Leaving for BRAG
 

I'm on my way out the door to go start my 14th Bicycle Ride Across Georgia. See y'all in about a week!
http://brag.org/

BluesDawg,

Good luck and good rides! Three times during my 10+ years of ministry in Georgia BRAG riders passed the two churches I served on Sunday mornings. Each time I was greeting people as they left the service and as they chatted or said something about the sermon, I kept thinking--- "Man, I wish I was doing that!" You probably passed me once in Kelleytown and maybe in Conyers. Did you catch my good vibes?

Pictures upon your return!

Don't forget pie! :D

I guess BluesDawg is on the road, but I wonder if anyone else has any thoughts on this. I ride a lot of tours, and there is always a group who proudly proclaim their 14th or 20th or whatever time doing the same ride. Many of these people have never done another tour.
I have a lot more fun doing different tours in different parts of the country, and kind of see doing the same old tour year after year as a lack of imagination (no offense intended.)
Anybody else have a preference for doing the same tour repeatedly or different tours each year?

I will never ride any tour more than once......too many tours available.

http://www.nbtda.com/
http://www.bicycletour.com

I usually do 4-5 tours a year. I pick states I can drive to within 24 hours from Michigan. I try to do one mountain ride out west that I fly to (Arizonia, Colorado, Utah, etc.) I will ride the same ride about 3-4 times if they change the route. Sometimes I do the same ride because of the time frame. Only 2 state (cheap) rides are available in early spring (Bike Florida and Safari Bike-Florida) and then in October, the last state ride is Cycle North Carolina. I bought all the lightweight gear and panniers to start riding on solo unsupported tours, but I do like be on group tours where you can talk to people when you get in from the ride. This year I cycled "Bike Florida" (cycled in 2005 also) and will be leaving next week for "Bike Virginia" (new) I'll probably use the same route as 2006 Bike Florida and do it solo in November/December if I don't sign up for CNC. Lots of fun. BTW, you see a lot of the same people on the rides so even if you go by yourself, you can usually find someone to hook up with and hang around with at Dinner or the nightly entertainment. I usually ride by myself and lunch with whoever is at the lunch stop. I leave early and see the same people each day that leave early, it is a nice way to meet people.

P.S. I hope I don't get in trouble for posting in this forum, I am only 48 but the average age on most tours is 60 I think.

Don't worry. They let me in here. We help keep the average age slightly lower. ;) Interesting--- I never saw the same people twice at BRAG--- from the front steps to the church!:D

[QUOTE=outashape This year I cycled "Bike Florida" (cycled in 2005 also) and will be leaving next week for "Bike Virginia" (new).[/QUOTE]

Hope you like Bike Va. I've done it four times, and had a blast each time. They've really got the organization down to a science. The rides are great and there's plenty to do off the bike.

Good luck with your tour. I watched the start of this year's RAAM this morning, at the Oceanside Pier. We had a good spectator turnout, which the contestants must have appreciated.

I am rooting for the Austrian hand cycle team, which is averaging about 10mph so far.

OK. Here are a few pictures for you. My 50+ group of friends who do this ride together each year is Team Occisus Via (almost Latin for Road Kill). We had a great time this year. We have become a big part of the ride for many people with our silly campsite decorations, our constant partying and our dropping Mardi Gras beads on roadkill we see along the route. As you can see from the pictures, we're not quite right. But we sure have fun!

Would love to do other week-long rides some day when money, vacation time and family logistics allow, but for now, the annual BRAG ride works for me.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...erMoonbase.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...idaygroup2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...h_day4view.jpg

http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...les/06%20BRAG/

That looked like a really fun few days of riding!! What route did it take this year?

We started in Dalton, in northwest Georgia and zig-zagged across the northern part of the state, ending in Augusta on the east side. We weren't quite in the mountains, more like the foothills. But it was a pretty challenging ride with many short hills and a few long ones. We never had a truly flat day, but the last two days had long flat or mildly rolling sections where pace lines became common. It was very hot most of the week with temperatures in the 90s except on Tuesday when it was cool and misty most of the day.
I would have liked to see the route stay a little farther north, away from the traffic of the ever-expanding gridlock of Atlanta. It got pretty hairy on the roads leading to Gainsville.

Next year's route will go across the flat, mosquito and gnat infested southern part of Georgia. I think I'm going to take a year off and have a regular, no-cycling family vacation.