Friday morning started early, due to the kickoff of BIKE! Charlotte. The first event was the Mayor's Ride, and with having an actual mayor this year we were in. As always, we do a "ride to the ride." It's been in a few different locations over the years, but this year we returned to a location that we've used in the past... Uptown Cycles. Great shop, and with a a few changes they are getting even better. I'm grateful that they let our local mountain bike club, the Tarheel Trailblazers, meet there for our annual BIKE! Charlotte kickoff.
Anyway, after the crowd gathered we hopped on our bikes and headed to the meeting spot a short distance away. And here's where I give a special shout out to DeFeet for letting one of their employees take the day off to support cycling in his community.
Lunchbox!
On a side note, that little ride full of climbs hurt me. My ribs suffered a setback last weekend when I decided to ride on an actual trail, and after taking a bunch moar days off to heal my fitness went right back down the shitter again. Meh.
Anyway, we met up at the usual spot just south of Uptown Charlotte and the crowd was small. After a few minutes of concern, a huge crowd rolled in and our group looked better. I heard that the count was about six hundred. Not bad for a bunch of folks that are supposed to be working. After a short speech by our new mayor, we rode through the streets and headed for breakfast.
The Mayor's Ride concluded at the Government Center, where we were treated to an awesome free breakfast. It was a great way to start the morning.
I do this every year, and haven't missed one since I moved to Charlotte. Although it seems like they hate people on bike the rest of the year, events like BIKE! Charlotte are a good way for people to see how important cycling is to our community. I'm glad we have stuff like this around, and an awesome community of cyclists to support it.
Now, if I could just get myself back together. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
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