Cody Goss was getting situated on his bicycle before heading to the start of Saturday’s Bricks and Spokes ride.
His bike is an unusual vehicle. It sits low to the ground and is powered by his arms, not his legs. He sits in a chair-like seat and his arms move a long bar that is bent at the ends in a clockwise motion to move forward. He uses hand brakes to stop.
“I started riding after my motorcycle accident,” Goss, a paraplegic, said. “I was looking for something to get me out of the gym and be more active. I rode in the Run Thru History a few years ago.”
A U.S. Navy veteran, Goss is a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Racing Team.
“I’m hoping to get the Veterans Administration to buy me a racing bike,” he said. “This bike rides very low. With a racing bike, you’re almost laying down.”
Goss was one of 200 riders participating in the annual bike ride sponsored by Vicksburg Main Street that started at the Vicksburg Senior Center on South Street and gave riders an opportunity to ride routes from 10 to 62 miles that took all the riders over the Mississippi River on the old Highway 80 bridge before they set out on the different routes that would take them through the city and parts of Warren County.
Aid and water stations manned by volunteers were located in different areas along the routes. A lunch of red beans and rice was served when the riders returned.
The temperature at the ride’s 8 a.m. start was 50 degrees with clear skies that helped the temperature rise to the upper 60s by about 11 a.m.

Goss was taking the 30-mile route. Others were planning to go different distances.
Julie Bryant of Lake Providence, La., a first-timer, was riding the full 62 miles. So was J.J. Scarborough of Macon, Ga.
Bryant said she heard about Bricks and Spokes from some friends.
“They told me that it would across a bridge on the Mississippi River. I’ve always wanted to ride my bike across the Mississippi,” said Bryant, who has been riding about 21 years. “I’m very pleased.”
Scarborough, a forester who was in the area taking a deer count for some local client, was another first-timer.
“I was hoping I could find some workout partners and find out about some safe places to ride in the city,” he said. “Last week I competed in a half-Ironman in Augusta (Ga.) I’ve been riding a rural route in the county.”
Two other first timers were James Bobbitt and his son, Carter, 5, from Shreveport. They were making the 10-mile ride.
“We’re looking for events he (Carter) can participate in,” he said. “Something with a few hills. We’ve already ridden in three events in Shreveport.”
Bobbitt’s wife, Melanie, and their infant daughter, Piper, were watching the father and son team get ready.
“We’re the cheering squad,” Melanie Bobbitt said. “We’re the moral support.”
“We had a good turnout with riders from all over,” said Kim Hopkins, Main Street executive director. “We had riders from Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi. We had a lot of different groups participating and a lot of riders returning. One man from Shreveport (La.) was here last year and he returned this year with a group.
“We had volunteer groups helping us like the BikeRecs and the River City Cyclists.”
She said volunteers laid mats over the expansion joints on the bridge to give riders a smoother ride as they crossed the river, adding, “The riders were very pleased.
“It was a beautiful day. The weather was wonderful. It was perfect,” she said.