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Words of wisdom from one of Charlotte’s friendliest cyclists. And featured stories of interest. Submit yours.

Upcoming events

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11/9: Natl Bike Challenge celebration, 8-9:30 pm
Zeiss Building – Room 1100, CPCC
1225 Elizabeth Ave., 28204

Come meet your fellow riders.  Celebrate a great Challenge and let’s keep riding.  Bring a bag of chips, water, nuts, etc.

Special guest: John Allen

John S. Allen is an avid transportation and recreational cyclist, and writer about cycling: author of Bicycling Street Smarts, co-author of several editions of Sutherland’s Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics, technical writer and editor at the bicycle maintenance and customization site sheldonbrown.com. John is a certified CyclingSavvy instructor and League Cycling Instructor. He will be visiting Charlotte to experience cycling here, meet with cyclists and teach a CyclingSavvy course along with Pamela Murray.

 

11/10-12: CyclingSavvy

Cycling Savvy is a 3 part bike training workshop focusing on communication, cooperation, situational awareness.  Build your skills during a 3 hour closed course session.  Then put your new knowledge and skills into practice in an instructional ride in the 3rd session.  10 hours of instruction over 3 – 3 hour sessions.  Register at Cycling Savvy.  

11/19: Cranksgiving Charlotte 2017

  • Save the date: Sunday, Nov. 19th, 2017
  • Benefiting Loaves and Fishes
  • Time: Registration at 1:30pm, Ride/race starts at 2 pm
  • Start: Legion Brewing – 1906 Commonwealth Ave.;  Charlotte, NC 28205
  • End: Charlotte Cycles – 337 Baldwin Ave.

The ride is free!  You’ll need to bring your own cash* to buy food donations at each checkpoint.  Remember to bring a backpack or some way to transport your food and a reusable bag (if you want some bonus points).

It’s Time for the 2017 National Bike Challenge!

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Hi Spokes People! Are you ready for the National Bike Challenge? I hope so, because it starts next Monday, May 1! I can’t wait to compete against other cities and–most importantly–kick the butts of a certain other local team who shall remain unnamed (in a friendly manner, of course. Here are the instructions for joining our team on the new National Bike Challenge site. Please note that even if you were on our team in previous years, you must join again this year.

 

  1. Go to nationalbikechallenge.com and click the “Join the Challenge” button.

  2. The page prompts you to log in with Strava. If you don’t have a
    Strava account, you have to create one first.

  3. Here’s the slightly unintuitive part: you have to join our
    team on Strava, and then it will sync to the NBC. Click here to see
    our team on Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/cltsp.

  4. After you’ve joined, you should see the Charlotte Spokes People as
    one of your groups! There may be a short delay until it syncs.



My 2016 Riding Goal

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My mileage goal was to ride 100 miles/week.  I don’t think that’s too hard.  Most people can ride lots more than that in a given week.  And some people ride 100 miles/day.  The challenge really is to be consistent.  To ride that much every week.  Week after week.

Last year I didn’t really have a mileage goal other than to ride more than drive.  I did that but when I looked at my mileage last year it was 5,169.  And then I thought, I could have easily ridden 31 more miles to make it 5,200 miles which would be 100 miles/week.  So there was my goal for this year.  This year I got to 5200 miles but then I looked at my cyclometer.

photo-2 And I thought, I only need 48 more miles to round it up to 31,000 accumulated bike riding miles.  (When I got an adult bike in 2006.)  To give you an idea, in 2011, out of the 2673 miles, 1818 were on the Betty Foy from May through Dec.  The other 855 were on my old bike in the first 4 months of the year.  It took me 4 1/2 years to ride 5,855 miles on my first bike.  I almost ride that in a year now.

Based on purchase price, I’ve averaged my price on my Betty Foy down to about 10 cents a mile.  (Have you noticed that the cents symbol isn’t on a keyboard anymore?  Everything is in dollars because everything is that expensive.  But not my Betty Foy cost per mile.)

photo-1

Below is the mileage since I’ve been riding my Rivendell Betty Foy:

2011  2,673

2012  3,756

2013  4,294

2014  4,669

2015  5,169

2016  5,439

I usually don’t like goals but they are useful to track progress.  My real goal is to just ride wherever I want to go.  But it needs to be quantifiable.  And so you actually have a way to measure how close or far away you are.

