The festivities and Southern hospitality are the reasons Bikes, Blues & Bayous veterans say they keep coming back year after year.
“We’ve done this five times,” said Tamie Fleming of Cabot, Arkansas, who, along with her husband, Don, rode the 62-mile route.
“Food, fun, fellowship,” she said of the bike ride. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Her husband agreed.
“I’m having a blast. Beautiful weather, the temperature is perfect,” Don said. “The towns are very hospitable and very nice.”
Saturday’s 14th annual Bikes, Blues & Bayous bike ride throughout Leflore County featured 62-, 46-, 20- and 10-mile routes that took riders through scenic views of the Delta.
Tamie Fleming, left, and Don Fleming, a wife and husband couple from Cabot, Arkansas, show off their matching Peanuts bike jerseys. (By Gerard Edic)
Presented by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, the event brought out more than 1,000 participants from across the U.S., 60% of whom came outside of Mississippi, including far-flung locations such as Chicago, Jacksonville, Florida, and Virginia, according to Richard Beattie, one of the event’s founders.
Aside from the scenery, riders were also treated to rest stops in Itta Bena, Minter City, Money and Schlater, all of which featured hospitable volunteers who served weary riders with food and drink. Live music was also performed at the rest stops.
Saturday’s bike ride was the 10th time Takeitha Chambers, a member of Memphis’ Major Taylor Cycling Club, has ridden.
“I love the course. I love the Southern hospitality, the weather and all of the volunteers, and I just love the Delta,” Chambers said of why she keeps coming back. “I just love it here, and I’ll be back over and over again.”
Takeitha Chambers of Memphis shows off the finishing medal she received following Saturday’s bike ride. (By Gerard Edic)
Like Chambers, many of the other cyclists belonged to cycling groups and clubs.
One of the most well-represented clubs was various chapters of the Major Taylor Cycling Club, which pays homage to Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, who became the first Black professional cyclist despite facing racial discrimination within the sport. He was world cycling champion in 1899 as well as the American sprint champion in 1900.
“He faced a lot of adversity,” said Bill Gaston of Chicago, president of the Major Taylor Leadership Council.
Gaston and some other cyclists with the Major Taylor Chicago chapter were present at Saturday’s bike ride in Leflore County. The Chicago chapter was invited by the Major Taylor Memphis chapter.
Celebrating the end of their rides during Saturday’s Bikes, Blues & Bayous bike ride are, from left, Leo Traverso of Chicago; Arree Williams of Madison; Geneva Carter of San Antonio, Texas; and Bill Gaston of Chicago. The four are a part of each of their city’s chapter of the Major Taylor Cycling Club, which pays homage to the first Black professional in the sport. (By Andy Lo)
All it takes to bring out a group of Major Taylor cyclists to a bike ride is for one rider to ride it and later talk about it, Gaston said.
City chapters of the Major Taylor Cycling Club present at Bikes, Blues & Bayous also included Jackson, Memphis and Cincinnati.
Gaston said the clubs provide camaraderie: “No cyclist left behind.”
Geneva Carter of San Antonio, who rode the 62-mile route with her husband, Dra, said that they were told by a sister chapter of the Major Taylor Cycling Club that Bikes, Blues & Bayous is “one of the best rest stop rides.”
“Besides the heat, the route is perfect,” Dra said.
“We’re enjoying the hospitality,” Geneva added.
Last year’s bike ride had to be modified due to COVID-19. Food was prepackaged, celebrations were scaled back and a limit was put on the number of registrants. All of those restrictions were lifted for this year’s ride.
“Everybody that attended was glad to be able to have the opportunity to do something. We know there’s risk involved, but it is an outdoor sport,” Beattie said.
He also thanked the city of Greenwood, which allowed the event organizers to use the Historic Elks Building downtown for the ride’s Friday registration drive and pre-ride festivities.
“You couldn’t beat the weather,” Beattie said, adding that in years past the heat had been oppressive.
“I’m pleased to be able to do something that helps the community, and the chamber is all about the business aspect of the community. This event proves their commitment for the local businesses,” he said. “It was a great business weekend.”
Constance Holmes, who is from Jackson and is part of the Soul City Cycling Club, said she enjoyed herself and the ride’s numerous amenities.
“The rest stops are great,” she said while taking a break at the stop in Minter City, enjoying the peanut-butter-and-jelly finger sandwiches that were part of the elaborate spread of food.
Constance Holmes of Jackson takes a break at the Minter City rest stop. (By Gerard Edic)
“They’re my favorite,” she said with a smile.
Though some of the cyclists zoomed along the corn- and soybean-lined roads at a fast pace, others took a more leisurely approach — like the fun-loving Wolf River Biker Babes.
“We’re a social photography group with a biking habit,” said Sheri Kennedy of Houston, Texas, who joined three friends from the Memphis area and one of their teenage daughters for Saturday’s ride.
“We bike around the best restaurants,” chipped in Amy Stone, who adorned her biking helmet with orangish day lilies she had plucked from the side of the road.
The Wolf River Biker Babes say they made their first trip to Bikes, Blues & Bayous as much for the fun as for the exercise. They are, from left, Sheri Kennedy of Houston, Texas; Dougie Saletel of Arlington, Tennessee; Amy Stone of Collierville, Tennessee, and her daughter Savannah; and Sherry Lichterman of Eads, Tennessee. (By Tim Kalich)
One of the last groups to reach the midway point in Minter City of the 46-mile ride, the Biker Babes hopped a ride back for all but the last 4 miles on one of the event’s support vehicles.
They were to stay in Greenwood a second night so they could attend Saturday evening’s gathering of cyclists and the bike ride’s volunteers at Tallahatchie Flats.
“We’re here for the party,” said Stone’s sister, Sherry Lichterman.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com. Tim Kalich contributed to this article.
