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Happy Chinese New Year 1

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged bike Bike Benefits bike classes BikeFest Charlotte Cycling Savvy rides on February 9, 2015 by pambikes

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Every year I review my past year on Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar so this year Chinese New Year is Feb. 19th. This is the year of the sheep. I like to see how much I’ve ridden, to reflect, to see what I need to do better or differently. Happy Chinese New Year!

Photo: Jeff Cravotta

Tin Can Annie; Photo: Wesley Johnson

My Inspiration

Please allow me to introduce you to my inspiration. This is a photo of Tin Can Annie. By the wonder of facebook someone posted a picture one day. This is the lady I used to see riding her bike everywhere all the time way back in the early1990s. She was always around Central, Plaza…. Yes, I’ve lived in Plaza Midwood since that time. She rode day, night, rain or shine. And she was always dressed head to toe in orange. She was my inspiration. You never know when someone will see you as their inspiration. Keep riding.

Rides

Both of the rides – PMTNR and Sunday Slow Ride are doing well. I’m so glad people show up twice a week to ride. We’ve had some great rides around town. These are my 2 favorite days of the week. Thanks for riding with me if you’ve been and if you haven’t, please join us sometime. We have a 15 mile ride with a 10 mile stop then a 5 mile return. A few times we’ll be a mile or two longer or shorter but that’s the idea. I love that I meet some of the nicest, most interesting people on the rides.

Mileage

Bike Miles 4,669 (last year 4,294)

Car Miles 7,000

Long distance trips 4,500

Around town 2,500

I still haven’t met my goal of 5,000 miles/year on my bike. Maybe next year.

Cumulative bike miles 20,394

My goal is to ride my bike everywhere. This year I remembered to track trip miles for out of town drives so I can see how much I drive around town. I’m surprised it’s still this much but I do drive to the farmer’s market on Yorkmont every weekend since I have to be there early and I’m pressed for time on Saturday. That’s most of the mileage. The rest are running the kids around to the doctor, dentist, birthday parties, etc. I don’t like to drive my car nearly as much as I love to ride my bike.

National Bike Challenge Stats: (May-Sept 2014)

5,281 points

2,241 miles

152 days ridden

#7 rank locally

#1245 rank nationally

Monthly record 489 miles

Best day 42 miles

I don’t consider myself athletic. I just like to ride my bike. I’m surprised I was ranked #7 for the Bike Challenge. A few miles here and there really do add up. You don’t have to ride far or fast just consistently. I think I missed one day during the 5 month challenge. I even rode when I was out of town.

Bike Benefits

My goal for Charlotte Bike Benefits was to be the largest program this year but we didn’t quite make that goal this year. We are #2 – behind Seattle, WA by about 17 businesses. Let me know if you have suggestions for additions to the program. And please ride your bike and support our participating businesses so they’ll continue to be engaged and supportive of bicycling in Charlotte. Please let the participating businesses know that you support them because they are a part of the Bike Benefits program. They need to know it’s a positive draw for them.

Cycling Savvy Charlotte

I taught my first Cycling Savvy class in December. I’ll be scheduling classes regularly. Let me know when you want to take a class and we’ll make it happen. You can now sign up for notifications on the website so you’ll know when the next class is scheduled. Here’s the link. I like to keep the class sizes small (less than 8 people) so everyone can get the most out of the classes. I know everyone says “I know how to ride a bike and don’t need to take a class.” But if you learn one thing to make riding more enjoyable, less stressful and it could save your life, it’s worth it. Just sign up and take the class and take my word for it. You’ll learn a lot. I promise. Riding a bicycle is easy. Riding a bicycle mindfully and courteously makes every ride more enjoyable. Come learn how you can ride anywhere.

BikeFest

BikeFest is planned for Sunday May 3rd. Mark your calendars and save the date. And better yet, help me plan it and be on the inside. Help me make this a great event to help share the joy of bike riding in Charlotte. Planning starts now. You can either help plan or on the day of the event or both. There are lots of opportunities to help support bicycling in Charlotte. Let’s get people on a bike so they can remember the joy they had riding just like the first time they learned to ride long ago. Email me at pamlikestobike at gmail.com if you can help. Thanks in advance.

Thanks!

Thanks for riding with me. Keep inviting your friends to ride with us. We’re filling up the calendar and have events most of the time now. If you didn’t read it, here’s a link to the Year in Review newsletter. As Rocky says, “Ride a Bike!”

