On Saturday, October 25th Statesboro welcomed 28 participants of the annual ATHSAV Ride at Mill Creek Park.
ATHSAV is an annual 235-mile bike ride that starts in Athens, GA, and concludes in Bloomingdale, GA. The ride stops 13 miles short of Savannah as roads become increasingly more busy and dangerous closer to the city. The ride lasts two days and the cyclists ride 101 miles the first day from Athens to Tennille, then 134 miles the second day from Tennille to Bloomingdale.
The purpose of the ride is to raise money for Georgia Hi-Lo Trail. The goal for this trail is to connect the Firefly Trail, which stretches from Athens to Union Point, to the Georgia Hi-Low Trail to create a 250-mile paved trail separate from roads for biking, walking, and running.
ATHSAV got its start in 1999 when Ken Sherman and Wallace Salter rode 200 miles in two days. After a couple of years, more people were interested in making the journey with Sherman. This year, Sherman passed the honor of organizing the annual ride to Mary Charles Howard, executive director of the Georgia Hi-Lo Trial.
When cyclists arrived at Mill Creek on Saturday, they were greeted by ride organizer Howard, Statesboro Mayor Johnathan McCollar, & GSU's Freedom handler, Steve Hein. The participants had lunch from Your Pie and used their time in Statesboro to rest before finishing the last of the ride from Statesboro to Bloomingdale.
