. 61, and on into the Talladega National Forest and to Folsom before returning to Marion. A final loop goes through the Perry Lakes wetlands regions. Riders on shorter routes will turn back to Marion at various points, with all riders ending back at the Judson campus.

Support and Gear (SAG) stops at Newbern, Magnolia Grove, Mt. Hermon United Methodist Church, Folsom and Suttle Volunteer Fire Department will be staffed by Samford volunteers and local hosts.

Pre-registered participants hail from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The roster includes an 80-year-old rider.

The event is sponsored by Samford's Howard College of Arts and Sciences, with proceeds benefiting Sowing Seeds of Hope ministry. Samford, founded as Howard College in Marion in 1841, relocated to Birmingham in 1887.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.