Sunday, June 17, 2007

I have nothing to BRAG about

I suppose it's an indicator of my relationship to the mainstream cycling culture in my state: I had no idea the celebrated Bicycle Ride Across Georgia concluded in Savannah this year. I was headed to the south side in search of double chain ring bolts when I noticed clusters of bicyclists riding north on Habersham Street. At first I presumed it was a Coastal Bicycle Touring Club group ride, but they just kept on coming. All sorts of bikes, too, including plenty of tandems and recumbents. The ride ended in Daffin Park, just three blocks from my home, I found out when I watched the news last night. I'm embarrassed that I was so out of the loop on this. I'm also curious about what the BRAGers thought of our bicycle infrastructure here in Savannah.

I finally found my chain ring bolts at Quality Bike Shop. The guy who sold them to me asked if I was with BRAG. He said chain ring bolts were the type of thing BRAGers needed for roadside repairs. During my visit to QBS, I inspected an Electra Amsterdam Classic 3. It's one of the most handsome bicycles I've ever seen.

2 comments:

Jett said...

I rode into Savannah on BRAG and was impressed with how easy it was to ride past Oglethorpe Mall. I learned to drive going back and forth to that mall in the mid 70s and the traffic around the mall was the scariest. Last week, it was evident that Savannah drivers -- even on a shopping day -- have improved greatly in their acceptance and knowledge of cyclists sharing the road.

We joined a Bike Route that started off of White Bluff just north of Windsor Forest and followed it well up Habersham road. It was very pleasant and I wished I could have toured more of the town on bike. It was interesting that the neighborhood thought our turn markings on the road were graffiti and had painted over several of them. I understand that's the first time BRAG has had that happen.

I'd love to spend more time riding in Savannah.

Jett said...

BTW, I've got a short video that must have been taken near your house. You'll probably recognize the intersection.