A Week of Living the Dream
For Anna Zuver, BRAG has become more than just a bike ride—it’s become essential to her wellbeing. “Especially in the last few years, I have realized how absolutely fulfilled I am after a week on Big BRAG, and it has become my #1 PTO priority every year.”
The appeal is simple yet profound: “There’s nothing better than spending a whole week waking up, riding your bike, hanging out with friends, exploring new towns, and repeating for 7 days straight. I find that I barely look at my phone, think about work, or anything else other than being at BRAG. It truly is one of the best weeks of the year for me.”
This philosophy of unplugging and embracing the moment has defined Anna’s 15-year BRAG journey, from that first ride at age 16 to becoming a beloved member of the BRAG family at 31.
A BRAG Legacy in the Making
Anna’s BRAG story actually begins before she can remember it. Growing up in Decatur’s Toco Hills neighborhood, she was born into a family of cycling and skating enthusiasts. “We’re pretty sure I was towed in a Burley trailer behind our triple—yes, 3-seater bike!—on my first BRAG in 1996,” she recalls. Though the Georgia heat and non-air-conditioned gyms eventually sent the family north to Bike Florida and Bike Ontario for a while, cycling remained central to family life.
Her conscious BRAG journey began in 2011 at age 16, riding with her mom and older sister. That first ride would prove transformative in ways she couldn’t have imagined. On the layover day in Dublin, seeking refuge from the heat, Anna and a new group of friends ended up sitting in a circle on the carpet in the main entrance of the Dublin Mall, playing cards. “I can only imagine how funny it would have been to walk in to the shopping mall and come across a group of probably 10-15 teenagers and young adults sitting on the ground playing cards,” she laughs. “It’s the type of thing that can only happen on BRAG.”
Almost 15 years later, that group has become family.
The Birth of Team Paparazzi
That 2011 crew—a mix of 15-22 year olds and some adults, mostly from the Roswell area who called themselves “Meg + 8″—became inseparable. “We had so much fun riding together, and we took LOADS of pictures, and group photos,” Anna remembers. “I joked that we were like the paparazzi, and thus Team Paparazzi was born that year.”
The friendships forged in that first BRAG have proven remarkably enduring. “For a 31 year old, it’s very meaningful to have had these friends for between 8-15 years—they are a big part of my life,” she reflects. Over the years, her BRAG family has grown to include Team Kermit HQ, where she spends most of her post-ride time these days, along with a cast of memorable characters she and Savannah affectionately refer to as “CLEVE CLEVE CLEVE,” “Phone Guy,” “Tall Guy,” and “Dr. Hawaiian Shirt Guy.”
The Evolution of a Cyclist
Anna has completed nine full BRAGs, one BRAG Lite, and two she calls “BRAG Compressed” where she squeezed everything into one day. Her relationship with cycling has evolved significantly over those years. Starting as a competitive racer with Frazier Cycling, she remembers 2014 as a year when she and her training partners were in “truly tip-top shape,” regularly rolling into rest stops with 40-50 people in tow, then breaking away to hold 27-28mph for the next 20-40 miles.
“I had my best effort on a bike ever that year, pulling our group at 28mph for 20 minutes. It was fun to be that fit!” she recalls.
But over time, her relationship with cycling has shifted. “I think I’ve come even more to terms with the fact that, for me, sports are really more about the social aspect and friends than the actual sport itself,” she reflects. “Some days or sections, I can ride with a lot of pep in my step, which is still really fun for me, and other days or times I’ll choose to ride with a slower friend, or spend more time at rest stops.”
This evolution represents BRAG at its best—welcoming riders through different seasons of life and fitness, always prioritizing community and joy over speed.
Anna’s Daily Chance of Making Mass Start
Ask anyone who knows Anna about her BRAG routine, and they’ll laugh about “Anna’s Daily % Chance of Making Mass Start”—a number that, by her own admission, “is never more than 60%.” Her mornings begin with complaining about the 4:30 AM alarms and early lights, followed by the elaborate ritual of sunscreen application, protein shake consumption, and bag repacking that usually makes her “one of the last people out of the gym.”
“By the time I finish putting on sunscreen, downing my protein shake and fig bars, and repacking my bag, I am usually one of the last people out,” she admits. If she’s not going to make the mass start, she’ll find her Team Kermit buddies for a late roll-out. “I actually made the mass start most days this year—we were all shocked.”
Her secret to making BRAG mornings manageable? Pre-packaged food. “If you are like me and need both sleep and time to get ready, I highly recommend bringing some pre-packaged food in your bag.” For years it was bagels and peanut butter, but that took too long to eat, so she switched to pre-made protein shakes and fig bars. “Fast and easy to eat,” she notes practically.