If you want to track your progress:

You can manually add miles to Strava which will be the connected to the National Bike Challenge.  You can join our team, Charlotte Spokes People.  Most people who do, are amazed at how tracking and seeing other people’s mileage encourages them to keep riding.  And join us on some rides.  Tues. at 10 am (when it’s hot) or 2 pm otherwise.   This ride leaves from Advent Coworking on corner of Louise/Otts one block from Central Coffee.  Tues at 8 pm is PMTNR (Plaza Midwood Tues Night Ride) from Common Market Plaza Midwood.  Sunday Slow Riders leaves from Legion Brewing at 2 pm or 8 pm when it’s hot.  All rides are on the calendar and each ride has a facebook page.

 

Bottom line:

  • You’ll never reach your goal if you don’t have one.
  • You’ll never reach your goal by sitting on the couch.
  • You have to progress toward your goal every day – or you’re going backwards away from it.
  • One step towards your goal is still progress.
  • Progress seems slow.
  • You’ll get there eventually.
  • Sometimes it’s sunny.  Sometimes it’s rainy.  Sometimes it’s hot.  Sometimes it’s cold.  Sometimes it’s windy.  Sometimes it’s perfect.

 

Next year my goal will be 5,500 miles courtesy of the monkey on my back from Douglas Welton.  He planted the seed of the idea and now I’m so close.  Maybe I’ll need to ride a little faster so it won’t take me so long.  I’m the turtle that will get there at some point.

Thanks for everyone who has ridden with me.  You all helped me get to my goal.  There’s a saying that if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together.  We’ll get you to your first 1,000 miles then 3,000 then 5,000…

Come ride with us.

 

 

National Bike Challenge Charlotte Awards Event

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sumposterSaturday, December 17th, we hosted the Charlotte awards and celebration event at Advent Coworking Space.  We had lots of prize packages to award to top riders and to raffle off to everyone who could attend.  It was great seeing and meeting some of the riders that were on the leader board.  I met the guy who beat me by 60 points for #8 on the Charlotte team.  He rides a lot!

We posted full challenge rankings for the Charlotte challenge as well as for the Charlotte Spokes People Team and Crank Mafia.

fullresultsrankings  These are the full results rankings for the Charlotte Challenge.

csprankings  These are the rankings for Team Charlotte Spokes People.  Join our team next year!

2016summary  This is a summary of the Challenge.

Kevin Caldwell spoke briefly about his masters thesis, which will research bike commuting.  Please contact him at kcaldw19@uncc.edu if you can contribute.

img_20161217_201048-01

 

Milton and Sarah awarded the prize packages.

 

A big thank you to the Bike Benefits businesses who donated prizes.

Bicycle Benefits

Bicycle Benefits

  • img_20161217_203137-01Queen City Bicycles
  • Common Market
  • Legion Brewing
  • Birdsong Brewing
  • Brixx Pizza
  • Blue Blaze

img_20161217_203232_1-01

Spring 2016 CSP Newsletter

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Charlotte

Spokes People Newsletter

April 2016

Special Event:

BIKE! Charlotte and Bike Fest


Bike!Charlotte is from April 29-May17. Almost 3 weeks of events of fun bike stuff culminating up to Bike Fest on Thomas Ave on May 15th. Check the BIKE!Charlotte website (http://bikecharlotte.org/) for details. Keep an eye on our calendar for events throughout the year.


Here are the events we’re hosting:

April 29: 4 – 7 pm: Cycling Savvy Workshop – Day 1 : An adult master class teaching how to drive your bike as a vehicle. Spoke Easy, 1523 Elizabeth Ave.

April 30: 2-5 pm: Cycling Savvy Workshop – Day 2 : bike skills and drills in a closed course. 932 Seigle Ave.

