Tour du Rouge cyclists may raise $500k for Red Cross

The 91 cyclists riding in the Tour du Rouge will raise about $500,000 for the American Red Cross, said a Red Cross official.
Kay Wilkins, American Red Cross South Louisiana Region regional chief executive officer, said the tour was created after hurricanes, including Katrina, raked the Gulf Coast.
The fundraising tour is held just before the hurricane season begins in June.
“Which is really good because as we go into hurricane season we know it’s time now for the communities to be prepared,” Wilkins said. “These dollars fund Red Cross in all different areas between Houston and New Orleans.”
The riders started in Houston on Sunday and are to complete their ride in New Orleans on Friday “with a big victory celebration,” she said.
The cyclists stopped in Franklin for lunch where they were greeted by Mayor Raymond Harris and treated to lunch at St. Joseph Plantation in Franklin courtesy of Cypress Bayou Casino.
The Tour du Rouge was developed in 2008 and planned for October of that year, but Hurricane Ike struck, an American Red Cross website states. The tour was rescheduled for May 2009 and there were 63 riders in the first tour.
Volunteers help along the way. Morgan City High School ROTC cadets were assisting the riders Wednesday with details such as carrying bags to rooms.
Brooke Watson, events coordinator, said 11 states were represented by the riders, but most are from Texas. Ages range from 28 to 72. One rider, a Texas A&M student, is from Germany, she said.
The 526-mile adventure in six days takes cyclists past coastal beauty, storm-damaged property, swamps and perhaps the occasional alligator.
The cycling tour is a physical challenge as well as an endeavor in humanitarianism. The tour allows cyclists to support the Red Cross while doing something they love and to learn about disaster resiliency in an area that Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma devastated. And they’re arriving just weeks before the start of hurricane season.