Tour Da Lakes kicks off July 8; Fuhrman to ride for Health Resources

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The inaugural Tour Da Lakes bike ride will get underway July 8 from City Park in Detroit Lakes.

The bike ride is replacing the Mid-Summer Bike Tour, which was a typical fixture of the city’s Northwest Water Carnival set to begin the following weekend.

The Tour Da Lakes bike ride will include four separate distance categories from 12 miles all the way up to 40 miles, depending on the rider’s preferences. 

The different tours will be made up of round-trips around four area lakes, including: Detroit Lake, Acorn Lake, Lake Sallie and Lake Melissa.

Mark Knutson, event organizer for the Tour Da Lakes, said the event is going to give riders an incredibly scenic view of lakes country and is open to everyone from novice bikers to daily cyclists.

“I love cycling around here,” said Knutson. “They asked me about taking over that Mid-Summer Bike Tour event the community center had done and I was like, ‘yeah, absolutely, I’ll do it.'”

Knutson also said: “I wanted to make something that’s really user friendly, and that’s why I put different distances, like you can go 12 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles or 40 miles. It doesn’t really matter. You can go fast, slow, whatever, you can either soak it in and enjoy it, or, if you want to go hammer it and see how fast you can do it, I don’t care. It’s gonna be fun.”

So far, Knutson said, about 40 riders have registered for the event already and he’s hoping to have over 100 riders on the courses once Saturday morning rolls around.

Registration information for the inaugural Tour Da Lakes bike ride can be found at: TourDaLakes.com, and on the Tour Da Lakes Facebook page.

Once person already registered for the event is KDLM Sports Director Zeke Fuhrman. 

Fuhrman said he decided he was going to join the inaugural Tour Da Lakes event and use his ride to raise money for Health Resources, a nonprofit focused on providing services and resources to new and expectant mothers.

Fuhrman said: “I saw the Tour Da Lakes pop up, and I saw the 40-mile segment, and I was like, ‘how can I turn a 40-mile bike ride into something that is going to beneficial for somebody else.’ Because I’ve seen it online all the time, somebody, a novice runs a marathon and raises money for it and I can do something similar to that. And 40 miles on a bike? Maybe I’m in denial here about how difficult that is actually going to be. But I think I can do 40 miles on a bike. We’ll find out on (July 8).”

Fuhrman said community events like the Tour Da Lakes and the Dick Beardsley Races are what sets Detroit Lakes apart as a place that brings folks together for great outdoor recreational opportunities and fellowship.

If you would like to make a donation to Zeke’s 40-mile ride for Health Resources, visit the WAVE 104 Facebook page.

Fuhrman and the rest of the Tour Da Lakes riders will depart City Park in Detroit Lakes at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.