May 1: 1-4 pm; Cycling Savvy Workshop – Day 3: on the road bike tour of Charlotte (Both Class 1,2 prerequisites for Day 3.) Legion Brewing, 1916 Commonwealth Ave.

May 3: 2 – 3 pm: Tues at 2 ride. Advent Coworking, 933 Louise Ave.

May 3: 8 pm: Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride – PMTNR B.O.A.T. Ride: Bikes On A Train! (Meet at 7:30 for safety meeting prior the ride.) Common Market, 2007 Commonwealth Ave.

May 7: 4 – 5 pm: Kidical Mass from Midwood Park

May 8: 2 pm: Sunday Slow Riders – Mother’s Day ride to McGill Rose Garden; Legion Brewing, 1916 Commonwealth Ave.

May 10: 2 – 3 pm: Tues at 2 ride. Advent Coworking, 933 Louise Ave.

May 10: 8 pm: Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride to Charlotte Cycles (Meet at 7:30 for safety meeting prior the ride.) Common Market, 2007 Commonwealth Ave.

May 15: 12-5 pm; BikeFest: Come enjoy this open street festival in Plaza Midwood! Events include Bike swap, Bike Drive for Trips for Kids Charlotte, a Kids Bicycle Roadeo, Bike races – cargo challenge, snail race, track stand challenge, kids crafts and activities, Panel discussions on bike camping, social rides, commuting, Cycling Savvy. 1400 – 2000 Thomas Ave. (behind Zada Jane’s)

May 15: 12:30: Kids Bike and Pet Parade; depart at at 12:45 PM. The Vine, 2101 Belvedere Ave.

Upcoming Event

BikeFest

BikeFest is the original open streets event in Charlotte! This will be the 6th year. Come out and celebrate all things bike. Pump up your tires and enjoy Thomas Avenue free of cars. Volunteers are needed. Email pamlikestobike@gmail.com to help out.

For more details about BikeFest, click here.

 

About Cycling Savvy

Cycling Savvy is a three-day workshop teaching traffic skills and crash avoidance strategies. Workshops are scheduled monthly in Charlotte, and there will be a workshops on April 29-May 1, as well as dates in June and July. Check CyclingSavvy.org for details.

Quotes from Cycling Savvy students:

“Before taking this class, I had been bike commuting 3-5 times a week for a few years, and felt quite confident about my abilities to ride on the road. But since taking it, my confidence has soared and I have learned a ton about different traffic situations and how to be communicate with motorists. I now have more space and far more positive interactions with motorists I can’t recommend it enough!” – AR

“This class was great! My confidence on the road skyrocketed. If you ride or want to – you should look into this. I was in class with triathletes and daily bike commuters. Everyone learns something!!” – CW

“I have never felt such a sense of equality biking in traffic. Thanks for keeping me and other students safe!” – GF

Cycling Savvy scholarships are available for those in need. Scholarships are funded by CLT Spokes People and Charlotte Bike Benefits. Support local businesses and help to support Cycling Savvy scholarships through the purchase of helmet stickers. New this year are Cycling Savvy helmet stickers, which also support scholarships. Last year CLT Spokes People funded 12 Cycling Savvy scholarships. Please email Pam at pamlikestobike@gmail.com for details about scholarships.

 

National Bike Challenge, 2016 Edition


The National Bike Challenge starts May 1 and goes through September. Sign up for the Challenge and join the Charlotte Spokes People team! Help us get Charlotte on the leaderboard again. Last year, we were in the Top 20 cities based on Challenge points. Let’s show the nation that Charlotte is a great place to bike!  

Click here to join our team: Charlotte Spokes People. http://cltspok.es/winNBC, and come ride with us three times a week:

  • Tuesdays at 2 from Advent Coworking (932 Louise Ave.)
  • Tuesdays at 8 from Common Market Plaza Midwood
  • Sundays at 2 from Legion Brewing.

