Biking from Matthews to Charlotte uptown

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 11, 2008 at 11:11am

Oh yeah, I'll probably ride is again on Wed or Thursday. If anyone wants to join, send me an email. For the record, I am not a "professional" cyclist by any means. I tend to consider myself an avg suburbian who just enjoys a ride. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Andy Ciordia on August 14, 2008 at 4:15pm

Wow good job on that. If they don't want to run light rail down, maybe someone can build a bike-way.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 14, 2008 at 7:54pm

The rides have gone well so far. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking about trying it. It's great exercise and drivers have been reasonably "nice" but we really need Matthews and Charlotte to invest in bike lanes. I spent a few weeks in northern California this summer and am envious of their biking infrastructure.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Buie-Jackson on August 16, 2008 at 11:21am

I feel your pain! I agree with your comments about riding on the sidewalk. Jay (hubby) and I are trying to ride to do all of our errands around Matthews (he works in downtown Matthews so he rides to work every day). My new rule, if its less than 5 miles, I have to bike. So we are riding to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays, Panera's, grocery stores, pharmacy, etc. I'm also riding to attend meetings in Matthews like the Advisory Board meetings, etc. At first, we were trying to stay on the sidewalks but we were beating our bikes (and backs) to death so we donned bright day-glo yellow vests with reflector striping and got out onto the roads and it is much easier and I think safer and, you're right, faster. We also got great racks and saddle bags for the bikes so unless its something heavy like birdseed or dog food, we can bring pretty much anything home on the bikes. And when we do need to get something heavy or awkward, we try to combine all our "non-bikeable" errands into one trip and get it all out of the way. I commend your efforts to ride uptown! You're saving money, staying fit and helping the environment all with one single action----Bravo!

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Fisher on August 17, 2008 at 9:37am

My wife and I also try to bike (or walk) for local errands and we usually take the bikes to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays. But problems arise when we try to bike over to the Target/Costco/Harris Teeter big box stores at the 51/74 intersection. Bikes are actually prohibited at the Sycamore Commons shopping area and there are very few (if any?) bike racks to lock bikes to in any of these places. Have there been any petitions to make these places more bike friendly??

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Permalink Reply by Carol Buie-Jackson on August 17, 2008 at 12:43pm

I don't know of any current petitions but I have brought it up to a couple of Town Councilmen and plan to discuss it Monday night at the Appearance and Tree Board meeting. I don't know whose responsibility it would be....Public Works? Parks & Rec? We need bike racks all over town and I think it would be a cool idea to challenge local artist/welders/sculptors to create unique bike racks, Louisville KY did it and I've included some of the ones they used. Here's a link if you want to see more. But even if we just put up the standard racks, we need more people asking for them from businesses and town government. Riding a bike is such a great solution to so many of our problems right now: traffic congestion, pollution, dependence on oil, obesity, etc., that municipalities and local businesses should be encouraging it, not banning it. And of course, we need more awareness campaigns to encourage motorists to share the roads and for cyclists to ride responsibly. Can't we all just get along?

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 17, 2008 at 4:36pm

Great shots! I would think that Transit would be responsible. Matthews vision include bike lanes and pedestrian connectivity. Man, we have a long way to go. We definitely need more vocal representation of these needs.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 17, 2008 at 4:34pm

I agree that the 51 and 74 area is... difficult. I took my kid out for a ride this weekend. We have one of those cycle extenders that makes an adult bike like a bike made for two. Anyhow, it was quite stressful to maneuver with a child in that area. 51 could benefit from bike lanes. Also, it amazes me how many sidewalks around here just end. *shakes head*

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Permalink Reply by Carol Buie-Jackson on August 17, 2008 at 11:31pm

Is your kid a little girl? If so, we may have crossed paths at the intersection of Weddington (when it was open) and Pleasant Plains a few weeks back. You can't miss us, we're in bright yellow vests. If you see us, pls pull over so we can properly introduce ourselves.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 18, 2008 at 1:05am

Yes, a little girl. That may have been us. I'll keep my eye out for you. I usually ride a red Fuji hybrid bike.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Brooks on August 19, 2008 at 1:13pm

Today was fun c/o middle-aged-white-guy-in-a-big-car-road-rager

Look, I think that many clyclist get a few horns... I already expect that kind of stuff. This guy was, in my opinion, just off of his rocker this morning.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Buie-Jackson on August 19, 2008 at 9:41pm

Sorry about your encounter this morning. Jerk! Shake it off and climb back on that bike. I rode home from a board meeting after dark last night. Will not do that again without a proper headlight. I stayed on the sidewalks except for the places I had to cross the street since the sidewalk ended, but had to go slowly since I couldn't see well. The light I had was inadequate. Do you bike in the dark?

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