What better excuse to indulge in sweet lemon bars and savory Italian cuisine than a 65-mile bike ride? Participants in the Hiawatha Bicycling Club’s Tour D’Amico get the best of both worlds with a scenic tour of the western suburbs, a substantial bike ride (either 28, 45 or 65 miles) and stops (and snacks) at D’Amico locations along the way. The whole event starts the morning of July 4 at Preserve Village in Eden Prairie, 9605 Anderson Lakes Parkway.
As it turns out, D’Amico & Sons and the Hiawatha Cycling Club have a pretty consistent connection. According to club President Dan Robinson, every Friday club members take a ride that finishes up at the D’Amico on 50th and France. The club, which has about 250 members, also has a ride that ends up at D’Amico in Golden Valley. Members, including some from Eden Prairie, have rides almost every day, all over the metro. There’s a group going to Switzerland for a ride this August.
Those in the Hiawatha club are primarily adults with a couple of the fastest riders in their 80s. “They’ll run the 20-year-olds right off the street,” noted Robinson.
“You see parts of the city you’d never see walking or driving,” he adds.
The upcoming Tour D’Amico is for all ages and skill levels. Robinson said he expects about 400 riders for the event, which begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 4. You can register the day of the event or go online to www.tourdamico.org.

At the end of the ride, which circles around the westerns suburbs near Lake Minnetonka and ends up back in Eden Prairie, riders receive lunch from the EP D’Amico and Sons.
“Probably one of the finest meals that you’ll ever find on any kind of a bike ride anywhere,” noted Robinson.

Robinson noted that “it’s not a race” and riders can go at their own pace. Last year, his granddaughter and wife went tandem during the tour and some families pull trailers in the back, with their kids.

“Anybody can do it.”

Riders who take the shorter route and get going in the morning should be done around lunch time.

“You can be finished and still have plenty of time to go somewhere else and then go to fireworks,” Robinson said.