Bike Benefit Bingo

 Bike Benefit Bingo is returning from May 1st until the 15th. Get your cards at the Advent ride, PMTNR, or Sunday Slow Ride. Some cards also available at some participating locations including Rhino Market, Three Spirits, Queen City Bicycles, Spoke Easy. Suggested donation of $1 goes towards Cycling Savvy scholarships. 

How to play:

Ride your bike to the participating locations and get your card stamped.

How to win:

Bingo players can email finished cards to pamlikestobike@gmail.com before May 15 or drop them off at BikeFest on Sunday, May 15 from 12-5 on Thomas Ave., behind Zada Jane’s. Look for the CLT Spokes People / Bike Benefits / Cycling Savvy table.

New Bike Benefits Businesses

  • Pure Pizza – Central Ave.
  • CLTCH
  • Camille’s Sidewalk Café
  • Tip Top Daily Market
  • Red Clay Cidery
  • Codescape
  • Legion Brewing
  • Bulldog Beer and Wine – South End
  • House of Lemond
  • The Broken Spoke
  • Cast Iron Waffles – South Park & Ballantyne
  • Powderly/Vuchnich CPA
  • One Life Raw Juice Bar
  • Three Spirits Brewery
  • Pasta & Provisions on Park
  • Dr. Tony Peters
  • Abari
  • Nothing Bundt Cakes
  • Sabor – NoDa
  • Sharon Luggage – both locations
  • Inner Peaks – both locations
  • First Ward Beverage

Check out the pocket list (http://cltspok.es/CLTpocketList) on the Bike Benefits website for the full list of businesses and offers. We are the largest program in the country! Support local. Ride your bike for your benefits.

PMTNR

Come ride the Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride. We ride every week at 8 pm from Common Market. The ride is never canceled. Meet your neighbors, ride on the quiet streets of Charlotte at night, discover new Bike Benefits businesses. Support local businesses.

As a refresher, here are the Rules of the Ride:

  • Don’t pass the leader.
  • Ride in one lane.
  • Obey all traffic signals.
  • Communicate.
  • Be prepared to stop at all times.

Upcoming Events

  • Bike!Charlotte is 4/29-5/15
  • PMTNR Bikes on a Train ride is 5/3/16
  • BikeFest is May 15 on Thomas Ave in Plaza Midwood

Contact Us

https://cltspokespeople.org/

CLTSpokesPeople@gmail.com

Please share this newsletter, and as always…

Come ride with us!

Winter 2015/2016 CSP Newsletter

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 Charlotte

 Spokes People Newsletter


Special Event:

Bikes vs. Cars Documentary Showing

The CLT Spokes People ensured a strong start to 2016 by hosting a showing of Bikes vs. Cars, a provocative documentary that is generating a lot of discussion, here in Charlotte. Many of us rode to the showing in freezing temperatures, making an impression on the other moviegoers! We’ll be posting about the film on the Spokes People blog. See the first installment here.

 

Featured Ride:

Bicycle Fridays at Park Road Montessori

Last year, CLT Spokes Person Bethanie Johnson started a Bicycle Friday ride at Park Road Montessori. Since then, students, teachers, and parents have gathered to ride their bikes together almost every week. According to Bethanie,

This winter we’re averaging between 8 and fifteen riders, but in the nice months we’ve averaged 18 per week. I think our highest number (for bike/walk to school), was around 30 children–add in adults between 40 and 45. We joke with the kids about the “chance of donuts.” As in, “There’s a 70 percent chance of donuts on tomorrow’s ride.” I sometimes make them, or my co-leader springs for donuts. We’ve had some great parent support, and one parent told me last week it’s the only day her son gets up on his own, “because I have to ride my bike today!” Dick Winters has been on several of the rides and is cooperating with CMS to get new bike racks installed at our school. We’re very excited about that. Trips For Kids ran a booth with us at the fall picnic, and I’ve encouraged parents to get replacement bicycles at the Recyclery because children are always growing out of bikes.

12670095_10208469557045692_3295094498068533861_n

These kids are the next generation of cyclists!

