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Header Photos Courtesy of Milesphotos Natural Light Photography
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BRAG 'N Writes
Ride It. Love It. BRAG About It.
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  Deal of the Month
Just in time for the holiday season. Buy that special someone or yourself a pair of Aerotech Cycling Shorts at 30% off. The cycling shorts have the BRAG logo. Original price is $40. Get them for $28. Price includes Georgia sales tax when applicable. Download an order form from the website and mail it with your check or fax it with your credit card number.
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Holiday Gift Basket - Cafe Campesino & BRAG
 A great gift for the cyclist in any home, the 2011 BRAG Gift Box includes one pound of BRAG Brew, a 14 oz. BRAG travel mug, a 4oz. package of Bean Bark (a Fair Trade dark chocolate bar with espresso made especially for Café Campesino by Koinonia), a BRAG 2012 decal and a gift card. Plus, Café Campesino will donate 10% of the purchase of this gift box to the BRAG Dream Team that helps low-income middle school-aged children become cyclists. Want to up the ante? Register your loved one for the 2012 Bicycle Ride Across Georgia that will travel through northern Georgia June 2-9. Shipping will begin Monday, Nov. 28. Mug colors may vary. Price: $29.95. To order call 888-532-4728.
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BRAG 2012
 BRAG 2012 will be June 2 - 9. The tentative, unconfirmed route is to begin in Chattanooga, TN, with overnight stops in Dalton, Cartersville, Roswell (layover day), Winder, Cornelia, and end in Clayton. We will announce the confirmed route as soon as possible. You can download an Early Bird Registration Form and mail it in or register through Active.com. The Early Bird Registration is valid until December 31, 2011. Don't procrastinate. Mail your Early Bird registration now.
(Photo courtesy of Miles McClelland) |
 BRAG 2012 Decals
The BRAG 2012 auto decals are in. If you want one for your car(s), please send an email to Vicki@brag.org. Include your mailing address in your email. If you want more than one, be sure to tell us how many you want.
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The BRAG Centurion Club
We had 14 riders earn the Centurion Hat for 2011. These riders completed all three BRAG century rides during the Spring Tune-Up, BRAG, and the Georgia BikeFest.
Congratulations to all! Make plans now to earn your Centurion Hat in 2012.
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BRAG WinterRide 2012
St. Mary's WinterRide (Ride/Hike/Boat Adventure) February 21 - 26, 2012 BRAG's third annual WinterRide will start in beautiful St. Marys, Georgia. The dates are Tuesday, February 21, 2012, through Sunday, February 26, 2012. The average high temperature this week in St. Marys is 65ºF. St. Marys is 350 miles from Atlanta and takes about 5 hours to drive.
This would make a great Valentine's Day present for the sweetie cyclist in your life. Non-riders are welcomed also.
Here's the schedule, subject to change due to availability of venues.
Tuesday, Feb. 21. Arrive at Cumberland Inn and Suites. Arrive early enough and bike 3 miles to the St. Marys Submarine Museum and the Cumberland Island Museum in downtown St. Marys.
Bring a bottle or two of your favorite wine or beer for our nightly happy hour. Optional dinner together at a local restaurant.
 Wednesday, Feb. 22. Ride the 33-mile St. Marys Loop Ride, led by local cyclists. Visit the oldest church in Georgia, a War of 1812 site, the U.S. Navy Submarine Base, including the USS Bancroft Memorial, the Sugar Mill tabby ruins, and Crooked River State Park. Come back to St. Marys for the nightly happy hour and optional dinner together. After dinner, we'll go next door to the general store deli for sandwiches for tomorrow's adventure (the hotel room will have refrigerators).
Thursday, Feb. 23. We will take the ferry to Cumberland Island. Bikes are not allowed on the ferry, but you can rent one on the island if you want to. Or just plan to walk the 5-mile recommended leisurely hike on the island.
You may take the 9 am ferry if you want to spend the day on the island, rent bikes and see the northern end of Cumberland, including the little church where JFK, Jr. was married. Or take the 11:45 am ferry, have a picnic lunch, tour the Dungeness ruins, and have a 5-mile hike along the beach. Either way, the ferry leaves Cumberland Island at 4:45 pm. Don't miss it!
