Copperhead Island at McDowell Nature Preserve on Lake Wylie.
Sept, 24, 2022
I used this trip as my shakedown ride for the Cycle NC Mountains to Coast ride since it was the preceding weekend. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and cool at night so I slept well. I always enjoy this trip to introduce people to bikecamping. It’s good to see that you can easily live off your bike. And you realize you really don’t need much to have a really good time. Photos: Eric Supil
The next trip will be Spring 2023. March 25, 2023. Mark your calendar and save the date. We leave Sat at 2 pm, bike out 19 miles then stop to buy food for dinner then set up camp, eat dinner and hang out til we burn all the wood. $20 per person or $15 with your Bike Benefits sticker. Email me with any answers or to reserve your spot.
Everyday carry — what to take with you. Tools, straps etc. Packing to travel what to take on the train, 24 hour tour, lights, self-supported tour
I attended the Philly Bike Expo this year with Tim Cherry and John Allen, 2 fellow CyclingSavvy Instructors. We teamed up with the Coalition of Appropriate Transportation. Scott Slingerland who is an integral part of CAT is also a CyclingSavvy instructor. Our goal was to build some awareness and interest for CyclingSavvy. John hosted a ride to the Expo Saturday morning, presented a seminar on riding Philly streets using CyclingSavvy strategies and techniques. I gave a demonstration and introduction to my Rivendell Betty Foy. I discussed items I carry everyday to make her bike more practical. I pulled everything out of my bags and purse. My bike is over 10 years old and has over 68,000 miles on it. It’s set up as a do it all bike. I ride daily. Later I hosted a Party Pace ride to the Keystone Bike Party. We had the distinct pleasure of riding with about 25 people to the party. Notably Leah Petersen on her raspberry Platypus and Will and James from Rivendell among others. Keystone threw a great party and had raffle prizes. I won a sweet Reload BRAAP bag. Thanks to everyone for such a fun weekend connecting with all the fun bike people.
Here’s a 9 second video of how Cycling Savvy improves my riding safety and enhances my riding experience. This is on S. Tryon heading south. We are crossing I77 approaching Woodlawn Ave. Notice we are in the rightmost through lane. There is a right turn only lane to our right which leads to the on ramp for I77. We do not need to merge left for a lane change. We are riding 2 abreast and traffic can easily change lanes to pass. Since we are 2 abreast motorists can more easily pass since we are shorter in length than if we were riding single file. Listen for the honks. There are none. There is no traffic passing us because we are in the gap which the traffic light at Pressley/Tryon has created for us. We turned left onto Tryon from the parking lot across from Pressley. We also pressed the pedestrian button since the signal did not actuate for us. It may have given us additional pedestrian timing creating a longer gap in traffic for us.
If some of this terminology is foreign to you, please join me in my next Cycling Savvy course. We cover all these strategies and techniques.
Although every year everyone is excited about the trip. We generally only have a handful of people. This trip we had eight riders to Copperhead Island at Lake Wylie, South Carolina. We rode about 20 miles with 25 mph gusts. It was windy and cold on the way out but had perfect weather at 61 degrees for the ride. We stopped at the Publix as usual and picked up dinner. Then got to camp. Set up our tents and ate dinner. There was a burn ban in effect till 8pm. Then we all sat around the campfire. It’s always a good time. Join us next time. Video and pictures by Cary Gavin.