 

2015 In Review:

PMTNR Recap

Since April 2013, over 10,000 people have ridden PMTNR. We ride every week, and the ride is never cancelled. Sometimes a dozen people ride; sometimes, it’s more than a hundred. Come out for some fun riding your bike, exploring hidden neighborhoods, and discovering great Bike Benefits businesses with us. PMTNR was also mentioned in various publications in 2015. I think the Charlotte Agenda article captured the spirit of the ride best. Click here to read their story.

Largest PMTNR in 2015: 150 riders to Goodyear Skyline Artists exhibit with King of Pops on August 25th.

Smallest PMTNR in 2015: Eight riders in the rain on October 27th.

We always have fun. Thanks for riding with us.

Bicycle Benefits

The Charlotte Bike Benefits program continues to grow.  We are fortunate to have so many bike-friendly destinations and so many businesses that support bike riding.  With 156 participating locations, the Charlotte program is the largest in the nation. This year we introduced Bike Bingo to introduce and highlight Bike Benefits businesses. Bike Bingo ran from May-Oct during the National Bike Challenge.

Ride your bike for your benefits! Here are the last 10 businesses to join the program:

  • Powderly / Vuchnich CPA
  • Cast Iron Waffles – South Park
  • Cast Iron Waffles – Piedmont Row
  • The Broken Spoke
  • House of Lemond
  • Bulldog Beer and Wine – South End
  • Legion Brewing Co.
  • Codescape
  • Red Clay Cidery
  • Tip Top Daily Market
  • Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe
  • CLTCH
  • Pure Pizza – Central Ave.
  • Law office of David Demers

To see a full list of participating business, print off a pocket list.

Cycling Savvy

In 2015, Charlotte has held 10 classes with about 60 students completing the bike workshop. This makes Charlotte the fastest-growing Cycling Savvy location. For those who don’t know, Cycling Savvy is a three-day workshop that helps people learn how to recognize and handle traffic situations to safely and comfortably ride on any road:

  • Day 1: Classroom presentation – bicycle law and safety strategies
  • Day 2: On-bike skills – inside, closed course
  • Day 3: Bike ride of Charlotte.

There will be more Savvy Cyclists in Charlotte’s future.

The next Cycling Savvy class is March 11-13! Take the first step toward confidence to ride your bike anywhere by visiting register.cyclingsavvy.org/groups/north-carolina to sign up.

Upcoming Events

Save these dates!  Mark your calendars!

  • Cycling Savvy Feb 5-7, March 11-13, Apr 29 – May 1
  • Bike!Charlotte is 4/29-5/15
  • PMTNR Bikes on a Train ride is 5/3/16
  • BikeFest is May 15 on Thomas Ave in Plaza Midwood

Please subscribe so you can keep up to date and help us continue to improve your biking in Charlotte


Contact Us

https://cltspokespeople.org/

CLTSpokesPeople@gmail.com

Please share this newsletter, and as always…

Come ride with us!

Bikes vs. Cars: CLT Spokes People Reactions

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bikesvscars

On Monday, January 18, CLT Spokes People hosted a screening of Bikes vs. Cars in Charlotte. 125 of 146 seats were sold, and about 11 people rode bikes to the screening.  Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and helped bring the documentary to Charlotte. The patrons who were there for other movies noticed and commented on the number of cyclists arriving at once. Most people I spoke to seemed to enjoy the movie. Bikes vs. Cars was a provocative film, with strengths and weaknesses noted by the attendees, and I’m glad we all got to watch the movie together.  My intention was to help spur a dialog about how we can all help each other ride more and support riders in our effort to make bike riding a normal and expected daily occurrence.

The following are some comments (lightly edited for clarity and brevity) shared by people who saw the film. These are examples of the lively and thoughtful dialog among Charlotte bicyclists!

 

Join the dialog by sharing your comments with us at: pamlikestobike@gmail.com.

If you missed the showing, you can watch Bikes Vs. Cars online on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bikesvscars.

Bottom line: We all win when people ride bikes.  