Cumberland Island is one of the most beautiful places on earth and is a photographer's paradise. February is the time to see it, without the heat and the bugs. Back at St. Marys, we'll have happy hour downtown, then optional dinner together.
Friday, Feb. 24. Ride your bike to downtown St. Marys. Then take the ferry to Fernandina, FL, another photographer's paradise. Bikes are allowed on this ferry. At Fernandina, we will have optional lunch at the Gourmet Gourmet restaurant, then head out to visit Ft. Clinch. There are small fees to enter the park and the fort.
After Ft. Clinch, we will bike to the Atlantic Ocean for a beachfront snack. We will then regroup at The Palace Saloon, Florida's oldest saloon. Then make our way back to the ferry for our return trip to St. Marys. Total mileage today is 33 miles.
Saturday, Feb. 25. We pack up this morning and head by car to the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge and Okefenokee Adventures. We will tour the historic homeplace, the walking trails, lookout tower, and boardwalk by bike. Then it's time for lunch, included in the fee, and an overview of the swamp by Okefenokee Adventures' owners Chip and Joy Campbell. Then we start paddling the swamp by canoe or kayak on our guided tour of this third photographer's paradise of the week.
After our tour, we will continue by car to Waycross, GA, where we will spend the night at the Jameson Inn, one of BRAG's sponsors. Happy hour and optional dinner together.
Sunday, February 26. After breakfast at the Jameson Inn, check out and head home to BRAG about your week's winter adventure in Georgia.
For more information, including cost and directions, email Jerry Colley at Jerry@brag.org.
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Spring Tune-Up Ride
Mark your calendar now for the 19th annual Spring Tune-Up Ride, April 20 - 22, 2012. Again, the ride will be in Madison, Georgia, at Heritage Park. There will be various mileage options each day with a fully-supported Century Ride on Saturday. The shower truck we had at Georgia BikeFest in Columbus will be at the Spring Tune-Up Ride. More details to follow. |
BRAG in Puglia - September 13-22, 2012, Southern Italy - The Heel of the Boot
 We invite you to join Team BRAG for a spectacular bicycle ride in Puglia, Italy's southeastern coast along the Adriatic Sea. This is a 9 night/10day guided tour. The cost is $2,340 including unique 4 and 5 star hotels, most meals, a cookery class, wine-tasting, guided walking tour of the Sassi di Matera (ancient district) and a day of mountain biking. Well-equipped hybrid bicycles and the mountain bike rental are included. Daily mileages are 28 to 35 miles with options.
 Step back in time, as we visit 2 UNESCO World Heritage sites--Matera for 4 nights in a 17th Century Victorian hotel with a view of the Sassi, and Alberobello for 2 nights in a restored Trulli, a traditional stone hut with all the modern conveniences! We bike along the Adriatic through olive trees, vineyards, whitewashed towns, Baroque towns, and bike through forest to Ostuni to enjoy a farmhouse for one night, then pedal to Otranto where we stay 2 nights in a Mediterranean-style hotel.
The tour starts and ends in Bari with van transportation to Matera and the return from Otranto included in the cost. Bari is a short flight or 3.5 hour train ride from Rome with optional days in a Rome hotel available to book on the website. The Brag-in-Puglia website will be ready soon with a complete itinerary, how to book, and pay your $200 deposit on line. We are limited to 18.
For more information, email Gloria at gcolley@emory.edu or Jerry at jerry@brag.org.
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Southern Bicycle League Winter Party
Come celebrate after the holidays at the SBL Winter Party, January 28, 2012. The party will be held at the Red Brick Brewery from 7pm - Midnight. There will be a rocking live band and appetizers. Beer, wine, and soft drinks. Cost is $20 for SBL members who register early and $30 for non-members. For more information, visit www.bikesbl.org.
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Connect With BRAG
BRAG has a Facebook page. Get in on the action now. Join other cycling enthusiasts and veteran BRAG riders as they discuss the upcoming BRAG events. See what you have been missing by not riding BRAG.
Click here to go to THE BRAG Page on Facebook.
If these links do not work for you, please log onto Facebook and search for "Bicycle Ride Across Georgia".
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| Questions? Please contact us at news@brag.org or 770-498-5153 |
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