Early in the morning on Saturday, July 25, the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce hosted the 8th annual Shine Pedalers Metric Bicycle Race in Dawson County. 

Starting at about 6 a.m. racers began arriving at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame parking lot in Dawsonville readying for the extensive bike race which offered two different paths: a full metric, 68 miles or the half metric, 31 miles.

Racers had until 7:30 a.m. to get ready for the race. Some worked on their bike, some took laps around the parking lot to warm up and others caught up with fellow biking friends they had not seen in a while. 

“It’s great to see guys that you race locally with all the time,” participant Connor Baker said before the race. “With everyone being separated, it’s awesome that Dawsonville let us come back together.”

Though interest was at about half of what it usually is due to COVID-19 concerns, around 140 people registered and raced.
After the race, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce president Christie Moore said the race went very smoothly. 

“We were able to showcase our beautiful community to cyclists in a manner that protected their health and allowed them to enjoy a scenic, challenging ride,” Moore said. 

Though there was no official winner of the race, the event crowned a “King and Queen of the Mountain,” honoring the first man and woman to reach the top of Burnt Mountain during the full metric race. 

Thomas Freckman won the title, King of the Mountain while Amy Koepp was awarded the title Queen of the Mountain.