PMTNR
Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride
Photo Credit: © Erik Minman, Head Craig
PMTNR is a fun bicycle ride for everyone! It meets at Plaza Midwood’s Common Market at 7:45 PM every Tuesday night. The ride itself occurs from 8:00PM until 10:30PM and usually covers 15 miles. This can be a large weekly ride in Charlotte, so you can expect a crowd! Lights and helmet required. This ride is NEVER cancelled. The ride proceeds in rain, shine or snow. (The ride will only be cancelled for extreme weather such as flooding, lightening, etc).
What’s it like? Here’s a link to the first 5 minutes to give you an idea. https://cltspok.es/PMTNR2018
The PMTNR route typically makes a stop around the 10 mile mark — usually at Bicycle Benefits businesses that support bicycling in Charlotte. In order to keep the group together, regrouping stops are every 2 or 3 miles. The stop and route are usually announced in advance on the PMTNR Facebook page. If you would like to check out an example of a previous ride, see this. PMTNR is a group effort.
Volunteers Needed!
In order for the ride to work, we need volunteers. Please step up to count the riders, help at regrouping stops, make the Safety Speech, run Glympse, give out lights or mark a turn. You can even volunteer to lead the ride! PMTNR only works with your help.
Glympse
In order to keep track of where the group is, we’re using Glympse. You can click on Glympse to see where we are. Or bookmark it. We use the same link every week. You don’t need the app (unless you want to volunteer to Glympse for us).
First time Riders
Please make sure your tires are pumped up – check them this week! And make sure your bike is in working order. Ride a few miles to make sure it’s ok before you come. You should be able to ride about 3 miles at a 10 mph pace. We do regroup every 2 miles but we’ll only be able to wait for about 5 minutes. We have a large group sometimes. At the 2nd regrouping, if you’re struggling, you may want to turn back rather than getting further away from the start. Bring a friend just to make sure.
How to get there
The best way to get to the ride is to ride yer bike. Many folks ride down from the University area or up from South Charlotte. If you must drive, street parking is available. You can also park at the library which is at 1623 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 since it closes before the ride.
More information
Here’s a link to the FAQ. More information can be found on the PMTNR Facebook page. Feel free to post your ride photos and route ideas there! New riders should read Bethanie’s tips for a fun ride. Also, check out some pictures from Instagram.
Missed the ride and want to ride the route? Or did you ride but can’t remember how we got there? Here’s the link to all the routes. This takes you to our Ride with GPS. Click on the User CSP to see all our routes.
Feedback
“So the PMTNR’s implicit mission statement is that we hope to encourage biking and cycling awareness to the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. The Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride is for cyclists of all levels. The idea is to help people realize that in doing so people can get around town, support local places, and bring healthy living and awesomeness to Charlotte. We have had riders from all walks of life and skill, including those involved in local political and civic groups. Many of our rides besides cool pubs and breweries include educational/civic stops to local spots.” – Leisure McCorkle
“Just got my Map My Ride summary for 2013. For ~6 months of using MMR, I rode a shade under 500 miles. Probably not a lot compared to many of y’all, but a helluva lot more than I had ridden in the years prior — probably several years combined. And I doubt that I would have done it without Pamela Murray saying to me one afternoon in May, “come out to Common Market on Tuesday night.” Thanks for getting me off my fat butt, PMTNR folks! … Happy new year to all, knowing that y’all have made a change in my life.” – Matt Magnasco
“If you have a bike and love to meet new people and see some new place you may have never been to! Come on out next Tuesday …. Its all about riding and getting outside.” – Ruf I oo
“The beauty of the Tuesday and Sunday ride is that you are riding en-masse. So the things we normally worry about…ie, being hit by cars…aren’t such a factor. We take intersections together and are able to take up a traffic lane riding as a group. I’ve been bike riding for a lot of years, and even so…going on these rides has given me a lot more confidence biking than i had before…and also taught me a lot about safety. Also it’s fun.” – Bethanie Johnson
