REMEMBER WHEN, ARKANSAS?

Does anyone recognize what’s happening in this vintage photo from the Democrat-Gazette archives?

Hint: The parking lot of War Memorial Stadium is in the distant background.

About 7 a.m. May 22, 1981, a Friday, an estimated 50 bicyclists gathered on the east parking lot of War Memorial Stadium. They rolled out together at 7:30 from the intersection of Jonesboro and 12th streets, taking 12th toward downtown.

In 1981, 12th Street did not have bicycle lanes. Also, note the clothing and lack of helmets.

The ride was sponsored by Little Rock Parks and Recreation, Metroplan and the Arkansas Bicycle Club. It was advertised as “an experiment in riding their bicycles to work and back” and was part of the third annual Riverfest. Riverfest 1981 was part of the Little Rock Sesquicentennial and so expanded from 2 ½ to 4 ½ days. Its many events also included a groundbreaking ceremony at the foot of Rock Street for a then-new Riverfront Park.

McDonald’s restaurant at Capitol Avenue and Main Street offered the cyclists a Continental breakfast. The downtown YMCA at Sixth Street and Broadway provided showers — for men and women — and allowed them to park and lock their bicycles in the courtyard. Cyclists also could park at City Hall.

Riders had a choice of two “shifts” for company on their pedal back to the stadium, one at 4:30 p.m. and one at 5:15. Both met at McDonald’s. (The building that housed the McDonald’s was demolished in 1999; its site today includes Capitol Plaza, with the 24-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture, “Helios.”)

In bicycle lingo, “Continental breakfast” is your guarantee of coffee, juice and usually a starch, maybe doughnuts. If you remember what McDonald’s actually served the cyclists or can identify riders in the photo, please email cstorey@adgnewsroom.com.