Fall 2015 Newsletter

This entry was posted in Blog Newsletter on January 30, 2015 by pambikes

Fall 2015

11/5/15

Edited by: Adam Raskoskie

The Charlotte Spokes People (CSP) is an umbrella organization of people just like YOU that want to improve cycling in and around the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. Thank you for helping us make biking better in town. We created this group to keep cyclists informed about the multitude of happenings in and around town including: rides, planning meetings, classes, events, and all things BIKE. We’ll be working on a regularly published newsletter this year. Please subscribe so you can keep up to date and help us continue to improve your biking in Charlotte

FEATURED RIDE:

Cranksgiving

Halloween has come and gone, and now that we’ve put the costumes away, it’s time to get ready for the major holiday—Cranksgiving! (What did you think I was going to say?)

Cranksgiving is a multi-city charity bike race that challenges your speed and navigational skills as you endeavor to obtain all the items on your manifest before the two-hour time limit is up. All of the items you collect will be donated to a local charity; this year, the ride benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. Bring your bike and some cash to purchase your donations to Gumbo at 1:30pm, Sunday, November 8^thto register for the event. The ride begins at 2:00. Teams of four and individual riders can compete, and there will be prizes for the winners in both categories!

Want more info about the history of Cranksgiving Charlotte? Go to cltspokespeople.org/cranksgiving/ and like the Facebook page at facebook.com/CranksgivingCharlotte. For more information about Cranksgiving in general, check out cranksgiving.org. We will see you there!

BICYCLE BENEFITS:

Newest Businesses and Poll Results

Who doesn’t love our Charlotte Bicycle Benefits businesses? For $5, you can get a sticker that unlocks a host of special deals and offers at businesses that support our bike community. Our ten newest Bicycle Benefits businesses are listed below with their deals and locations.

Davidson Public House: 3220 N Davidson St · 980-209-9992 · $2 off $20
Ajbani: 2903 Central Ave · 980-349-4015 · 10% off food
Bonsai Fusion: 25 E. 6th Street · 704-620-1534 · 10% off food or free miso
Moxie Mercantile: 2008 Commonwealth Avenue · 704-877-7879 · moxiemercantile.com · 10% off
Charlotte Cycles: 337 Baldwin Avenue · 704-333-4358 · $10 off any tune up and 10% off parts and accessories
Orrmann’s Cheese Shop: 224 E 7th St · 980-226-3025 · 10% off
Petra’s: 1919 Commonwealth Ave · 704-332-6608 · $1 off draft
Law office of David Demers: 101 N McDowell St #200 · 704-334-3395 · $50 off any traffic ticket
Pure Pizza Central: 1911 Central Ave · 980-207-0037 · 5% off
CLTCH: 1512-A Central Avenue · 704-375-2444 · 10% off $15 or more purchase

October’s three most popular new spots were Pure Pizza, Petra’s, and Charlotte Cycles! Thanks to them and all Bicycle Benefits businesses for their support. To see all of Charlotte’s participating businesses, bookmark this site.

IN THE MEDIA:

How to be a Part of the Charlotte Biking Community

The November 2 edition of Charlotte Agenda includes a starter guide to getting involved in Charlotte’s vibrant bicycling community. The Spokes People received a special shout-out for the resources and support we provide to local cyclists! Click here to visit Charlotte Agenda and read the article.

FROM THE CYCLING SAVVY WEBSITE:

Ten Tips for Successful Cycling

Ride on the road.
Know and follow the rules.
Integrate in the intersections.
Ride Big.
Communicate.
Be mindful of your surroundings.
Understand how traffic flows.
Want respect? Act respectably.
Let it go: don’t escalate harassment.
Keep it fun!

For complete details about each of the ten tips, visit cyclingsavvy.org/ten-tips-for-successful-cycling/.

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

Upcoming Events

Ride a bike and make new friends at these upcoming events.

