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CANTON — The weekend of Sept. 25 will be a busy one for Canton, as the second annual Fall Tour of the Mountains Motorcycle event will take place. This event is hosted and sponsored by the Canton Lions Club held in conjunction with the Canton Chamber of Commerce.
Registration for the event is available online right now. For both riding events on Saturday and Sunday, the cost is $45. For each individual day, it is $30. Cash or check made out to Canton Lions Club or use the online registration with Square.
All street legal bikes are allowed, depending on the rider’s ability. About 90% of roads to be traveled are gravel.
This year, it will be two days instead of one and will be a GPS-guided route throughout Bradford, Tioga and Sullivan counties.
The event was published in a recent issue of Backroads Discovery, a national magazine that reaches audiences interested in this specific type of event.
The creator of the event, local businessman and Canton Chamber of Commerce member Frank Watson, has been posting videos of what Canton has to offer leading up to that date and has been busy preparing for hundreds of participants, local, and out of town.
The event will begin on Friday, Sept. 24, with registration and a movie from Backroads Discovery at the Rialto Theatre. There will also be a motorcycle show.
“It’s kind of a documentary-type movie, which they have tons of these,” said Watson. “They come out with one every year and people pay to come see these movies, the BDR people are a huge organization and that’s all they deal with, are rides like ours. We happen to be 25 miles from where the Mid-Atlantic route ends and the Northeast rout starts so that really excites them.”
Saturday’s 150-mile ride will take participants through parts of Bradford and Sullivan counties. Lunch will be provided by the Shunk Fire Department at their location, sponsored by Glenn O. Hawbaker.
Saturday evening, the Park Hotel will host a live band at 9 p.m.
Sunday’s ride will feature 50 miles of local roads in Bradford and Tioga counties.
Last year, the event saw riders from New Jersey, Rochester, Watkins Glen, State College, Reading, Harrisburg, Scranton, Lock Haven and more, so it’s expected for this year as well.
The Canton Fire Department will host a poker run in conjunction with this event. Cost is $30/day or $45/both days. Sign in will be in downtown Canton.
The ride route will be supported with the local fire departments from the area. In addition, a “sag wagon” will be following the ride with a trailer to transport breakdowns etc. Maintenance shops will be available for any repairs.
Hotels and local camping sites are currently getting booked, so make sure to register now for the event.
The money raised for this event will stay in the community and go towards community-related social events.
For more information about the event, please go to www.tourarmeniapa.org. There, you can find information about pre-registering for the event.