Saturday’s eighth annual Bikes, Blues & Bayous had a little something for everybody: great weather, good food and lots of friendship.
The unofficial rider count was close to 900 riders, according to Richard Beattie, a founding member of the event and a member of the Money Road Cycling Club.
“That’s a 20 percent increase over last year. We’re already looking forward to next year,” he said.
Beattie said there were no reports of illness or accidents during the event.
The praise for Saturday’s event from those participating in it seemed universal.
“This is the elite ride of the Southeast,” said Donna Holdiness, Saturday’s honorary mistress of ceremonies.
Holdiness said that Bikes, Blues & Bayous has grown as a regional event. “They started eight years ago with 200 people. They had really only prepared for 50.”
Holdiness serves on the board of the Gary Holdiness Cycling Fund, named after her late husband, who died in cycling accident on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The fund promotes bike safety on the parkway and is part of the Natchez Trace Association, she said.
Bikes, Blues & Bayous donated profits from the sale of its limited-edition 2015 jerseys to the fund.
Both Holdiness and her late husband had participated in Bikes, Blues & Bayous in years past, she said.
Holdiness said the event is the result of a lot of hard work from a many people in Greenwood, from the top down.
“What has made it is the mayor has pulled out the stops. It’s the way this town, and the people of this town, support these cyclists coming in,” Holdiness said.
She remembers the much-loved rest stop in Minter City, which is now known far and wide — courtesy of articles in cycling magazines — as a warm, welcoming place. Her late husband’s reaction to it the first time he saw it was unforgettable, Holdiness said. “He said, ‘We are crashing a wedding.’ It looked just like a wedding.”
Little things, such as pimento cheese sandwiches, can work wonders on cyclists, Holdiness said.
“The motivation to keep peddling is to know you’re going to get to Minter City,” she said.
This the second year for Martin Harrison of Edwards, who rode the 62-mile metric century.
“It’s the best ride there is,” he said, adding, he first began cycling in 2012.
This is the first year that Edwards, 68, used a recumbent bike for the ride, which is less stressful on the back and wrists, he said.
Betty Davis, of Jackson, who had intended to ride the 46-mile course, had to stop after 33 miles due to a minor injury.
Davis, a member of the five-woman Black Girls Do Bikes Cycling Club, said despite her injury, the ride was beautiful.
A Support and Gear vehicle picked her up and brought her to the finish line, she said.
“I will be back,” Davis said.
Drew Nash and his wife, Lisa, of Daphne, Alabama, were among the first-timers Saturday.
“It’s been a good ride. Luckily, the weather has been better than it was last week,” Nash said.
Although the heat did slow the riders down, nobody seemed to mind, he said.
Lisa Nash, a fledgling cyclist, previously participated in a 37-mile ride. On Saturday, despite taking a tumble eight miles into the ride, she completed the 62-mile ride with her husband.
She, too, was impressed with how well the event was organized. “I think everybody did a great job.”
Cathe Carnes’ hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas, was having its own bike ride Saturday, but she and her husband, Zeb, joined friends instead for the trek to Greenwood after hearing them gush about how good the event is.
“They talked it up so, we had to come,” she said.
Wendy Justice and Vanessa Addison, members of the Rogue Runners Cycling Club of Clinton, signed up for the 46-mile course.
“It was a little bit challenging but it was a good ride,” Justice said.
“We can’t get enough,” Addison said.
Christopher Chambers, a member of the Memphis Road Jockeys Cycling Club, is a veteran of Bikes, Blues & Bayous. The club’s six members rode the 62-mile course together Saturday.
“We loved it, except for the wind,” he said.
For Karen Holloway of Starkville, who is a few months shy of turning 60, participating in a biking event had been one of the items on her “bucket list.”
She said she wasn’t disappointed by choosing Greenwood as the place to check it off.
“The people are really friendly. The rest stops are great. The weather has been terrific, and flat is nice,” Holloway said, the last compliment a tribute to the Delta’s biking-friendly terrain.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