Nov 5 (and every Thursday!): Thursday Night Bike Club / 6:30pm / Thomas Street Tavern

Nov 6: 1st Friday Gallery Crawl – Food Truck Friday – Bike Takeover Social / 6:00pm / Queen City Bicycles

Nov 7 (and every Saturday!): Kidical Mass / 2:00pm / Kilgo UMC

Nov 8: Cranksgiving / 2:00pm/ Gumbo

Nov 10 (and every Tuesday!): PMTNR / 7:45 / Common Market Plaza Midwood

Nov 13: Spoke Easy Alleycat / 12:00am / The Spoke Easy

Nov 15 (and every Sunday!): Sunday Slow Riders / 2:00pm / Gumbo

Nov 22: Sunday Slow Riders Pre-Ride Yoga / 1:00pm / 8^th Street Studio

Nov 27 / Critical Mass / 8:00pm / Common Market Plaza Midwood

Dec 5 / Cycling Savvy / Class 1

Dec 11-13 / Cycling Savvy Course

For more details about these and other upcoming rides, go to cltspokespeople.org/calendar/.

Contact Us

CLTSpokesPeople@gmail.com

Please share this newsletter, and as always…

Come ride with us!

Remember to subscribe to the newsletter so you can keep up with the happenings.

This may be your ONLY email from us.

As easy as riding a bike? Take a class.

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged class Cycling Savvy Education on November 16, 2014 by pambikes

All I want to do is ride my bike. A lot. I want to ride every day to every place I need to go. Why? Because I like to and it’s fun. But in order to ride every day, I have to be able to return safely every day. I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a volunteer, a citizen. In order to ride as safely as possible I took a class on bicycle safety called Cycling Savvy. The class was so good that I think everyone should take it. The class taught me how to read the road markings and decipher which lanes would be the safest to ride in and how to negotiate large intersections, etc. As we all know there are many roads that have been designed with motor vehicles as the dominant user (in terms of # of vehicles). That’s ok. That’s life. Look at the road and figure it out. Knowledge is power.

Sign up and register for a Cycling Savvy class with me. See how much you can learn. You’d be surprised how many strategies there are to keep yourself safe. It’s defensive bike driving. It’s covered in a 3 day workshop. Day 1 is a classroom session where we discuss the rules, bike safety and strategies. Day 2 is a closed course session where we practice bike skills and drills. Day 3 is a ride around town to put everything together.

I know many long time riders will be hesitant to sign up for the class because they think they know everything. I can guarantee everyone can learn valuable tips. Even though I’ve only been riding for 8 years. I’ve logged many miles before I took the class. After the class, I felt like things I learned have saved my life many times over. In addition, many crashes have been avoided and my rides have been more pleasant since confrontations have been reduced. I hope to see you in class.

Update: It’s been about a year since I started teaching Cycling Savvy classes. I’ve had a full range of students from people who haven’t been on a bike in 20 years to competitive triathletes. All my students and I have all learned from each other. I’ve noticed some students make remarkable progress in bike skills, others master communication with motorists, others master the techniques.

Here are some comments from the class:

” I took a great 3 Day cycling class called Cycling Savvy. Anyone who bikes should really consider taking it. I learned so much and will definitely be a safer cyclist because of the class.” – BL

“You guys – this was the most fun, educational weekend I’ve had in a while. If you bike anywhere, take this class.” – PE

“3-day cycling workshop concluded today with a tour on some of Charlotte’s busiest roads in Plaza Midwood, where we had to complete individual drills and some group maneuvers. And we met some great folks in the class. If you’re a cyclist, definitely check out the Cycling Savvy course, which is offered nationwide. And if you’re a motorist and want to understand why we ride where & how we do, the classroom section would be beneficial for everyone who shares the road.” – CC

“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 equality biking in traffic. Thanks for keeping me and other students safe!” – GF

Here’s the link to sign up.

And here’s a link to the course outline.

Full disclosure: I am a Cycling Savvy Instructor teaching the course offered through the American Bicycling Education Association. Each instructor receives $30 per each student for the full 9 1/2 hour course. ABEA receives $35. ABEA is a 501c3.

Charlotte Bike Challenge Prize drawings

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged Bike Challenge on October 6, 2014 by pambikes

The final prize drawings for the Charlotte Bike Challenge has been completed. Congratulations to the following winners. I'll be contacting all winners to arrange getting the prizes to each person.

Thanks for riding!

