Oaks & Spokes is piloting a new program to help facilitate comfort and confidence for bike commuters. The Bike Buddy Program is debuting on April 21st at 10am with three starting locations to help neighborhood riders learn how to ride to downtown and back. Choose which location is best for you and let Oaks & Spokes teach you how to communicate to other cyclists and drivers while on a bike, navigate bike lanes, sharrows, and unmarked roads, and more importantly, understand the convenience of getting to the downtown area by bike!
This is a great opportunity for riders to meet others in their neighborhoods with potentially similar commuting needs — or simply to make new biking buddies! Additionally, May is bike month and there are dozens of bike-related events to participate with, including Bike to Work Week (May 14 to 18) and Bike to Work Day (May 18). There’s certainly no shortage of reasons to come join us for this leisurely Saturday ride led by Oaks & Spokes’ passionate bike wizards who are more than excited to impart safe cycling habits!
Three starting locations:
Lions Park (Bennett St Entrance)
Forest Hills Baptist Church (201 Dixie Trail)
Lake Raleigh Dock on Centennial Campus (Intersection of Main Campus Dr and Partner’s Way)
Each location will have ride support and perform basic safety checks, such as airing up tires. We will go over how to use hand signals, how to verbally communicate within a group of cyclists, and what to look for while riding your bike to assure a safe ride. For this pilot ride, our destination will be the downtown Exchange Plaza where we will have a picnic, mingle with other new commuters, and learn more about safe cycling habits from BikeRaleigh. The three groups will depart back to the starting locations to give closure to what a commute would look like for those interested in biking to the downtown area. Each route will be approximately 2-3 miles one way, 4-6 total.
Event Details:
April 21st, 2018
10:00-10:30am: Open discussion & assistance with commuting routes, safety checks/air up tires, general assistance, membership recruitment
10:30am-11:00am: Depart to downtown
11:00am-12:00pm: Flexible lunch/snack and more open discussion/social time
12:00pm: Depart back to starting locations
12:30pm: Estimated arrival time to assist with any additional questions
Wrap by 1pm
Facebook Event Page: facebook.com/events/1805247533114106/
While this ride is meant for newer riders, all wheels (experienced or new) are welcome to ride. We encourage everybody to come out and bring a friend! Helmets are recommended, locks are not needed for this first ride.
Thank you for riding your bike!