Lexi Watt: “You own a car, not the street. The street belongs to all of us. It’s not war. It’s a city.” –Bikes vs. Cars. Thank you Pamela Murray and Ryan Stachurski for promoting this film showing. The worldwide bike community is an eclectic, beautiful one. Hope to see it grow….  It’s nice to see bikes acknowledged, in some capacity or another, as a solution. As a way of life.”

Pamela Murray: “Bikes are a solution and a way for me and many others. It’s great to see so many at the movie.”

Stephen Gilbert: “I’ll say Charlotte’s got more work to do towards improving bike transportation, but wow, I can’t even imagine living in San Paolo or LA.”

Amanda Jill: “Charlotte is at a critical point in its development. The population is growing rapidly and if Charlotte wanted to do it, it could become the bike capital of the US. Weather works in its favor and people are active here. I think many would come to enjoy bike commuting if we had some great elevated trails like the old one in LA in the movie. Charlotte simply isn’t laid out for cars. (As obviously the best laid cities can’t keep up). I hope the bike movement is embraced. Keep riding. Every time you ride you help spread the word that streets are for people and that includes people on bikes! They didn’t even discuss how biking fights obesity and improves mental health! Lower health care costs no matter who gets elected! Ride ride ride!”

James Coleman: “Wonderful film. Should be required viewing for all government officials.”

Kristina Blake: “I’d love to see LA refurbish and open parts of that bike highway back up. Charlotte may not be known as the best cycling city, but we’re ooodles ahead of some of what we saw tonight.”

Amanda Jill: “Charlotte has a dedicated community. We actually came in 20th place in the country in the national bike change last year, a competition where individuals log their miles and represent their city. The competition starts in May if you would like to participate in 2016! smile emoticon www.nationalbikechallenge.org This is one way to have a voice and show our nation that Charlotte bikes! Join the Charlotte Spokes People team if you choose to sign up to get in on our local competition as well.”

Steve Doolittle: “Thanks Ryan…..makes one reflect on the global crisis we are all headed toward as the number of cars on the planet doubles….and as gas prices plummet encouraging even more driving…..”

Christine Weber: “Best comment i heard ‘I learned that there’s a Pamela Murray in every city.'”

Kim Brown: “My takeaway was that cities should install a complex series of tightropes to ease car traffic congestion.”

Trudy N. York: “Had a great time. I found it very informative! ?”

Todd Blake: “My overarching takeaway was that any under-represented group within a society needs to represent themselves in order to affect change. The folks São Paulo had to do that and at one point even commented that they needed to get organized. Though my wife and I agreed the change that happened may have been partially been due to the fact that the government feared being in a documentary.”

Kar In: “Thank you Spokes People!. 1) good movie – I was pumped after: wild (riding) characters, interesting histories, messy cities; 2) after sleeping over it: extremes were exposed; after soaking those up, I am eager to know how the DCs, the Portlands, the Viennas, and Paris’ are doing it. 3) Applied to Charlotte: yes, we are a city hitting adolescence: there is potential here, and I didn’t become US citizen because I thought every elected official was trapped in the Koch Brother lasso, but because citizens can work constructively with them (which I am crossing my fingers for with HB232). Compared to other cities CLT advocacy is small in numbers, but persistent and on the right path. I don’t think there is a war and definitely not with the car industry but if there is an industry that needs education it is DEVELOPERS – we have to get our elected officials to make them act according to smart planning ordinances 4) re: “organized” as an advocacy group – I think in the movie when the group sporadically protested in front of the mayor’s house on Sunday after the disgusting accident, it was in order – they were under shock and just did what their humanity told them to; I also think it had an impact: the mayor send down his son (their age) and let them talk out their emotion. Soon after, Sao Paolo got bike lanes although previously the city council said it was “very difficult”. Not saying CLT bike advocates don’t need to be organized, but occasional outrage is ok. Otherwise constructive dialogue with decision makers is better.”

 

Stay tuned for the CLT Spokes People review of the Bikes vs. Cars film!

