Ellington

Colin Blanchard loves cycling so much that despite being hit by a car twice, he rides his bike every morning from his Belhaven home to his job at The Bike Rack on Lakeland Drive where he does bike repair and maintenance. Blanchard, 23, says that cycling is a huge part of his everyday life.

About 90 percent of my transportation is via bicycle," Blanchard says. "I ride pretty much everywhere. I ride to work; I ride for fun; I ride all the time."

Recently, a driver hit Blanchard as he was crossing Jefferson Street on his way home from work. He says he was unharmed, but upset that the driver left the scene. The incident fueled his efforts to promote bike safety, but hasn't detoured him from riding.

"It's a lot of fun to ride bicycles. I don't think you should let someone take that away," he says. "I'm still going to have fun, but I'm going to be more cautious."

Blanchard works closely with the Jackson Bicycle Advocates and helps organize community rides on the last Friday of each month. As a group, the advocates ride down major streets in Jackson, making a statement to local drivers.

"We don't do it to be annoying," Blanchard says. "We ride slowly so that drivers will see that they need to respect cyclists' right to be on the roads."

Blanchard says he prefers riding in downtown Jackson.

"Lots of people like to ride on the Natchez Trace," he says. "I don't think the Trace is the best place to ride. State Street is pretty good, and you'd be surprised how nice Lakeland is to ride on."

A native of Detroit, Mich., Blanchard moved to Alexandra, Va., when he was 7. As a homeschooled student, his mom encouraged him to pursue his own interests, which consisted of all things mechanical.

When he was 15, he met his wife, Anna, at a home-school social. He worked in sales at a bike shop in Washington, D.C., but moved to Jackson in 2008 to pursue Anna, who is a dance major at Belhaven College. The couple married in the summer of 2009.

Although he owns six bicycles, his bike of choice is one with a few special qualities--no brakes and no gears--allowing him to ride backward and slowly coast to a stop. Blanchard is also one of the few riders in Mississippi who participate in a style of riding known as trials, which are competitions involving obstacle courses for bicycles.

"The idea is to have your bicycle tires touch objects (in the course) and not your feet," he says.