Hey Pam, I dig the gingerbread-house-hauling-Betty pic. Ride on! --Smitty On Monday, January 14, 2013 8:23:55 AM UTC-8, pam wrote: > > I'm in Charlotte NC. Since riding is such a big part of my life, I found > the bike stuff was half of my entire year's highlight list. I have a Betty > Foy that I got in May 2011. I've loved it ever since I've gotten it and I > ride everywhere all the time. I'm not athletic and I don't race. I'm the > turtle doing one mile at a time but it adds up. Here's what's going on in > Charlotte NC. If anyone is in town, let me know and we can ride around. > Charlotte is not known as a bike town but I've found I can get around to > most places by bike just fine. > > > Dear Bike Friends, > > > > Thanks for riding with me and helping me make this a great year for > bikes. Bike stuff is growing and happening and there’s so much to do and > see. As you can see, there’s all kinds of fun things to do a bike. The > more bikes on the road, the safer it is for bikes, cars and pedestrians. > Resolve to get on your bike and ride this year. Come ride with me on a > Tuesday Night. > > > > As always, if it’s not raining tomorrow (at 7:30 pm), I’ll be at Common > Market at 7:45. We’ll ride at 8. > > > > Ride safe, > > Pam > > > > *Bike Highlights of 2012* > > > > Fun rides: > > - “Zombieland” Alleycat presented by Spoke Easy > - “Princess Bride” Alleycat presented by Spoke Easy > - Cranksgiving at Independence Park > - NoDa - Freedom Park ride at Dolce Vita > - Urban Assault Ride presented by New Belgium Brewing > - Critical Mass rides every month > > > > > > Rides this year: > > · I host a ride every week for the Charlotte Area Bike Alliance > on Tuesday nights at 8. We meet at 7:45 and figure out a route then ride > for about an hour. This ride is meant to be for anybody who just wants to > ride and have a good time. It’s nothing serious and everyone is welcome. > We don’t go far or fast but we all like to ride. There were a total of 84 > riders last year (including me). We were rained out 4 times, I had to > cancel 3 times and there were times were no one showed up. But hopefully > it’s a small contribution to help people get comfortable riding on the > roads and share shortcuts and safe roads. Since I started riding at night, > it’s my favorite time to ride. There are less cars out than any other time > or day. It’s very peaceful. I once saw a deer on the greenway and was > thankful I was with someone (Nat) who yelled “deer” before I got trampled. > > > > · There are more and more rides around. Zeke Safdy and Maurice > are organizers of the Charlotte Area Cycling Meet Up group and host rides > all the time. There’s a facebook group for “The Gentlemens Ride” and > “Charlotte Critical Mass”. Of course there are lots of road bike rides > listed on WeeklyRides.com. Jeff Viscount compiles all kinds of events and > rides and has added a social ride category for the Tuesday Night Ride. > > > > The National Bike Challenge: > > · This challenge ran from May 1st to August 30th. > > · Our team was named “The Charlotte Spokes People”. > > · Our team consisted of James Stewart, Ryan Stachurski, Bill > Fehr, Jon Harding, Ann Groninger, Hernan Atencio, Katherine Whitton, David > Spranger, Alex. > > · Thank you to everyone who joined the team. > > · Our team was ranked #1 in the Charlotte area and #67 > nationally. > > · Our team logged 12,638 miles. All riders on NC logged 140,476 > miles. > > · I’m sure I’ll do this again this year. Let me know if you want > to join my team. > > > > The Long Road Home Project: > > In August, I had the good fortune and privilege to meet Casey Miller and > his team of intrepid veteran bike riders who formed “The Long Road Home > Project.” They were from various units of the armed forces. They were a > team of 5 people who rode across the country in 90 days. I had the honor > of meeting them for dinner then riding with 2 of them for 32 miles to > Oakboro. Although it was raining and cold, I could hardly wimp out on Jr. > and Steve. You see, they are not only veterans but paralympians riding > across the country on handcycles. I figured if they could do it, so could > I. As I struggled to keep up, Steve told me Jr. was one of the leading > handcyclists in his division in the Paralympics so I didn’t feel too bad > for slowing them down. I turned off after 32 miles. They continued on for > about 18 more miles that day. > > > > Local highlights: > > · Bike Fest on Thomas Avenue in Plaza Midwood was on May12th. It > was the second year of this Open Street event. Thanks to James Stewart, > Angie Courtney, Kelly Sturges, Tobe Holmes, Kevin Kennedy, Nicole Storey > and Leslie Sykes for making this possible. > > > > · Plaza/Commonwealth pedscape is finally finished. 8? bike > racks, a bike maintenance station, pedestrian crosswalks, sharrows, reverse > angle parking and new wide sidewalks have been installed to make the area > friendly to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. > > > > · I’m starting to plan BikeFest for this year. Please e-mail me > if you can help in any way. I’ll need a LOT of help the day of the event. > If you can sign up for an hour or two, it would help me immensely. > > > > Personal: > > · I rode 4,879 miles this year. Last year I rode 2,673 miles. > Next year I’ll try to ride more than 5,000 miles. I put about 5,715 miles > on my car last year and my goal is to ride more than drive (which is hard > since the car is used for out of town trips that are long). > > · Fell a little short of crossing 12,000 (cumulative)miles in > 2012. > > > > > > Charlotte Bike heroes: > > · Kevin Kennedy for organizing the fun themed alleycats. If you > haven’t come out to ride in one or to just enjoy the festivities, you > should come. They start at Spoke Easy and are usually on the facebook > page. There are prizes for place finishers, a raffle and prizes for best > costume. Kevin’s firm Cluck Design has also been actively involved with > the Plaza/Commonwealth pedscape plan. > > > > · Dianna Ward who is the founder of Charlotte NC tours and the > Executive Director of Charlotte B Cycle is a great contributor to the bike > culture in Charlotte. > > > > · And as always, Ken Tippette who is the Bike Coordinator within > CDOT. I applaud his efforts to try new bike infrastructure such as the new > green lane on 4th, 10th, the new bike box on Carson, the sharrows on > Pecan and Commonwealth. I’m sure there are many more that I haven’t seen. > > On Sunday, January 6, 2013 11:47:08 AM UTC-5, Kelly wrote: >> >> Dawn and I were talking about vacation schedules this year and since they >> changed how it was done at her work place it's been dicy getting dates that >> work for thing like Michigan Shoreline West and thing as such. However we >> had a fantastic 2012 and were talking about the upcoming year. We had >> some casual ideas ... and then we decided to reduce cost by staying within >> driving distance and excluding airfare. With that in mind here are some of >> the rides / hopes for our 2013. What are yours? >> >> April - Tour de Hills in Harrison Arkansas - One day ride >> May - Three State Three Mountain Challenge - One day ride >> May - Horsey Hundred - two day ride >> May- Weekend overnight >> June- One week fully loaded tour... leaning towards Train to Chicago >> then ride home. >> July - try to survive heat during local club rides and around town stuff. >> August - One week fully loaded Cowboy Trail >> September - 2 weeks and do the Erie Canal or Natchez Trace or USBR 35 >> From Sault Ste. Marie to New Buffalo - Leaning towards Erie Canal at the >> Moment though logistically it's the toughest of the three. >> October - Hilly Hundred 2 day ride >> November - FestiVELO 4 day ride >> >> Looking forward to 2013 and seeing what y'all are doing.. >> >> Happy Trails >> >> Kelly >> >> >> >>
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