Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Savannah-Northeast Florida Workshop on Wheels

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The beginningThere are plans for an early 2009 bicycle tour that will advance trails in both Georgia and northeast Florida. For five days starting January 14, 25 coastal Georgians will ride the invitational Savannah-Northeast Florida Workshop on Wheels that begins in St. Marys, Georgia, and continues along off-road trails, bicycle lanes, backroads and ferries through Florida’s Amelia Island, Jacksonville, Clay and St. Johns counties.
“The tour will greatly advance regional ecotourism,” says Visit Jacksonville President John G. Reyes.
“Cycling and trail-riding is just one of the many experiences that the Savannah area has to offer,” says
Savannah Convention & Visitor Bureau President Joseph Marinelli. “The Workshop on Wheels will be good
exposure for the sport through coastal Georgia.”
“It will greatly focus trail-building through our six coastal counties,” says Jo Hickson of the Coastal Georgia
Greenway.
“It will put the East Coast Greenway on the map in its two most important southern states,” says Herb Hiller,
Southeast Region Program Consultant to the East Coast Greenway Alliance. Bankers, elected officials, educators, land developers, lawyers, and MDs are among the touring group. They’ll not only ride an average of 25 miles a day. “Evenings,” says host committee chairman David Strickland, Community Bank Vice Chairman of Everbank, Jacksonville, Jacksonville, “they’ll meet with political leaders, parks and transportation planners, tourism leaders, trail advocates and others to learn the best so far accomplished in northeast Florida and about issues affecting how the region further develops trails.”
The touring group is expected to report back to Savannah, Chatham County and regional authorities about
how best to connect trails through Georgia’s six coastal counties. Earlier this year the Coastal Georgia
Greenway and East Coast Greenway Alliance designated their first sections of state trail in Woodbine and in
Richmond Hill.
Also earlier this year, Visit Florida, ECGA and tourism agencies in Nassau, Duval and St. Johns counties
published the first guide to the East Coast Greenway in Florida.
The touring group will overnight in St. Marys B&Bs, at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, Ponte Vedra
Beach Resorts, and at Amelia Island Plantation.
Additional organizations involved in the event include the Trust for Public Land, St. Johns River Alliance, St.
Marys Tourism, Camden Community Trails, Bike Florida, the North Florida Bicycle Club, Amelia Island Tourist Development Council, and the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council.

Skating Under the Stars – Savannah, GA

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Turbo PowerCome to Broughton Street for ice skating and holiday cheer! Be the first to ice skate on Broughton and preview one of the featured
Savannah Holiday Frolic festivities. The event will be held on Broughton Street between Lincoln and Abercorn Streets.

Tour de Georgia 2009 – The Bicycle Tour Cancelled

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(Atlanta, GA) Following the conclusion of a very successful 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by
AT&T, the Board of Directors of the Tour de Georgia Foundation, Inc., announced today their plans
for the future of the Tour.

Speaking on behalf of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, long time member Tom
Saddlemire announced that the Tour de Georgia will not be held in 2009 but will return in
2010. Mr. Saddlemire, newly retired CFO of GE Energy, explained that “with the help of the Lt.
Governor, the Tour had its most successful year yet, raising close to $3.2 million in operating
expenses and commitments for more than $500,000 in support of cancer research through the Aflac
Cancer Center at Children’s Healthcare and the Georgia Cancer Coalition. We believe that this
unique and exciting event will endure. We have decided to use 2009 as a time to plan ahead and
properly position the Tour de Georgia to make the best use of the new partnerships we forged during
the 2008 Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T, such as our relationships with Blue Cross Blue
Shield and Road Atlanta. The planning process for the Tour de Georgia requires a tremendous
amount of time and effort and we wanted to give all of our partners enough time to plan and allocate
their resources to take full advantage of the event. Therefore, we will skip 2009 and the Board will
petition USAC and the UCI for the Tour de Georgia’s return to the world calendar in 2010.”
Craig Lesser, former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development said that
“The Tour de Georgia was initiated by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism (now
Georgia Department of Economic Development) in 2003 with a focus on creating a world-class
cycling event which fostered significant economic development, tourism and world-wide exposure.
We achieved that goal. The Tour de Georgia quickly developed stature, gaining international ranking
(by UCI and USA Cycling, Inc.) as a spring tradition in the professional sport of cycling. The Tour
de Georgia attracted the best teams in the world and previous champions included such stars as
Lance Armstrong, Tom Danielson and Chris Horner. Over the course of six years, the Tour de
Georgia has attracted 3.2 million spectators, many of whom traveled to Georgia from out of state,
and generated a direct economic impact totaling over $186 million. The 2008 Tour de Georgia, our
most successful Tour yet, yielded over $38.6 million in direct economic impact for the State. We
have come a long way since 2003.”
Chairman of the Board, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle added, “The support we received from our
Georgia sponsor corporations, our host cities and the citizens of Georgia was amazing in
2008. Since April, we have had an enormous response from our partners on ways we can strengthen
the Tour for the future, and we have been listening. Our host cities want to have time to prepare
tourism packages and our health providers are enthusiastic about developing plans to use the Health
and Wellness expos to spread their message across the state. Our cycling friends from across the
state want to partner with us to create participant activities which are inclusive of the whole
family. We have listened to their advice and have decided to skip one year so that the Tour de
Georgia can once and for all be ahead of the game in the planning process. This is a decision I feel
is wise and one that will strengthen the Tour de Georgia for years to come. I commend our Board
for its thoughtfulness in arriving at this decision. We look forward to using 2009 to plan the 2010
Tour and I am committed to playing an active role in that process.”
Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling, said that he “was obviously disappointed to learn that the
2009 Tour de Georgia has been cancelled for 2009. However, I am very pleased that the race will
return in 2010. Since its inception in 2003, the Tour de Georgia has been an important international
stage race featuring some of the top riders in the world. Equally important, it provided the impetus
for major stage races in California and Missouri. We look forward to the Tour de Georgia returning
in 2010.”
The Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T is North America ’s premier professional cycling
race. First held in 2003, the Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T is an
international professional sporting event that brings thousands of spectators and cycling enthusiasts
to the State of Georgia each Spring. The 2008 Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T was a six-stage
race, covering more than 600 miles across the State of Georgia, from the shores of Tybee Island to
the mountains of North Georgia, with an exciting circuit finish in the state capitol, Atlanta.
Traditionally, professional teams use the Tour de Georgia to prepare their riders for the most
challenging tours held in Europe, including the Tour de France. Several teams which rode in the
2008 Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T also participated in the 2008 Tour de France. Riders
such as Christian van de Velde and George Hincapie, who were fierce competitors in the 2008 Tour
de Georgia Presented by AT&T, also rode extremely well in the 2008 Tour de France. The climb up
Brasstown Bald in the mountains of North Georgia, a favorite of cycling fans and a legendary stage
in the professional racing circuit, is considered by professional cyclists to be the most challenging
and grueling stage of any race held in North America.

More information www.tourdegeorgia.com