Oxford’s Margaret Bokros, 79, bikes for fitness and adventure, weaving stories from secret childhood rides to 138-mile treks. Her journeys—some of them reaching speeds of more than 50 miles per hour—reveal the natural world’s beauty and provide a refuge from daily worries.
Every ride has a story. Oxford resident Margaret Bokros can chronicle countless accounts that have come from the comfort of her bicycle’s saddle. From a secret excursion at 10 years old to a 100-plus-mile day trip, she has seen and experienced much on two wheels. While others may enjoy cycling for the exercise alone, it offers a great deal more to Bokros.
“It’s the adventure and what you’re going to see,” she said. Bokros often takes the off-the-beaten-track approach to her travels. “Most people think, ‘I’m going to go to Hilton Head, [South Carolina].’ No, I don’t think that,” she said. “I’m going to go to Bluffton and maybe going down the road to Savannah, go to Garden City, go through the mansion where the murder was. That’d be kind of cool.”
Bokros was originally a runner, as she began exercising on a regular basis in her mid-20s. Roughly a decade later, she was running at Brookwood High School in Snellville, where she noticed a group of cyclers and introduced herself. Turns out it was the Gwinnett Touring Club. After purchasing a bike, Bokros jumped right in.
“I knew I could do 13 miles, but none of them were going 13 miles, except two women,” she said, “so I did that for two or three weeks, and then I started doing the 25 miles. And then you do more and more and more.”
“It’s not something that you have to do. You just want to go experience whatever you want to experience that day.”
Margaret Bokros
Bokros has not slowed down since. Today, at 79 years old, she remains active in cycling while also running, hiking, kayaking and doing yard work. Some of her favorite spots include Chickamauga in Gainesville, the general Jersey, Rutledge and Madison area and Lake Varner, where she hit speeds of approximately 46 miles per hour. “I like speed a lot,” she said. In fact, Bokros has cycled as fast as 51.9 miles per hour on a trip in North Carolina.
One of Bokros’s fondest memories happened at Berry College in Rome. Her daughter was attending orientation and needed the car to drive home. Bokros took her bike for the return trip to Duluth. It was roughly an 80-mile jaunt. “You come around on that road, and you’re at the highest part,” she said. “You look down at Lake Altoona. It’s just all right there—it’s beautiful—and so, I had to stop and I had to look. And then you take a breath for a moment, and then you go on.” It was not the longest expedition undertaken by Bokros. She has biked as far as 138 miles in a single day. Among Bokros’ earliest memories on a bicycle: a confidential trip when she was just 10 years old. She grew up in Atlanta and would occasionally get on her bike and ride to Decatur—a journey to which Bokros’ mother was never privy.
“My mother never knew it, because that would have been taboo,” Bokros said. “She would ask me, ‘Well, where you been?’ ‘Oh, just down the street.’”
During her time as a cyclist, Bokros has been a part of the Gwinnett Touring Club, the Southern Bicycle League, Bike Ride Across Georgia, North Florida Tour and more. She even opened a bike store in Stone Mountain—Pedal Power—that closed 20 years ago. Earlier this year, Bokros retired from working at C Town Bikes & Fitness in Covington. As a result, Bokros has met thousands of fellow cycling enthusiasts from all areas.
Bokros currently mentors aspiring cyclists through Conyers Methodist Church’s Junior Faith Riders in Rockdale County. It has opened more doors. Bokros remembers one encounter in particular.
“Kevin, one of the kids, walked with me over at South Rockdale,” she said. “We did five miles, so I pushed him, because he was walking. He was probably really ready to quit at about three and a half, but I said, ‘Once we get to the end, you’ve got to turn around and come back. It’s not a circle, Kevin.’ When we got back, I said, ‘How you doing?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m a little sore.’”
Five decades have passed since Bokros first gave cycling a shot. She could not imagine doing anything else. During her time in retail, Bokros advised customers that all the worries of the world would fade away as soon as she left her driveway all the way to the destination. She speaks from experience, as her travels helped ease the pain of once losing a 5-year-old daughter. Bokros remains an active cycler, in part, because of the stories she gets to tell from each adventure.
“It’s just part of life. It’s your life,” Bokros said. “It’s not something that you have to do. You just want to go experience whatever you want to experience that day. That’s why I don’t go to the same place all the time. I venture out, whether I’m by myself or with somebody else. It doesn’t matter to me. I just go do it.”
Click here to read more stories by Phillip B. Hubbard.
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