Willie Weir, an award-winning travel writer and columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine, will pedal through Georgia next week, and area residents can go along for the ride.
Weir’s two-wheel adventures have taken him all over the globe. His Georgia travels will start Saturday in Dallas and include a Tuesday sampling of bike-partisan politics as he participates in Georgia Rides to the Capitol in Atlanta. (Register on the Web at www.georgia ridestothecapitol.org.)
Most of Weir’s outings, part of his Time Change Tour, will be for pleasure, highlighting some of the region’s bike shops and including three formal talks and social events afterward. Rides will be at a tourist pace for those whose bicycles lately “may have seen more service as a room divider than as a means of conveyance,” organizers said.
With one exception, rides and talks are free. Weir’s visit is sponsored by Bike! Walk! Northwest Georgia, the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee for the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission.
For more information, contact Bill Moll at WHMoll @aol.com or 706-859-7726.
REGIONAL RIDES
For the full schedule, visit www.bwnwga.org.
* Sunday in LaFayette: At 2 p.m., ride from Don Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant, 321 N. Main St., to McLemore Cove, starting at 2 p.m. Includes a store stop and time to look around historic grounds before returning over the southern tip of Pigeon Mountain. Dinner afterward at Don Lolo’s (use back parking lot). Ride length: 42 miles.
* Monday in Rome: Weir will talk at noon in Evans Auditorium at Berry College on “A Frugal Cyclist’s Guide to the Universe.” At 6 p.m., Trey Smith will lead Weir and other ride participants on a tour of Rome, leaving from Cycle Therapy, 608 Broad St. Social hour follows.
* Tuesday in Chickamauga: At 6 p.m., Weir will get a tour of Chickamauga Battlefield, leaving the Visitors Center on LaFayette Road. Dinner will follow at Tony’s Italian Restaurant. Ride length: 18 miles.
* Thursday in Dalton: At 6 p.m., Shane Adams will lead a ride from Bear Creek Bikes, 402 N. Park Drive. Expect a bit of traffic getting out of the city. Ride length: 20-26 miles.
* March 26 in Ellijay: At 5 p.m., Mike Palmeri will lead the ride from Cartecay River Bike Shop, 131 N. Main St. Ride length: 20-26 miles.
* March 27 in Calhoun: A registration fee is required for this excursion, part of U-Ride benefiting the United Way of Gordon County (www.calhouncycling.org). Options are 14, 35 and 62 miles, starting at 9 a.m. from the railroad depot downtown. At 1 p.m., Weir will talk on “Cycling Beyond the Headlines: Colombia & Venezuela.”
* March 28 in Cave Spring: Weir concludes his time in Northwest Georgia with a talk on “The Bad Road: Cycling Turkey” at 2 p.m. at The Peddler, 22 Alabama St.