Bike Tour Offered for Bucks County Audubon's Barn Tour & Art Show

NEW HOPE, PA, July 10, 2012

For the first time in its 13-year history, the annual barn tour presented by the Bucks County Audubon Society (BCAS) will offer a bicycle tour option. Also for the first time, the barn tour is being paired with an art show and sale in a new generation of the event, called The Art of the Barn.

Presented by Paradise Energy Solutions on July 14 & 15, The Art of the Barn will give patrons a unique weekend experience that combines the ability to ride some of the region's most scenic country roads, visit historic barns and farmsteads that are off the beaten trail and view, as well as purchase artworks by celebrated local artists.

Cyclists will be able to join a group ride hosted by the Central Bucks Bicycle Club, or take a self-guided tour. The ride will take place in Upper Bucks County in the vicinity of Lake Nockamixon. The group ride will leave at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 14 from the Ottsville Firehouse, 249 Durham Rd. The route is approximately 35 miles. To join the group ride, riders must be able to ride 11-13 mph and ride on hills. Barn tour tickets must be purchased in advance. For more information, contact ride leader Rick Simon at 215-813-2585 or email Scullyster@gmail.com.

The self-guided ride tour enables riders to leave when they choose and go at their own pace. This route begins and ends at Wehrung's Home and Lumber, 7711 Easton Rd., where riders may purchase tour tickets and pick up maps and route sheets. The route is approximately 31 miles. It includes six of the seven barns on the tour (the location of the seventh barn prohibits its inclusion on the bicycle route), but riders have the option to omit the last barn, which is located on a gravel road, if they prefer not to ride on gravel. Because the cycling alone will likely take at least three hours (depending on one's speed), it is recommended that cyclists tour on Saturday, when event hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday tour hours are noon to 4 p.m. Whether taking part in the group or self-guided ride, riders should bring water and a snack, as there are no food stops along the route. Riders are required to wear helmets.

In addition to the barn tour and art show taking place Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15, The Art of the Barn weekend event includes a lecture on barn history and architecture and an art preview on Friday evening July 13 at the Honey Hollow Visitor Center in New Hope. A gala reception featuring local farm-to-table cuisine will be held Saturday evening. Tickets for the Barn Tour & Art Show can be purchased at McCoole's at the Historic Red Lion Inn in Quakertown, at Wehrung's Home and Lumber in Ottsville or at http://www.bcas.org. Tickets for the lecture and art preview and the Castles in the Fields reception can be purchased at http://www.bcas.org. More information and a complete list of neighborhood ticket sellers is available at www.facebook/TheArtoftheBarnEvent, and at http://www.bcas.org.

The Art of the Barn is the largest fund-raising event of the year for The Bucks County Audubon Society, which is in need of funding to repair its storm-ravaged outdoor classroom and to maintain the education programs it has conducted for generations.

The Bucks County Audubon Society (BCAS) is a private, non-profit organization founded as a chapter of the National Audubon Society in 1969. Since its inception, BCAS has been dedicated to conserving wildlife, promoting awareness of environmental problems, watching birds, educating the community about the interdependence of humans and their world, and furthering the wise use of land, air, and water.