Do You Want to Ride a BRAG Event for Half Price or Free?

BRAG is always looking for volunteers to help at any of our rides. We need rest stop volunteers and SAG wagon drivers, and we have a deal for you.

If you have a spouse, significant other, or friend that doesn't ride bicycles, but would like to come and enjoy the camaraderie among the cyclists, he or she could volunteer to work at one of our rest stops during the Spring Tune-Up Ride, April 4-6, 2014, in Madison, GA, or our week-long BRAG ride, June 8-14, 2014.  If you can get them to volunteer, they would come to the event free of charge and you can ride for half-price.

If the above isn't an option and you can't get them to come to the ride, maybe you would like to volunteer to work at one rest stop every day and ride for free. If you volunteer for the first rest stop each day at the Spring Tune-Up or the week-long ride, you can still get in your day of riding. If you would like more information about this opportunity, email Vicki@brag.org or call 770-498-5153. BRAG can't roll without volunteers and we need you!

BRAG's fifth annual WinterRide will start in beautiful St. Marys, Georgia. The dates are Tuesday, February 18, 2014, through Sunday, February 23, 2014. The average high temperature that week in St. Marys is 65ºF. St. Marys is 350 miles from Atlanta and takes about 6 hours to drive.    
    
This is a great late-Winter escape, a relaxed multi-sport event suitable for all levels of bicycling. Non-riders are welcomed also.

Tuesday, Feb. 18.  Arrive at St. Marys, GA. Arrive early enough and bike 3 miles to the St. Marys Submarine Museum, the Cumberland Island Museum, and the Film Museum in downtown St. Marys. There is an optional 1-hour trolley tour of St. Mary's leaving at 2 pm.

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. 19.  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 Kings Bay Submarine Base, including the USS Bancroft Memorial, the Sugar Mill tabby ruins, and Crooked River State Park. Come back to St. Marys for Happy Hour at the CVB and optional dinner together.  

Thursday, Feb. 20.  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 along the beach.
 
You may take the 9 am ferry if you want to spend the day on the island, rent bikes, or take the optional motorized tour to see the northern end of Cumberland, including the little church where JFK, Jr. was married. Or take the 11:45 am ferry and take the guided tour to the Dungeness ruins, have a picnic lunch, and enjoy the 5-mile hike along the beach.    

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. 21.  Ride your bike to downtown St. Marys. Then take our private ferry, The USS BRAG, 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. Total mileage is 33 miles.

Saturday, Feb. 22.  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 and lookout tower by bike or car. 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 Hampton Inn, Waycross GA. Happy Hour at the hotel and optional dinner together.

Sunday, Feb. 23.  After breakfast at the Hampton Inn, check out and head home to BRAG about your week's winter adventure in Georgia.  

For more information, visit brag.org/wr-event-details.

Spring Tune-Up Ride 2014

We know it is early and we haven't even gotten through Winter, but go ahead and mark your calendar to attend the 21st annual Spring Tune-Up Ride, April 4-6, 2014. The ride will be held in beautiful Madison, GA, again. Happy Hours and a DJ spinning your favorite tunes along with S'mores at BRAG HQ will be part of the weekend fun. Stay tuned for our "Ride-On 25% Off Discount" registration coming soon.

BRAG would like to say thank you to POWERADE for being a loyal sponsor of BRAG events for the past 15 years. Their in-kind donation of PowerAde has fueled many cyclists during BRAG rides. Thanks again!

Team BRAG Goes to the Baltics

We have an opening for a single female to book our summer international bike trip planned for July 28 - August 7. We will tour the three countries that make up the Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, by bike, mini-bus, a boat ride across the Curonian Lagoon, 2 ferries, and 1 train. The cost is $2300, for an all-inclusive 10 night/11 day tour with 3 and 4-star hotels, a layover in the same hotel for 2 nights, most meals, a bicycle guide, rental bicycle, support van, entrances fees to parks and famous sights each day and guided city tours. Airfare is not included. The tour starts in Vilnius, Lithuania and ends in Tallinn, Estonia. If you like to explore new places, experience the history of 3 interesting bike-friendly countries and enjoy beautiful coastal scenery along the Baltic Sea, this tour is for you. We are also planning an optional overnight ferry trip to St. Petersburg at the end of the bike tour. For all the details see www.brag-to-baltics.com. For more information, email gloria@brag.org or jerry@brag.org. If you are female and would like to room with another female who has booked this trip, please let us know soon.

Everyone who loves to ride a bicycle, no matter what speed or what size of bike, is invited to attend the annual Kick-Off Meeting of Bike Alpharetta on Wednesday, January 15, hosted by Harry's Farmers Market. Join us to discuss City Bike Routes, National Bike Month and Georgia Rides to the Capitol. 6pm to 7:15pm in the Cafe of Harry's, 1180 Upper Hembree Road, Roswell, GA 30076.

●    7 days of fully supported rides with 40 - 100 mile options
●    Evening activities: beach party, live music and guest speakers
●    Ride the Daytona Speedway!
●    Celebrate at the Fountain of Youth

All the details are being finalized now, so go ahead and mark your calendar to ride Up the Creek Without a Pedal XXLV, Saturday, May 10, 2014. There will be a NEW START LOCATION in downtown Rome, GA. This ride is an official BRAG 2014 Training Ride.