Social Cycling

Nice bike rack sponsored by Ride On Bikes
This weekend I spent three days participating in Social cycling.  The event was formally organized by the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia BRAG.  The weekend event that I attended was the Georgia Bike Fest.  I rode 100 mile course Georgia Bike Fest in 2013.

The main difference to my participation this year is that I camped at the event location in down town Columbus, GA with some of my cycling friends.  This is why I love events like this because you can have real time social interaction and ride a bike.

I define social cycling as riding your bike and having fun talking and interacting with other folks at a group cycling event. Social cycling is not a race. Social cycling is a time when you can ride you bike as a group.  Stop and talk.  Setting around between rides and talking about like is one of the best things I did this weekend.

Friday October 9 Day 1

The Social Cycling crew before the first ride on day one.

I rode the 49 mile option with my friend and next door neighbor +Alan Bitterman.  I had never taken my bike up the river front trail north of down down Columbus, GA.  The river front trail is fabulous.


On the first climb of the ride my front derailleur had to be coached into moving to the small chain ring.  I never shift my front derailleur in SW Albany.  After pulling on the cable with my hand the front derailleur shifted OK, but it did not work like it should have.  

After the ride I took my bike into Ride On Bikes.  I knew that I would be doing a lot of shifting on the 100 mile ride which had a lot of climbs on the route.  The bike mechanics noticed right off that my rear tire had a patch showing threads.  I would have had a tire failure on the 100 mile ride if I had not had my tire replaced.  I purchased two tires and put them on at the camp site.  My front derailleur was fixed by Ride On Bikes.  The Durace derailleur has a feature where you can shift a second time to get the derailleur to position itself for the extreme high or low range of the chain when it is in that position on the rear cassette.

Saturday October 10 Day 2

I rode the 100 mile option by myself.  I loved the opportunity to get out and ride some hills.  The front derailleur worked flawlessly thanks to the bike mechanics at Ride On Bikes. 


Somewhere around mile 50 thee are some really steep rollers.


I love deserted county country roads

Three day beard.

Nothin' but the sound of the wind and the birds
+Lonnie Wormley with my Century SWAG banana


Sunday October 11 Day 3

This is the Social Cycling Crew before the Sunday ride.

The morning found the crew getting up with a relaxed cup of coffee.  Most of us were going to do the 40 mile ride through Fort Benning.



Brew Pub

One of the good discoveries that I found in Columbus was a fantastic Growler store, Maltitude.  Riding a bike by day and sitting around solar powered LED lighting drinking beverages with friends in the evening is the best part of Social cycling.

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