Georgia Rides to the Capitol pictures (Dial up users beware)

[RonH]

I'm about 2/3 of the way back in the Decatur group on Edgewood near Hurt Park. The Marietta group is at the other end of the street facing us. We're waiting for the Roswell group.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0047.JPG


Finally, the Roswell group arrived. If you look closely you can see (I think) the riders streaming past and heading to the left edge of the picture.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0048.JPG


Park your bikes and get some lunch.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0049.JPG


There's plenty of bike parking.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0050.JPG


Time to relax and eat.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0051.JPG


Waiting in the short lines for the FREE Chick-Fil-A food. Yum. :)
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0052.JPG


Nice day to eat outside.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0053.JPG

http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0054.JPG

[cooperwx]

What a great day! Is this an annual event, or a one-time deal? How was it organized? Was it a celebration of cycling, or a demonstration?

[RonH]

Waiting for the speeches.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0055.JPG


Time to group up and head home or back to work.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0056.JPG


Which bike do I want to ride home? ;)
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0057.JPG


I've heard of brass balls but...?? :rolleyes:
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/IMAGE0058.JPG

[RonH]

What a great day! Is this an annual event, or a one-time deal? How was it organized? Was it a celebration of cycling, or a demonstration?
This was the second annual ride. Here is the website with all the details.
http://georgiaridestothecapitol.org/

Last year the mayor of Roswell lead the ride. It started in Roswell (naturally) and ended at the capitol.
This year the mayors of Roswell, Marietta, and Decatur leads the respective groups. All three groups had police escorts for the entire route. :beer:

[tbdean]

I was in the Decatur group as well. Here are some of my pics:

Our police escort:
http://tbdean.com/temp/2007/GRTTC/DSCF0024.jpg

Police helicopter:
http://tbdean.com/temp/2007/GRTTC/DSCF0025.jpg

Mayor Shirley giving her speech:
http://tbdean.com/temp/2007/GRTTC/DSCF0033.jpg

Crowd listening to the speech:
http://tbdean.com/temp/2007/GRTTC/DSCF0034.jpg

A few things I noticed during the speeches:

When the DOT guy came up he was wearing a jersey, said how he'd already done 1,000 miles this year, was really into cycling. Said how much the DOT is committed to cycling. Behind me in the crowd several people could be heard: *cough* bull sh*t *cough*.

When Mayor Shirley gave her speech she listed about a dozen things bikes are good for; health, fitness, play for kids, etc. I kept listening for "transportation" but she never said it.

There was a lot of talk about bike paths and MUPs. I found this discouraging. Only the DOT guy said we should be allowed to ride on the road, and should get respect from drivers, which got a LOT of applause.

[BluesDawg]

Here are a few more pictures. I was also in the group from Decatur. In fact I see myself in the first couple of photos above. I'm near the center of the riders just behind and to the left of the FedEx truck. I'm wearing a darkish yellow shirt with a big circle (a bike wheel) on back.
It was a lot of fun and it was encouraging to see more Mayors and the GDOT board chairman involved.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Decaturstaging1.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Decaturstaging1.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Ontheroad.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Ontheroad.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Hittingthecity.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Hittingthecity.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_3groupsconverge.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/3groupsconverge.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_motocops.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/motocops.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_closingin.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/closingin.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_approach.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/approach.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Arrival.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Arrival.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Capitolbuilding.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Capitolbuilding.jpg)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/th_Mayorsandsuch.jpg (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/advocacy/Capitol%2007/Mayorsandsuch.jpg)

[tbdean]

Funny how close we all were. In that fourth picture I'm the guy in blue right in front of you.

[GTcommuter]

Here are a few more pictures. I was also in the group from Decatur. In fact I see myself in the first couple of photos above.

Did you ride up from McDonough? Does anyone know what route that group took to get to Decatur?

[GTcommuter]

Hey Ron, did you take those pictures with your little spy camera?

[tbdean]

Did you ride up from McDonough?

No, I drove up from Lawrenceville.

These are the guys that rode up from McDonough:

http://www.southerncrescentcycling.com/

I rode back with them to the MARTA station, they're good guys.

edit: just realized you weren't talking to me. But the link is still good! :)

[RonH]

Hey Ron, did you take those pictures with your little spy camera?
Of course. It fits into my jersey pocket very nicely. :D
For anyone interested, here it is. I bought the "new" one for $19.
http://2fidelity.com/product_PCM13.htm

[RonH]

No, I drove up from Lawrenceville.

These are the guys that rode up from McDonough:

http://www.southerncrescentcycling.com/

I rode back with them to the MARTA station, they're good guys.
So you were the guy in the blue jersey that rode with us back to the East Lake Marta station. I was right behind you. I thought you were with the Southern Crescent Cycling (Epic Bikes) group.

I kept going when the group got to the Marta station. I live near North DeKalb Mall and still had ~5-6 miles to ride to get home.

[BluesDawg]

Did you ride up from McDonough? Does anyone know what route that group took to get to Decatur?

No, I drove up from Milledgeville. Come down and ride with us on March 31st.
http://www.geocities.com/bicyclingclubofmilledgeville/aprilfools.html

As for the route they took from McDonough, I believe their mayor said they took 155.

[tbdean]

I was right behind you.

Sorry I missed you Ron, had you been in front I would have recognized you by the tattoos for sure!

So... were you still behind me when I took that fall about 1/2 mile before the MARTA station? :o

[RonH]

I saw that. It looked like one of the other riders forced you into the curb.
It looked like you were ok cause you got up quickly.