-Pam12540866_10153503352891559_7576050631577115311_n

Cranksgiving 2015: Results and Pictures

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Cranksgiving Winners: Tate, Grace, Shelly, Carl, and Andy

We’ve had a rainy fall here in Charlotte, but on Sunday, November 8, the clouds mostly parted, and 24 riders set out on their bikes for the fourth annual Charlotte Cranksgiving—the third Cranksgiving hosted by Charlotte Spokes People. Altogether, the participants brought back 660.9 pounds of food on their bikes to donate to Second Harvest Food Bank. Additionally, we received $48.72 of donations, purchasing a further 341 pounds of food for a total 1,000 pounds!

All of our riders’ contributions were invaluable, but we did have some winners who earned prizes from our sponsors:

  • Top Team: Tate, Grace, Andy, and Shelly with 268.4 lbs
  • 2nd Place Team: MFB (Mighty Fine Bikes) with 109.5 lbs
  • 3rd Place Team: Rascio family with 101.3 lbs
  • Top Individual: Carl with 65.2 lbs

Thanks to Amanda and Bethanie for officiating!

Thanks also to our Cranksgiving sponsors for their generous prize donations!

See photos of the event below and come ride with us next year! Our goal next year is to collect 2,000 pounds of food – literally, a TON of food.


Gratitude

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It’s fitting that it’s November and this article (Charlotte Agenda article Nov 2015) popped up on the CLT Spokes People facebook page.  It was posted by awesome Christine.  I’m thankful that people are enjoying the Tues. Night Ride as much as I am.  And I am thankful there are so many people who come together to help plan the ride, help lead, sweep, run Glympse, help lead, make the safety announcements, mark turns.  We all work together to make the ride work and enjoyable for all.  We’re all so busy planning the next ride, the next event, etc that I haven’t had time to work on posting the mission statement, etc.  I’m too busy riding.  But I did want to stop and thank each person who comes to ride and to each person who helps in some way each week.  Let’s keep riding.  It’s nice to be noticed for the good work we’re doing.  Pile on some layers and keep riding with me through the cold.tonycamsnow

By the way, Sunday Nov. 8th is Cranksgiving, a food drive on bikes.  Join us at Okra at 1:30 (registration).  Ride starts at 2 pm.

 

Charlotte is #20

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The local challenge of the National Bike Challenge just ended midnight last night.  I’ve been tallying up the results and stats.  Charlotte made it to the Top 20!  Wow.  We’ve come a long way.Screenshot from 2015-10-01 14:05:01

History:

I first found out about the National Bike Challenge from David Spranger, my bike hero.  He is always on the leading edge of all things bike to me.  I saw him post about it on facebook.  In 2012, I started the CLT Spokes People team and recruited David and 6 other bike heros of mine.  In 2013, I signed up to manage the local challenge in hopes of getting more people involved.  I remember looking once and seeing Charlotte ranked 59th.  I managed the challenge in 2014 with the Bart Stetler of Queen City Bicycles.  2015 Bart and Pel Deal of Crank Mafia Social Club joined in to help.  And last night we managed to get on the Leader Board in 20th place for Charlotte.

 

Charlotte 2012 2013 2014 2015
Riders 7 12 248 479
Points 311,344 401,482
Miles 12,638 15,184 142,404 179,762
CLT Spokes People
Riders 7 12 66 135
Points 123,079 150,189
Miles 9,022 11,703 55,599 67,329
Crank Mafia
Riders 78 128
Points 119,471 162,191
Miles 56,078 68,171

Screenshot from 2015-10-01 14:05:30

 

 

 

The National Bike Challenge – Charlotte celebration will take place Thursday October  15th at Birdsong Brewing from 7-8 pm.  Join Bart at Queen City Bicycles at 6:30 to ride over.  There will be a ride afterwards as well.

Now, let’s keep riding.  Let’s see who can ride every day until the end of the year.  I hope to see you out riding.

Note: The Challenge used to run from May through August.  In 2014 the Challenge was extended through Sept.  Some numbers have been estimated.