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Early Thursday morning, 35 cyclists from all over the world including several right here at home put their foot to the pedal, cycling from Marion to Selma to commemorate the efforts of the late Civil Rights Activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was fatally shot and killed on Feb. 18, 1965 in Marion during their civil right march, which was led to fight for justice and equality of those enslaved.

The Marion 2 Selma Bicycle Ride covered a 31-mile journey in about 20-degree weather with cyclists from all over that received the chance to experience the countryside of Marion leading to the city limits of Selma, ending at the Carneal Arts Revive Building.

“It was kind of neat,” said Raymond Banks, who is a native of Birmingham. “I was expecting hills, but there weren’t any hills, just flat roads. But, it was kind of quick, kind of cold, which was what I was expecting. I was prepared for the cold.”

Banks had everything that signified winter from heavy gloves to a cyclist helmet with multiple layers of clothing. He has been a cyclist since the 1990s.

“It really is a historic moment,” Banks said. “This is why I’m here, and I just wanted to actually take part in the commemoration of Selma and its history.”

Banks said the event as a cyclist took a lot of planning. That is a major part of what made the event special to him because he said people back then did basically what they are doing now, in terms of getting prepared to do all of this. He said he knows that there were many sacrifices and a lot of challenges and that he just wanted to be a part of that.

Banks said he thinks this event is a good one for those in the community or nearby areas to be a part of, especially if they are into fitness and those who have the ability to do this kind of rigorous event.

Like Banks, John Bolding took a part within the historic cycling event being a math teacher who was raised in Decatur, Alabama, but currently works within the Marion County School System.

“I’ve lived in Marion, Alabama, for six years now. So, Marion is my home, where I say I’m from, and I teach at Francis Marion High School, coach the track team, cross country team, volleyball team. And I’m excited to be one of the few Marion residents that took part in this,” Banks said. “There’s a lot of history I’ve learned in two days that I didn’t even know about within my own town and that’s been exciting to learn and to make sure my kids understand, especially because it would be meaningful to them being that the majority of my kids are African American. They may not even know the full story of Jimmie Lee Jackson and what led to the March to Montgomery. But I am excited to take this experience back to them and encourage more Marion participation next year within this historic and memorable event.”

One of three things that Bolding said that he took away from the historic bike ride is not to let age fool you.

“Just because you are younger doesn’t mean you can’t keep up with these experienced bike riders,” Bolding said. “They almost broke me the last couple miles, so I got to get back in shape and another thing would be, just the importance of wanting to be a part of the community that you live in and to learn about the town that you live in as well because history is important.”

Bolding said during this bike ride, he did not train for the event, but when he saw it advertised, he knew he wanted to take a chance and have the opportunity to be involved.

“I wanted to make sure it was on my calendar for the Marion to Selma Bicycle event,” Bolding said, “and then next year, I plan to do the Selma to Montgomery March and I look forward to making it an annual thing and promoting it more in Marion.”

Like Banks and Bolding, there were 35 cyclists signed up for the event, and there were about that many on the roadways cycling all the way to Selma to honor the legacy of Jackson and the pivotal walk that led to the Voting Rights Movement, that’s embarking on 60 years in March.

Philip Howard, program director and organizer of the event, said The Conservation Fund has been working in the Black Belt for the past two years alongside other sponsors to create a creative place making plans to officially kick off the annual event that happened Thursday morning. Other sponsors included Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association, Blackbelt Benefit Group, tMain Street Marion, RC&D Association of Alabama and Montgomery Bicycle Club.

“We’ve been communicating , meeting with community members, having conversations about what ways to tell stories and uplift the history and make people more aware and once we heard about the Selma to Montgomery bike ride that has happened before, someone said , “why not do a Marion and Selma ride since that’s a part of the history of the Selma to Montgomery March and so, we have been planning this event for the last year and today was the official day and it was a perfect day for a bike ride and for those who love cold weather.

All proceeds from the Marion 2 Selma Bike Ride will help fund bicycle infrastructure in Selma and Marion.