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Biking through history,
street art ana neighborhoods
“S
top/’ shout 10
bicyclists, rather
tentatively,
in response
to a command from Chief
Happiness Officer Robyn
Elliott. Again, and louder,
demands Elliott, the owner
of Bicycle Tours of Atlanta,
who is giving a safe riding
orientation before the group
leaves Studioplex in the Old
Fourth Ward.
Practicing, we all
yell louder — to Elliott’s
satisfaction — and then pedal
down Auburn Avenue on
our high-quality commuter
bikes to our first stop near
the Eastside BeltLine Trail;
here, we learn about the urban
redevelopment project and
view a wall mural with huge,
bright goldfish that I’d never
noticed before. It was the first
of many surprises that I was to
encounter on the three-hour,
eight-mile bike adventure that
Elliott calls her “Fall in Love
with Atlanta” tour.
Farther down the BeltLine,
we come upon William
Massey’s amazing sculpture of
found objects entitled Seen.
Known. Created over three
ABOVE
THE
WATER
LINE
By Sally Bethea
Sally Bethea is the
retired executive
director of Chat
tahoochee Riverkeeper
(chattahoochee. org),
a nonprofit environ
mental organization
whose mission is to
protect and restore the
drinking water supply
for nearly four million
people.
months with the involvement
of a broad range of people,
including homeless adults,
this outstanding art piece
invites viewing from different
perspectives.
A construction inspector
who has lived Intown for
nearly two decades, Robyn
Elliott knew that it was time
to find a new career when
the Great Recession hit in
2008 and the development
industry crashed. On the
Sunday following the tornado
that struck Downtown that
year, Robyn took out-of-town
friends on a bike ride to show
off her city and check out the
storm damage. Her friends,
who had been traveling to
Atlanta for years, were “blown
away by how amazing the
city was,” she says, and she
realized that lots of interesting
venues were within easy biking
distance. She had found a new
career and a passion.
At 50, Robyn started
Bicycle Tours of Atlanta: the
city’s #1 Outdoor Activity
according to TripAdvisor and
the only bike tour company in
Atlanta open daily. Eight years
later, she has a staff of five and
12 additional workers, one of whom is
Richard Turner, a friend who introduced
me to Robyn. Her customer breakdown:
70 percent tourists (a third of whom are
local) and 30 percent corporate groups.
Robyn’s love of the city — its
history, art, culture and people — and
her deep knowledge are abundantly
evident whether she is in the midst of
a tour narrative or talking to a new
acquaintance about her work. What does
she like most about the job? “The work
is so rewarding, especially learning from
my customers. I love how much this
experience has changed my view of the
world,” she says.
Our tour group is diverse: a seasoned
cyclist from England, a couple from
Germany with their local friend, a family
from Ohio and a couple from Atlanta
who take bike tours when they travel and
wanted to experience one at home.
From the BeltLine, we head to
Little Five Points, a shopping mecca
for the past century now offering
eclectic merchandise, and a brief stop at
Junkman’s Daughter, a favorite haunt of
my sons when they were teens. But, who
knew that the design on the building’s
exterior was the creation of a tattoo artist
said to have much preferred human flesh
as a canvas?
Past small bungalows and huge
historic houses, we enter Inman Park:
home of Coca-Cola’s Asa Candler who
bought the formula for the famous soft
drink for $2,300 in 1888 and Ernest
Woodruff who bought the company from
him in 1919 for $25 million and helped
the city weather the Depression. It was
Ernest’s son, Robert Woodruff, who
played a key role in bringing white and
black leaders together during the 1960s.
We talk about the Carter Center,
Freedom Parkway controversy and
linear parks that now exist. Pedaling
on, we visit the Krog Street Tunnel,
Cabbagetown, Forward Warrior Murals,
Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill, Oakland
Cemetery, Ebenezer Church, King Center
and more. This fall, Robyn will launch a
Civil Rights and Social Justice Tour that
explores the city’s racial history from the
Civil War to present day. I can’t wait to
take this new tour.
Since she was a child, Robyn has
always had a relationship with bikes.
Now, she’s helping hundreds of new
friends (with and without biking skills)
make connections to our city and a
healthy, green mode of transportation
every week.
For more information and to
schedule a bike tour, see biketoursatl.
com. [d
Above Photo: A Bicycle Tours of Atlanta group
poses before the city on the Jackson Street
Overpass.
24 August 2017 | [d
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