Good Bottle t shirt and sticker	Jeff Shafer
Crank Mafia coozie	Bethany Meredith
Crank Mafia coozie	Karie Kammerer
Crank Mafia coozie	Brooke Smith
Crank Mafia coozie	Kevin Thompson
Crank Mafia coozie, $25 QCB gift cert, sticker, water bottle	Stella Thompson
Lube	nadine ford
Letty's gift cert	Mark Rascio
Dilworth Eye – comprehensive exam	john speight
Patch kit	Chris Hughes
Patch kit	Harry Wilson
Patch kit	Jason Jiggetts
Chain	Rachel Guillot
Chain	Alice Hicks
Diamond Gift card	Geoff Endlich
Speedier Lever	Michael Hernandez
Bell	Delia MacMillan
Buddha dashboard cat	Davede Varner

Year round bike clothing

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged clothing year round on October 6, 2014 by pambikes

As the temperature drops, many people think it’s too cold to ride. And then there’s the ones who thinks it’s too hot to ride in the summer or too wet in the spring. Actually, as the German saying goes “there’s no such thing as bag weather, just bad clothes.” Here’s the full list.

chart http://

Hot up to 100 degrees F.

Wicking top
Wicking shorts
Vibram Five Fingers (then I don’t even need socks and they’re considered closed toe shoes)
Fingerless gloves
Arm Warmers – wool is best. It’s warm even when it’s wet.
Windbreaker jacket
Cropped pants or knickers
Thin layered shirt with short sleeves over the tank top
Pants – the best pants for women are from Outlier. They are pricey but wear well and are very comfortable.
Long sleeved shirt
Full fingered gloves
Windproof jacket
Leg warmers over yoga pants – I have thick wool ones from Lululemon.
Thick wool sweater -Ibex has really thick sweaters.
Uggs boots
Wool hat with ear flaps- Ibex has one that you can fold the flaps up or down.
Down ski gloves
Possum wool neck gaiter from Rivendell (yes, it really is possum wool.)
Wool primaloft vest

Really cold down to 17 degrees F.

When it’s raining or snowing, I bring along my rain jacket. When the snow melts, I want to stay dry as well as warm.

This is all modular so I can adjust as needed. One time I tried out wool long johns but they’re too hot to wear. I sweat after a while. If I wear leg warmers, I can take those off or roll them down if I get hot. Your legs stay pretty warm anyway. Keep riding. Watch the seasons change from the seat of your bike. Ride with me all year round.

Bike Challenge Prize Drawings 1

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged Bike Benefits National Bike Challenge prize on September 26, 2014 by pambikes

We'll draw for prizes at Birdsong at the stop for the Critical Mass ride. Each rider who participated in the Challenge will get tickets based on miles, points, days miles were logged and leadership. Choose which prize(s) you want to win and then we'll draw the winning ticket for each prize.

You can get your tickets before the ride or at Birdsong. Please enter the prize drawings as soon as you get there so we can start drawing for prizes. We should be at Birdsong around 9. And drawings should start at 9:15.

Thanks to the Bike Benefits businesses who donated prizes. We have a prize pool valued at $1800. Thanks to Bart at Queen City Bicycles, Charlotte Bicycle Benefits, Davede Varner, Dilworth Eye Associates, Plaza Midwood Dentistry, Sir Edmond Halley's, Common Market, Birdsong Brewing, Letty's, BikeSource, Good Bottle, EcoLicious, Great Outdoor Provision Company, Dread's Mobile Bike Repair, VeloClean, The Diamond, Harry Johnson and Tony Cam.

Prize

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 1

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 2

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 3

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 4

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 5

Queen City Bicycles prize kit 6

Plaza Midwood Dentistry dental cleaning

Dilworth Eye – comprehensive exam

Espada service gift certificate

Framed print

Davede Varner -Massage

Eagles Nest Doublenest hammock

Dread tune up

Sir Ed's gift cert

Brooks wrench

CM gift cert & Buddha dashboard cat

VeloClean gift cert

Growler w/free refill, pint glass,pint koozy

BikeSource gift card

Letty's gift cert

Good Bottle Hat, t shirt and sticker

EcoLicious gift cert

Floor Pump

Cyclometer

Chain

Diamond Gift card

Diamond Gift Card

Bell

Lube

Speed lever

2014 Charlotte Bike Challenge Summary 1

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged National Bike Challenge stats on September 26, 2014 by pambikes

The local challenge of the National Bike Challenge just ended midnight last night. I've been tallying up the results and stats.