Anna has also perfected the art of BRAG packing, complete with a rolling Cotopaxi duffel and space bags with a portable hand-pump for compressing bulky items. “They are a game changer for compressing bulky sleeping bag/pillow/etc. and making them super easy to fit in the bag.” She even has a “patented packing technique” that allows her to drop her bag, grab her smaller bag, and beeline to the showers.
Anna’s Perfect Day on Big BRAG
Her typical BRAG day reflects the joy of being unplugged: ride bikes, hopefully arrive at camp before noon, find the perfect gym spot with premium outlets for her small group, shower using an efficient system, set up air mattress, grab lunch from a food truck or coffee shop, hang out with friends at Team Kermit HQ, shuttle to dinner downtown, and then more sitting outside with friends before bed.
Every year brings a new “rest stop snack of the year”—2025’s winner was Oatmeal Cream Pies—and every year reinforces why she keeps coming back.
Discovering Small Town USA
While Anna has favorite routes—the 2018 Rome to Hartwell ride stands out for its lush, green beauty and perfect temperatures, and Day 1 of 2023 around Lake Russell remains “my #1 favorite ride I have ever done, ever”—it’s the small towns that truly capture her heart.
“I really enjoy getting to pass through or stop in on all of these small towns that I otherwise may have never heard of,” she says. “There’s nothing better to me than getting to see Small Town, USA. It’s so fun to meet people from small, possibly unheard of towns ‘out in the wild,’ and get to tell them, ‘I know that town—I’ve ridden through there on BRAG!'”
Even when there are food trucks on site, Anna prefers to shuttle into the downtowns “because they’re always so cute, and it’s fun to find the local restaurants (and ice cream)!”
Favorite BRAG Family Stories
If you want to understand the magic of BRAG friendships, look no further than the Social Circle restaurant incident of 2016. A group of eight to ten friends went to dinner, only to discover the restaurant was slammed with just one or two servers and one person in the kitchen. An hour passed with no food in sight.
Enter their friend David, described as “one of the nicest people you’ll meet, with a huge personality.” After assessing the situation, David simply walked into the kitchen to “find out what’s going on.” Moments later, the group watched in amazement as David emerged carrying a tray of food to another table. And then again and again. David had taken it upon himself to start running food for this overwhelmed restaurant.
“David starts coming up to each of us asking, ‘What did you order?'” Anna recounts, still laughing at the memory. “We answer, ‘I ordered a chicken sandwich.’ ‘Well, they’re out of chicken, so here’s a plate of spaghetti.'” At this point, David—who absolutely did not work at this restaurant—was personally taking orders, helping the cook prepare food, and placing plates in front of hungry riders.
And then there’s the night she and her friend Savannah showed up to BINGO at the Dublin Moose Lodge in fancy dresses, high heels, and full makeup.
When they spotted “BINGO at the Moose Lodge” listed in the 2022 Dublin ride guide, the duo knew exactly what they had to do: pack formalwear for what would become a legendary BINGO night in BRAG history. Walking into a room full of super-serious locals in their evening gowns while everyone else wore casual clothes perfectly captures Anna’s approach to BRAG—find the joy, embrace the absurd, and turn every moment into a story worth telling.
The Real Definition of a BRAGger
When asked to complete the sentence “You know you’re a real BRAGger when…” Anna’s response perfectly captures the beautiful contradiction at BRAG’s heart: “You complain to your friend about the hills, the gnats, the sulfur, the 4:30 AM alarm, the snoring, etc…and in the same sentence talk about how you don’t want it to be over and can’t wait for next year.”
Her advice for newcomers reflects her own journey: “Make the commitment and sign up! Don’t worry if you aren’t fast, and don’t worry if you don’t know anybody. There are people of all skill levels out there and you are bound to meet somebody on the road.”
For Anna, the friends she’s made on BRAG “go way beyond BRAG. I love seeing them at BRAG, but I consider them to be some of my absolute closest friends. We enjoy getting together at other times of the year for rides and completely un-cycling-related hang outs. I honestly can’t imagine my life without the people I know from BRAG.”
From sitting on mall floors playing cards to dressing up for BINGO at the Moose Lodge, from watching friends become impromptu restaurant servers to riding at 28mph with a pack of 50 cyclists, Anna’s BRAG journey captures everything that makes this event special: the friendships that become family, the freedom to be fully yourself, the joy of discovering Small Town USA, and the understanding that sometimes the best moments have nothing to do with the riding itself.
After all, that’s what happens when your annual “family reunion” takes place on two wheels across Georgia.
