Martin's Tour of Richmond Brings Family Together From Near and Far
Powhatan resident Mary Kernstine and her son Ben are riding in the Martin's Tour of Richmond, and as an added bonus they'll be joined on the course by family traveling from New York.
By: Ali Crissman
What began as a simple Google search to find cycling events in the Richmond area has become much more for one area family.
Mother and son duo Mary and Ben Kernstine will ride in the second-annual MARTIN’S Tour of Richmond on Oct. 5, participating in the Medio Fondo, or 59-mile ride.
“We’re excited that we found the race,” Mary Kernstine said. “The fact that it was a tour made it family friendly.”
Ben has even persuaded his aunt, Rose Soltis of Albany, N.Y., to travel to Richmond for the ride, making the MARTIN’S Tour of Richmond even more of a family affair.
“My 15-year-old nephew and his mother (my sister) have wanted me to come visit them for years,” Soltis said. “My nephew, being smart about this, offered me the ‘carrot’ of a cycling event, and I was all over it!”
The Oct. 5 event offers a 102-mile Gran Fondo option, as well as a 59-mile option and a 29-mile option. Another new and innovative addition this year is that riders will finish by completing a “victory” lap around the Richmond Raceway Complex track, an aspect that excites Ben about the tour.
While Mary explained that she and her family are not necessarily serious cyclists who log many miles each week, she did go on to say that biking has been a part of both her and her sister’s lives for many years.
“I have been biking for 25-plus years…Rose has been biking for 35-plus years,” Mary said. “She introduced me to it as a young adult, and we did a tour of New York City together when I was in college.”
Soltis went on to explain that the tour of New York City traveled through all five boroughs during a ride that was over 50 miles.
“The last leg of the tour was going over the Verrazano Bridge, which has quite an incline and is long,” Soltis said. “It was utterly amazing and surreal to know that millions of cars drive this every day, and I am doing it on a bike.”
Both sisters agreed that the family aspect of the Tour is what has them most excited about hopping on their bikes on October 5th.
“I’m looking forward to just experiencing the state of Virginia and being with family,” Soltis said.
As is often the case when family comes together for an event, Mary said the family is also very competitive, so they will not be without motivation.
“We will tell jokes and keep each other smiling,” she said. “We are all very competitive, so yelling in a good way at each other may happen.”
To ride in a 59-mile bike tour, a great deal of training and dedication is required to ensure that a rider is prepared. Mary said she has been training with Ben and that they have been riding two to three times each week for 12-20 miles at a time. Most of their training rides are in the Powhatan area where they live, Mary said, but they try to ride wherever possible.
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Ben Kernstine (grey shirt)
For Soltis, training began several months ago.
“I started in the late spring and through the summer on my mountain bike. The mountain bike has more drag to it than a road bike, so it was working my muscles to the max,” she said. “A couple of weeks ago, I changed to the road bike, and now I am flying.”
While the MARTIN’S Tour of Richmond is a family event this year for the Kernstines and Soltis, being active also runs in the family. Ben has competed in sprint triathlons and both he and Mary have run the American Family Fitness Half Marathon, along with several other running events in Richmond. Soltis has ridden in a 75-mile bike tour in Delaware as a fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis, in addition to the bike tour of New York City.
Throughout the story of the Kernstines and Soltis, one theme resonates stronger than the rest – family. When the three of them enter the tunnel to the track at the Richmond Raceway Complex on Oct. 5 for their “victory” lap, it will be together with each of them cheering the other to the finish.
Online registration is still available online for the MARTIN’S Tour of Richmond through Oct. 2 at www.sportsbackers.org. Walk up registration is also available on Friday, Oct. 4 at the Richmond Raceway Complex from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 5 at each of the ride start locations.