248 riders registered
160 active participants
126 riders earned > 500 points
23 riders rode > 100 days
Total miles logged 136,864
850 miles/rider on average
111 men
62 women

The two main teams in town were the Charlotte Spokes People and the Queen City Bicycles / Crank Mafia. The two teams made for some fierce competition and some smack talk. But it was all in fun. The two teams are ranked #4 (QCB/CM) and #14 (CSP) in the national challenge when you look at the teams in the 50-99 team size range. Great job done by all riders!

Here's a chart of the Top 30 riders for the whole challenge through last night. Top Men's rider was Rufioo and Top Women's rider was Bethanie.

Thanks for riding. See you out there.

Rank	Name	Distance	Points	Active Days
1	Jacob "Rufio" Pilkerton	5,173	8,113	147
2	David Spranger	3,270	6,230	148
3	Stephen Gilbert	3,144	5,884	137
4	Tate Austin	2,853	5,833	149
5	Bethanie Johnson	2,799	5,579	139
6	Carrie Logan	4,169	5,349	59
7	john speight	3,321	5,181	93
8	Pamela Murray	2,126	5,066	147
9	Matt W	2,389	4,469	104
10	Joe Nestor	1,882	4,462	129
11	Kelly Aderholt	2,165	4,345	109
12	Dianna Ward	1,884	4,344	123
13	Pel Deal	1,835	4,275	122
14	Leisure McCorkle	1,789	4,269	124
15	Kyle Moen	2,404	4,164	88
16	Bryan Dubuc	1,816	4,136	116
17	J Miller	1,848	4,108	113
18	Kevin Thompson	1,916	4,096	109
19	Sara Nieft	2,100	3,960	93
20	ryan stachurski	1,582	3,942	118
21	Hernan Atencio	1,032	3,892	143
22	Nicholas Able	2,082	3,882	90
23	Rich Haag	1,833	3,853	101
24	Garry Wallace	2,869	3,829	48
25	Bart Stetler	1,288	3,668	119
26	Merrill Thierman	1,730	3,650	96
27	Liz Lovell	1,212	3,532	116
28	David Ponivas	1,551	3,531	99
29	Mark Herman	1,602	3,502	95
30	Jonathan grabants	942	3,402	123

Bicycle Benefits – Update

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged Bike Benefits greenway vegan on September 15, 2014 by pambikes

Please join me in welcoming the last 10 businesses who have signed up for Bicycle Benefits.

Tyber Creek Pub – a great Irish pub just off the trolley trail in South End
Healthy Home Market – the original home grown health food store
Pita Pit – great sandwiches on pitas with great vegan options
Kabob Grill – great kabobs and vegan options too
Tropical Smoothie Cafe – at Metropolitan on the greenway, lots of healthy options including vegan
VBGB – great outdoor space at NC Music factory
Cherry Berry – self serve frozen yogurt on the greenway at Metropolitan
Varji Varji Salon and Spa – great salon and spa in Morrison
Concrete and Lace Boutique – edgy clothing boutique in Area 51
The Daily Press – newest NoDa coffee shop at the Evening Muse

Check the new interactive map and pocket list on the website.

Local Bike Challenge Celebration

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged Bike Benefits Bike Challenge Birdsong on September 13, 2014 by pambikes

Local Bike Challenge Celebration
Birdsong Brewing Co.
Friday, September 26th
9:00 pm

The Local Challenge ends midnight Thursday September 25th. We'll be riding from Common Market at 8 pm with Critical Mass. Come ride to Birdsong for the prize drawing and celebration. We have over $1,000 worth of prizes. Thanks to Charlotte Bike Benefits, Dr. Mikie Farmer of Plaza Midwood Dentistry, Espada (bike shop), Harry Johnson of Trips for Kids / The Recyclery, Davede Varner, Letty's, Dread's Mobile Bike Repair Service, Birdsong Brewing Co., Common Market, Sir Edmond Halley's Pub, Great Outdoor Provision Company, BikeSource, Good Bottle, VeloClean for their generous donations.

The prizes will be awarded on Friday. Be sure to log all your miles before the deadline. Each rider participating will be given tickets to enter the drawing for the prizes they want to win. The more points you've earned, the more chances you'll have to win. Additional tickets will be awarded for various accomplishments.

The National Bike Challenge formally ends September 30th midnight. You can ride and log more miles up to that date. It's been fun! Let me know what you thought about the Challenge. Thanks for riding.

