TOMRV started with Carter LeBeau, who was excited by his experience on the new RAGBRAI event,but who wanted a little more comfort when the day's ride was over than camping out. So the first TOMRVstopped at a motel, but then Carter hit on the idea of asking colleges to rent their dormitories for a tour day. Thisgave more rooms and a fun atmosphere to arriving for the day. Several tours in our area were formed on this model, including the long running TOGIR, and of course TOMRV. TOMRV was retained by the Quad CitiesBicycle Club, while the other tours ran for many years as a business / labor of love.
1978 - TOMRV begins, on a July weekend, with a two day ride, suggested by Carter LeBeau, from the Quad Cities to the Holiday Inn in Burlington, Iowa, and back on the Illinois side to the Quad Cities. Bob Frey assists Carterand introduces his "Bob Frey Awards" at the annual banquet. Jerry & Sparky's Bicycle Shop provides repairs along the route, and, with an incredible amount of generosity and support for the Quad Cities Bicycle Club,
1979 - The route is changed, going north to Dubuque on the Iowa side to Clarke College, then after an excellent banquet, returning across the Hwy 20 bridge to Galena, up Black Jack Road from the north, to Sabula and back. Ken Davis maps the route.
1980 - Black Jack Road's notoriety is championed with a bridge built on the crest by the Paulos family after asuggestion by Carter, to make the route even higher than the previous year.
1981 - The Year of the Winds! Sunday's winds from the south clock in at 30 m.p.h.! Clarke College's banquet continues to grow in variety, quantity, and fame, prompting three riders from Barrington, IL. to be able to abstain from food for a whole week after the ride.
1982 - Riders around the Midwest start pronouncing a new word, TOMRV, correctly "Tom Rov". John Keane and Bob Knuckles chair TOMRV. Sheri Power is TOMRV's Secretary.
1983 - Rest Stops are established at three locations on each day's ride. John Keane & Sheri Power continue their work on TOMRV.
1984 - TOMRV 7, the "Soggy 7", finds many riders forced to walk their bikes up the final segment of Chestnut Mountain, causing much mental anguish and vows to add granny gears next year. The route goes up the Iowa side, and returns via Illinois, crossing at the Clinton bridge. Stops serve water and bananas. At 3 years old, Justin Langan becomes the youngest rider to finish TOMRV, stopping in Clinton for a nap.
1985 - After much QCBC debate, the route is changed to cross over to Illinois at Sabula, ride through Illinois to East Dubuque, and stay in Iowa for all of Sunday's ride. Mary Keane is TOMRV's Secretary. Kevin Langan, long-time route marker, did TOMRV in a bike trailer at 4 months old.
1986 - Bob Miller chairs TOMRV. Jean Kelly begins her calligraphy career with the TOMRV Fanny Bumpers. RestStops are established at 5 locations each day. Cookies & snacks are added. Joanie Richards is TOMRV'sSecretary.
In 1986 or 1987, TOMRV moves from a July weekend to the second full weekend in June.
1987 - 10th year. The year of the HEAT. The temperature at Boob's in McCausland hits 105!
1988 - A perfect TOMRV- tailwind up, winds switch at night, and a tailwind back. Green bananas become TOMRV's bane.
1989 - Dick Castner chairs the ride. TOMRV offers its new Short Route, beginning and ending in Preston, Iowa. Susie LaForce haphazardly agrees to act as TOMRV's Secretary, beginning a long run that sees the ride grow into a major event. Bill Langan takes over as Rest Stop Chairman and takes the rest stops toa new, almost gourmet, level. No more green bananas. The food becomes legendary. Watermelon boats appear. Ice Swans are discussed, but, sadly rejected.
1990 - TOMRV becomes a 3 state ride when we change the route and enter Wisconsin. We ride over Dubuque's new scenic bridge, spanning the Mississippi River. Sam Norwood chairs TOMRV and maps out the new route. Sam introduces The Riders Guide. On Saturday the riders faced very strong headwinds. The dinner banquet was held open for additional hours due to the very late and very tired arrival of the majority of the riders.
1991 - Dick Wagner and Susie LaForce chair TOMRV. Massage Therapists begin working on TOMRV.
1992 - 15th year. Clarke's banquet gets even better, thanks to Chef Larry James, a man with skills and laughs as large as his girth. The equally legendary, but considerably thinner, Chuck Oestreich joins TOMRV. He and Susie LaForce chair the ride.
1993 - Loras College is added as a second college offering rooms for the riders. TOMRV produces its first Jersey.
1994 - Trek's Wrench Force joins TOMRV.
1995 - Dean Mathias becomes the first person to ride TOMRV without sitting down. After a devastating fire at Clarke destroys several buildings, the Atrium opens.
1996 - Aussie makes TOMRV's first professional Jersey.
1997 - 20th year. Schwinn joins TOMRV. Who can forget Sister Kathleen Ann Beckman, who sold pop as a fundraiser for the Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador. Doug Truesdell joins TOMRV as co chair.
1998 - Another change north of Galena adds "The Wall" to the ride's mythology. Bicycling Magazine proclaims TOMRV one of the best rides in the country in an article titled "50 States, 50 Great Rides".
1999 - Clarke College opens its air-conditioned Apartment Building. The Arc Group Graphics of Chicago joins TOMRV. Voler begins producing the TOMRV Jersey. Leon Van Camp becomes the oldest rider to complete TOMRV at the age of 83.
