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Bull Moon Ride organizers announce 2009 route

By Matt DeMargel

Mar 20, 2009

The Durham Bulls and Habitat for Humanity of Durham today released the tentative map for the 2009 Bull Moon Ride. The ride, mapped at just under 17 miles, will be a circuit through Downtown Durham and the American Tobacco Trail that will start and finish at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“We wanted to have an extraordinary experience for people who don’t normally venture out on bikes at night, and to show off the city of Durham,” route committee member Dave Connelly explained, “We think it has a lot of character.”

Some of the landmarks cyclists will see include Duke University Chapel, the new Durham Transportation Center, Durham Performing Arts Center, American Tobacco Campus, Brightleaf Square, the Durham Athletic Park, the plaza at center city, the Carolina Theatre and the American Tobacco Trail. The route will also include a ride through Campus Drive, Ninth Street, Main Street and historic Parrish Street.

“We did a lot of fine tuning to the basic route to try to incorporate as many places as we could think of,” Connelly continued, “It’s not a race, we want it to be family friendly and we will have escorts from the sheriff’s office.”

Ride support will be provided by the Durham County Sherriff’s Office for cyclists’ safety and traffic control. The ride will include a pit stop at the plaza in center city sponsored by Durham Hendrick Auto Mall. They will be providing the support vehicles for riders, along with water and facilities at the pit stop.

“One of our core values is to support our community and Habitat for Humanity of Durham does a great job of supporting this community. As a local business we want to be a part of an event like this,” said Jack Morgan, service director for Durham Hendrick Auto Mall.

The Bull Moon Ride is a night time bicycle ride through Downtown Durham benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Durham. In 2008, over 200 cyclists participated in the inaugural event, raising thousands of dollars for Habitat of Durham. The 2009 event is scheduled for Saturday, July 18th at 8:30 PM at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Details regarding registration will be announced on Thursday, April 2nd on Durhambulls.com.

About Habitat for Humanity…
Habitat for Humanity transforms lives and communities by making home ownership possible in partnership with people who care. Founded in 1976, Habitat builds homes for working families whose living conditions are unsound, unsafe, or overcrowded. Habitat builds new homes and sells them at no interest. The no-interest loan, as well as donations of time and money, allows Habitat to offer affordable mortgage payments to families who don't qualify for traditional mortgages.