Decatur Officials Lead Georgia Biking Event to Capitol

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle led hundreds of cyclists from Decatur to the capitol Tuesday for the sixth annual Georgia Rides To The Capitol.

Floyd, Commissioners Fred Boykin and Patti Garrett and dozens of students from Glennwood and Clairemont were escorted by police motorcycles as they pedaled six miles to downtown Atlanta. That's where the group joined another peloton of 1,000 cyclists led by Mayor Jere Wood from Roswell. An estimated 1,800 cyclists, including more than 40 metro Atlanta mayors and city officials, participated in the event.

Dozens of Decatur students cycled with the group, including Abby Thompson, a fourth grader at Glennwood Academy. The 10-year-old usually rides her bike to school.

"I ride daily because it's a lot funner than just riding in a car, and it wakes you up in the morning," Thompson said.

Peter Wakefield of Decatur rode with his 6-year-old daughter Zoe, a Clairmont student, explaining "I wanted to show Zoe the way democracy works."

Cagle, a triathlete used to riding at 17 miles per hour, pedaled his expensive carbon-fiber bike that he admitted “cost more than my first car.”

“Cycling is great exercise,” said Cagle. “I’m seeing the cycling community grow across Georgia.”

But he said traffic poses a threat, and advocated for better laws to protect cyclists and the creation of more paths. He also touted his office’s Healthy Kids Challenge, a program to fight childhood obesity.

Boykin, who in addition to being a commissioner in Decatur is owner of , provided bicycles to many city officials and helped organize Tuesday's massive event.

Downtown spectators watched the parade of cyclists roll downtown on every kind of bike imaginable, from expensive racing bicycles, to tandem bicycles, bikes with an extra wheel towing a child, laid-back recumbent bicycles, fixed-gear bicycles and at least one old-fashioned “Penny Farthing” bicycle with a high seat, an enormous front wheel and a tiny rear wheel, ridden by Tim Byrd of Conyers.

On the steps of the capitol, a rainbow colored sea of bike jerseys and spandex listened to cycling advocates urge lawmakers to reconsider a law that would require motor vehicles to leave at least three feet when passing a cyclist. Although that bill did not “cross over” and is dead for this session, the cyclists were undeterred, frequently breaking into chants of “three feet rule.”

But another bicycling bill still alive is House Bill 101, sponsored by State Reps.Doug McKillip (R-Athen), and Doug Holt (R-Social Circle) would revise Georgia laws pertaining to bicycles, specifying that cyclists have the right-of-way in bike lanes, establishing minimum guidelines for safe bicycle facilities, prohibiting children under one on bicycles, legalizing clipless pedals and recumbent bicycles, and requiring bicyclists use headlights when riding at night, among other matters

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who did not bike, spoke to the gathered cyclists and thanked them for their efforts to adopt local schools and for working to help provide bicycles for “those who would not otherwise afford it.”  Encouraging young people to bicycle is a key to reducing Georgia’s obesity rate, which Deal said climbed from less than 10 percent before 1990 to 27.2 percent last year, “an alarming statistic.” After he spoke, Deal posed with students from Decatur.

Harris Blackwood, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, announced a $164,000 grant to the statewide cycling advocacy group Georgia Bikes and two local cycling groups, the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign and the Savannah Bicycle Campaign. The grant is to be used to promote cycling education and cycling safety.

Tom Morris of Decatur, an active cyclist, says bicyclists must learn to obey traffic laws regularly to earn the respect of motorists.

“If cyclists want respect, you have to show respect,” said Morris.

Cyclists who habitually ignore traffic laws by blowing through stop signs and red lights represent “the extremes” of cycling,  Morris said.

He added, “This is a good represenstation of the cycling community in a public way."