The morning was mild and the light soft as some 1,000 bicyclists gathered on Howard Street before 7 a.m. Saturday, taking their places in line for the 11th annual Bikes, Blues & Bayous bicycle ride.
Geared up and ready to ride the 62-mile circuit — one of four distances from which participants could choose — were Nickie Sheffield and Andre Value of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Major Taylor, an African-American athlete from Indianapolis, was the track cycling champion of the world in the early 20th century, at a time that competitive cycling was largely considered a whites-only sport. More than three dozen cycling clubs across the country honor his legacy now.
As Sheffield, Value and hundreds of other riders prepared to take off on a ride through the heart of the Mississippi Delta, jazz blared from large speakers From a raised stand, instructions about staging rang out, and riders, shoulder to shoulder, stretched from The Alluvian to the riverbank at Front Street.
Just as the starting horn blasted, the summer sun burst through the clouds, casting sharp shadows of peddling legs and whirling wheels along the streets and sidewalks of downtown Greenwood.
As quickly as they had gathered, the riders disappeared into distant streets, counting down the miles toward the finish line.
Bonnie Partridge from Columbus says she likes that Bikes, Blues and Bayous is not a race but a ride that cyclists can do at their own pace.
Among them was Bonnie Partridge, 72, from Columbus, riding the 46-mile route. Partridge said this was her fourth time participating in what is one of her favorite biking events.
“The thing I like most is that it’s not a race,” Partridge said. For her, Bikes, Blues & Bayous is a neighborly crawl through the countryside, with surprising and welcoming hospitality stations spread out along the way. Partridge said she always looks forward to the elegant spread, featuring fresh-cut flowers and little pimento cheese sandwiches, at the Methodist church in Minter City.
“It looks like a wedding reception,” she said.
Behind Partridge in the staging area were the Tri-Chicks of Tupelo, a women’s riding club with one member who has ridden in every Bikes, Blues & Bayous event and others who have come to Greenwood multiple times for the ride. Dressed in matching purple jerseys, the Tri-Chicks set out to ride the 22-mile course.
Behind them in the staging area, a small group, including several young children, took their places to ride 11 miles. One boy rode slowly up the street, his bike wobbling precariously, his head craned sharply skyward as he watched a drone fly overhead taking photos.
A group of bikers from the Jackson area take a break from Bikes, Blues & Bayous to pose Saturday among a patch of sunflowers along Money Road. From left are Celia Coffey, Lauree Davis, Mary Dabney Randall, Angie Deleon, Gretchen Ware and Dina Thomas.
The overwhelming tone of the morning was fun and relaxed. Plenty of hardcore riders here, no doubt, but Bikes, Blues & Bayous, which is sponsored by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, doesn’t set out to be a hardcore ride. Rather, it’s a warm embrace, a welcome to the flat roads of the Delta, heat and all, with plenty of Southern comfort along the way.
Richard Beattie, a founder and one of the lead organizers of the event, snapped photos and presided over a small army of volunteers in maroon T-shirts, out for the morning’s activities.
Once the riders left downtown, the volunteers switched into gear, moving tables, tents and equipment to the finish line staging area along Front Street.
Cooling fans, icy towels, cold beer and barbecue lunches, along with some live blues music, awaited the riders who began trickling in a couple of hours later.
At the finish line, each rider was greeted by a volunteer hanging around their necks a finishing medal, designed to do double-duty as a bottle opener.
Thelma Collins, a Bikes, Blues & Bayous volunteer and former mayor of Itta Bena
Countless behind-the-scenes tasks, all put together, defined the success of Bikes, Blues & Bayous, one of Greenwood’s favorite and most successful annual events. This year the ride was named a Top 20 event for August by the Southeast Tourism Society.
About 95 percent of the cyclists come from out of town. Both during the ride and afterward, many of them were effusive in their compliments about how well the event is run and how welcoming the community is.
“The people are awesome here, and Greenwood is a really great town,” said Maggie Dickerson of Jackson, who was participating for the second time.
“The people in this town are the kindest, friendliest, most hospitable people anywhere,” echoed Julia Berry of Collierville, Tennessee, who made the trip with three friends from the Memphis area. “And we love your restaurants.”
Strategically placed around the downtown and riverfront areas were old, salvaged bikes, some brightly spray-painted and some rusted, outfitted with colorful baskets of flowers, casually turning the streets into a celebration of bicycles. Susan Spiller led the volunteers who completed this task, Beattie said, coming up with the idea last year and expanding on it this year.
Karla Bowen, a volunteer at the rest stop at Minter City United Methodist Church, offers pimento cheese sandwiches to Jerry Grantham, right, and Jenni Smith during Saturday's Bikes, Blues & Bayous.
Volunteers provided mechanical assistance, transportation to worn-out riders, help pinning a numbered bib on a jersey and just a smile or an enthusiastic round of applause to riders crossing the finish line.
Beth Williams, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, worked the rest stop at Schlater and was gratified by the feedback she heard from visitors.
“I met people from all over. They said they love this ride because of the hospitality,” she said.
Altogether, there couldn’t have been a better place to spend a sultry early August Saturday than somewhere along the route of the 11th annual Bikes, Blues & Bayous, to be continued next year.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com. Editor Tim Kalich contributed to this report.
