The Rev. Chuck DeBardeleben, lead pastor at Westminster Presbyterian in Gainesville, is organizing the Good News for Gainesville bike ride on Oct. 24.

The ride will be a collaboration of nine local churches to raise money for Good News at Noon in Gainesville.

"It just came from the conviction that the churches of Gainesville need to do something together," DeBardeleben said. "We wanted to have a show of force to show the community that churches, the major churches in Gainesville, are joining hands to do something together because we want to invest in the community. And we want to be a resource for the community, and this is something that we could do together."

Churches involved in the ride will be Blackshear Place Baptist Church, Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church in America, Concord Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Free Chapel, Lakewood Baptist Church, Riverbend Baptist Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church and North Georgia Christian School.

"There are three different routes and they will all three begin by heading out Clarks Bridge Road," said DeBardeleben, who is also a cyclist. "There's a 25-mile ride, a 35-mile ride and a 60-mile ride, and people can choose whichever one they want to do."

And even if you're not a regular cyclist, you can probably handle one of the rides, he said.

"The 25-mile ride is something that most people, believe it or not, can do. It is not as difficult as you might think," he said. "This is not going to be a terribly difficult course. If you do the 60-mile ride, that will probably be pretty challenging for most people. And it is just a fun way to get exercise."

The ride is $30 per person and all participating cyclists will receive a T-shirt, a goodie bag, a water bottle and lunch from Johnny's Barbecue.

For more information, contact Westminster Presbyterian at 770-534-1078.