By Kevin Dye

Staff Writer

Early Saturday morning is really when the 59th West Jefferson Ox Roast gets underway as area cyclists rise with the sun and depart for a relaxing ride around the gently rolling hills in Madison and Franklin counties. While the group is reaching a milestone this year, they will ride missing two of their own.

The Ox Roast Bicycle Tour will start its 20th tour Saturday as cyclists gather at West Jefferson High School where the bikes will take off between 7:30 and 9 a.m. There are 25, 62 and 100 mile routes available that will travel the hills, farm land, small lakes, creeks and towns in Madison and extreme western Franklin counties.

This year the Ox Roast Bicycle Tour is dedicated to the memory of Bill Young, an avid cyclist who tragically died while doing what he loved the most, cycling last September. Young was a staunch supporter of community bike trails and an original board member of the Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails, which has worked diligently to establish the bike trail system in Madison County.

Young finally operated his dream business later in life, when he opened Young’s Cyclery in London. Young had participated in the annual Ox Roast Bicycle Tour since its inception and he will be greatly missed at this year’s event.

As if that wasn’t enough grief for local cyclists to endure, West Jefferson resident and original Ox Roast Bicycle Tour director Paul “Greg” Miller passed away at the beginning of August this year. Miller was a member of the Hall of Honor at Tolles Technical Center, past president of the West Jefferson Community Association and a Boy Scout Troop Leader.

Greg Miller had been the original director of the Ox Roast Bicycle Tour, up until the last three years when parental medical issues needed Greg and Cindy attention. It was their son Jared, who came up with the idea for a bike tour as part of the Ox Roast festivities for his Boy Scout Eagle project in 1990.

Jared Miller’s teacher at the time was Debbie Omen, now principal at West Jefferson Middle School, and she had never taken part in any bike tour. She and her husband Tom decided to join the Ox Roast Bicycle Tour and they enjoyed it so much that they now cycle together often on the bike trails in Madison County.

Debbie Omen gave Jared a card to show her appreciation for opening up a new activity to them. In the card she told Jared that “Often life goes by without a chance to thank a former student, here’s a big thanks. Now my husband and I now have a hobby thanks to you and riding the Ox.”

“Riding the Ox” is what Debbie and Tom Omen call the annual Labor Day event. They are now the directors for the Ox Roast Bicycle Tour, taking over the tour after a conversation with the Millers, three years ago.

“Greg and Cindy parents health declined and they came to us and asked if we’d be interested in taking over the tour,” said Omen. “We went to their home and visited and talked and decided to do it. Now to be here this year and not have Greg with us is really a shock.”

Omen said that this year Cindy Miller and her sons Jared and Ty will ride the tour together for the first time. Their’s will not be the only heavy hearts on the tour this year.

“It’s going to be lonely without Greg,” said Omen. “My husband and Greg always rode together on the food wagon to feed the riders. For two years now Greg had helped the night before to gather supplies and load the food truck.”

The first Ox Roast Bicycle Tour drew 144 entrants and the largest had 400 riders participating.

Last year’s ride had 225 cyclists and the attendance has dropped slightly due to rising gasoline costs for out of state cyclists. Still, this year there are people registered from Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana so far.

All money raised from the bike tour goes to the West Jefferson Community Association to use in the community.

In the 19 year history of the event, the Ox Roast Bicycle Tour has raised $20,000 for the community.

Anyone interested in joining in on the cycling fun on Saturday can show up at West Jefferson High School and register for one of the three trips. There is a $20 registration fee for participants and can be paid at registration.

The Ox Roast Bicycle Tour is a full-service bike tour and your fees include: snacks, lunch, drinks, sag service, map with marked route and identification number.

The 25 mile trip is a good one for beginners and will have one stop for food, while the 62 and 100 mile trips will have three stops, with the middle stop for food at Madison Lake State Park. The tour takes place rain or shine. The tour also provides riders with good food and plenty of it during their journey. All three routes return to West Jefferson High School.

Kevin Dye can be reached at (740) 852-1616, ext. 20 or by e-mail at kdye@madison-press.com.