2000 - Ridership hits 1500. Entertainment is introduced with a Blues Concert by Hawkeye Herman. Unbelievable tailwinds carry the ride to Dubuque on Saturday. Sam Norwood, 1990 ride director, completes 10 years of background computer support of the ride. This work included building a database for tracking registrations and creating the first mass mailing list used for marketing and promotion.
2001 - The Beer Garden opens. Blues musician Patrick Hazell performs. Subway Sandwiches rule at Palisades!
2002 - 25th year. The best ride yet. Twenty-five years and still growing.
2003 - Linda Barchman takes over from Susie LaForce as TOMRV registrar. Online registration with Active.com is begun. Music is provided by Keltori from Madison.
2004 - Subway sandwiches are introduced at Palisades. Jerry and Sparky's bike shop completes their final year as the official TOMRV road support. Thank you for many years of service.
2005 - Susie LaForce finishes her final year as TOMRV coordinator, passing it on to Doug Truesdell. Healthy Habits provides TOMRV road support for the first time. The band Acoustic Mayhem from Iowa City plays in Dubuque.
2006 - TOMRV starts with rainstorms, headwinds and temperatures in the 40s. Many riders suffer through; others are overwhelmed. For the hearty, the lucky, and the persistent TOMRV goes on. Tom Snyders, the BicyclingComedian, performs at TOMRV.
2007 - 30th year. Beautiful weather, 1,650 riders. Cedar Island band plays at the expanded Beer Garden. We return to McCausland after a long absence.
2008 - Katherine Weeks takes over as TOMRV registrar. The route is changed to include Springbrook. Road support is provided by Free Flight and others. Saturday is dry with brisk tailwinds, but Sunday challenges riders with storms between Dubuque and Bellevue. No-one escapes a drenching, and many decide to end at Preston
2009 - TOMRV becomes a sponsor for LiveStrong. Saturday is rainy and riders are surprised to discover that the steel deck bridge before Sabula has become slippery, following replacement of the old decking. Most ridersdecide to walk over. Cyclist/Photographer Ken Urban takes spectacular images along the tour.
2010 - Another soggy weekend, though there are periods of pleasant weather too. Most riders register online thisy ear. The mail-in paper application is becoming history. University of Dubuque starts housing riders this year, making it possible to house every rider who applies for a room.
2011 - A beautiful weekend for riding this year, with the temperature reaching 70. Headwinds on Saturday morning, and a brief shower caught some riders, but overall very fine riding conditions. The jersey was very popular - riders snagged over 500, and we introduced a new synthetic sport tee.
2017 - Doug Truesdell announced his pending retirement at the close of TOMRV 2018. At the annual Quad Cites Bike Club banquet Doug was recognized for his dedication in leading the TOMRV team. Doug received the club's "Award of Merit", the highest award given by the club for service.
2018 - The TOMRV route stayed in Iowa for both days. This was due to the bridge and causeway between Sabula and Savanna being closed for replacement. Bellevue is used for a rest stop for the first time and enjoyed by the riders. 850 riders enjoyed the weekend.
2019 - Cynthia Bottrell takes over the Leadership of the TOMRV team after longtime TOMRV Director Doug Truesdell's retirement. Doug Truesdell found that he could not stay away from the ride; his daughters were riding! The weather cooperated with some light showers on Sunday morning and winds that did not cause significant problems. The riders made the inaugural TOMRV crossing on the Dale Gardner Veteran's Memorial Bridge, crossing from Sabula Iowa to Savanna Illinois. 952 riders enjoyed the weekend. 20% if our riders were women.
Most riders were from Iowa and Illinois, although 15 other states were represented.
2020 - The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and TOMRV is cancelled in mid-March. Refunds are issued to all registered individuals. 2020 jerseys are available and 171 are ordered. This along with donations from various individuals helped to offset the expense of providing the refunds. It was a different summer than usual with many events of all types cancelled. But - it was a banner year for the sport of bicycling, with bike shops unable to keep bikes in supply.
2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic continues. Clarke University closes its campus to guests for the summer of2021. The decision was made to hold TOMRV, but in an alternate format. The ride was centered in the quadcities and the weekend was composed of 6 loop routes, 3 routes each day. Riders enjoyed 2 sunny days,although Saturday was hot, reaching into the upper 80-90's. Rest stops followed pandemic guidelines, but offered the variety of food choices riders have come to know. The traditional dinner was replaced with a happy hour with live music by Totes McGotes, held at the host hotel, the Isle Hotel/Casino Bettendorf. Many riders sought out local restaurants to complete their dinner meal and explore the quad city area. Rider comments were positive with people enjoying locations that were new to them, including the Fulton Windmill, Port Byron's "we'll be rolling" statue, the Rock Island Arsenal and memorial bridge, and a warm welcome by the Elvira Zio nLutheran Church. Road construction in Clinton Iowa had the riders "skirting behind" the Goodwill store, a first for the ride. A number of riders completed the 2 century routes and many riders who were new to organized riding were happy to have completed over 100 miles in one weekend. Many thanks to the TOMRV team who worked tirelessly all year to offer a first-rate event to our riders. The team included Bill and Pegi langan, Cindy Gilbert, Tom and Pat Bolton, and Warren Power, and ride director, Cindy Bottrell. Final rider count was 560.