Bike Rides Come Through Toccoa
Two bike rides get started in Toccoa.
On Friday, two bike rides made their way through Stephens County.
First on Friday morning, the “Ride Strong” bike ride left the Paul Anderson Park and made its way to Vidalia, Georgia, 207 miles away.
Duane Mahon and Gary Bellamy were the coordinators for “Ride Strong.”
Mahon said the ride was a way to honor Paul Anderson and bring attention to a couple of different things related to the Toccoa native.
“We decided to start this ride from Toccoa to the boys’ home in honor of him and raise money for the park and the boys’ home in Vidalia,” said Mahon.
Anderson, Mahon said, did a ride from Vidalia to Nebraska to raise money for his youth home years ago.
Meanwhile, Bellamy sees the ride as a bridge of sorts.
“You have a tremendous effort here with the park and there with the home,” said Bellamy.
The “Ride Strong” riders were set to reach Vidalia on Saturday afternoon and along the way, they were joined by youth from the Paul Anderson Home in Vidalia.
Meanwhile, later on Friday morning, the “Ride to Give” made its way into downtown Toccoa to start the Georgia leg of its trip.
“Ride to Give” is in its third year and each year, David Nazaroff makes his way all the way from the Long Island area of New York down to Georgia.
This is the “Ride to Give’s” third year.
It started in 2012 as a way to help Tripp Halstead, a Georgia toddler who suffered a traumatic brain injury.
This year, Nazaroff is helping to raise funds for Connor Bode, a child from Jefferson, Georgia with numerous health issues.
“We were introduced to Connor and his beautiful family through the Halsteads,” said Nazaroff.
Nazaroff said this year, “Ride to Give” is working with other groups in a partnership to help raise money for this child and his family.
So far, Nazaroff said they have raised around $75,000.
The “Ride to Give” first came to Toccoa last year and Nazaroff said that everyone in town was so generous to the ride that he knew he had to come back again this year.