Charlotte is a Great Biking City 3

This entry was posted in Blog Pam's Blog and tagged Bike Benefits bike lane bike ride cross town trail PMTNR on September 12, 2014 by pambikes

Best Cities

There are many important things a city can do to gain our consideration for this list: segregated bike lanes, municipal bike racks and bike boulevards, to name a few. If you have those things in your town, cyclists probably have the ear of the local government—another key factor. To make our Top 50, a city must also support a vibrant and diverse bike culture, and it must have smart, savvy bike shops.

Above is the first paragraph from the Bicycling article of the 50 best cities for biking. I’m sure you’ve seen the article. I take issue with the criteria and results. Charlotte is a great place to ride your bike. We may not have segregated bike lanes or bike boulevards but we do have buses and light rail trains equipped with bike racks. We have the support of the city transportation department through the installation of bike detection signals at many intersections so bike can trigger the traffic signal and safely cross. We have many municipal bike racks and building codes that require new buildings to provide both covered and uncovered bike parking. Light rail park and ride stations have bike lockers where you can store your bike in a covered locker to secure your bike and all accessories. Some buildings even provide bike lockers. Bike culture in Charlotte is growing and diverse. Not only does Charlotte have a variety of charity and race events such as 24 Hours of Booty and the Novant Criterium, we have great mountain biking, cross, and track events on local area trails, such as the Whitewater Center and the Rock Hill velodrome. We have great local bike shops of all kinds. We have a thriving Bike Benefits program that is the largest program in the country. We have 190 businesses who support cyclists riding to their business by thanking them with an economic incentive. We have bicycle events year round. We have a great resource of Trips for Kids / The Recyclery that provides low income children a mountain bike experience they wouldn’t have otherwise. TFK also has an earn a bike program and a shop that trains volunteers to work on bikes. What a great community resource! While some Charlotteans are intimidated by changes in temperature and thus do not bike year round, Charlotte does have a temperate climate that enables one to bike all year. I have biked year round for years. I sometimes think the temperate climate decreases people’s likelihood to bike year round because small changes in temperature or weather seem to throw us. But in places like Chicago, NYC or Madison where people are cooped up all winter, they burst outside to bike as soon as the daytime temperature hits 50 degrees or so. It’s also similar in places like Seattle or Portland when it’s sunny. Any time there’s a positive break in weather, people get outside. I feel we in Charlotte often take for granted our pleasant climate.

Charlotte also has a thriving bike sharing system that has been a big hit. We have a great tree canopy and a beautifully lush landscape. Riding under the shade of the trees down streets full of unique homes is a daily treat in our hometown. Neighborhoods are filled with beaming homeowners who take great pride in their homes. Charlotte is a nice and clean city. Cycling it is fairly straightforward. For instance, while arterial roads do have to be used in some instances where creeks, rail road and utility rights of way cut through or where cul de sac neighborhoods were once built, most neighborhoods are connected. We don’t have miles of bike lanes because they aren’t necessary. Most of the streets are bike friendly. I have a dislike for badly built bike lanes anyway even though that is part of the criteria for being rated in best cycling cities (See blog post). My opinion on this is based on my riding experience with over 29,000 miles ridden in my career as a cyclist, as opposed to city planners who don’t usually ride bikes, but still make decisions for those of us who do.

Charlotte also has several signed bike routes to help you get from one part of town to another. There is a growing multiuse path trail that will cross 30 miles through town when connected. Many sections are complete and well-used. In much of the city, it is possible to use your bicycle as your primary mode of transportation. I live in Plaza Midwood and I can use my bike for everything. Some of the younger people moving into town often choose to cycle exclusively, never owning a car in the first place. I believe cycling is part of the future of Charlotte.

Through PMTNR we’re trying to help people get back on a bike, support local Bike Benefit businesses and share routes with them all while building road riding confidence. Most people will ride on the greenway or around their neighborhood but wouldn’t otherwise be riding around on a Tuesday night. Our Tuesday group averages about 100 people each week during all but the coldest part of the year. Our stop almost always includes a bicycle benefits business. This helps to familiarize new riders with all the places their bikes can take them in Charlotte. It’s the highlight of my week. It’s great to see so many smiling faces each week with flashing lights for blocks and blocks just riding around. Come ride with us!