The Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope website still does not have details about the route of the Washington DC fund-raising ride that will take place on October 9. But, a couple of websites have reported the start location and a major waypoint.
Both CyclingNews and The Daily Peloton report that the 2004 Fund-raising Ride course will begin at Georgetown Prep School on Rockville Pike in North Bethesda, MD. It will then proceed for about 18 miles to the Irish Inn in Glen Echo, MD, where the group will be restaged for the remaining 8 miles to The Ellipse in Washington DC near The White House. I assume that the restage is meant to allow riders of different abilities to ride into Washington in a large group for the benefit of spectators.
Kathleen and I have been trying to plan the logistics of this ride– how I will get to the start with my bike, and where I will meet my friends and family after I am done with the ride. This is pretty difficult until more details are provided to us by the ride organizers. Hopefully, they will publish details of the route within the next week, so that we can more definitively answer questions that people are asking me.