Cycling in and around Union County, NC
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It was an early morning for me. Up around 6 AM on a Saturday morning, didn’t sleep too well, but it looked to be a beautiful day for a ride. It was already warm and a little humid but I got the tandem ready and bottles prepared. Then made and ate breakfast. Woke Nicole up around 7:45 AM and left the house about 8:10 AM.
The Bicycles East rides are postponed for this weekend, in its place is the Inaugural Poker Ride. Following the same route as last years Veteran’s Day Ride, starting and finishing in Matthews, NC. The metric century travels through much of scenic Union County. Don’t forget to stop at all the rest stops to pick up a playing card!
Nicole and I will be there on the Cannondale Tandem. It would be nice if another tandem or two would show up also. We would like to draft on occasion instead of having to pull everybody around the route.
Registration 
Remember, all the proceeds from the event will go to the Matthews Help Center and the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center.
Only 18 spaces left as of Thursday midnight.
Nicole and I had a two very good rides. The first was the Saturday Mid-Morning ride out of Bicycles East in Matthews. That ride can be fast or slow depending on the composition of the group. For the most part it was a fair mix of riders and the weather was good. Thirty-Three miles through Matthews, Mint hill and parts of rural Union County.
mailThis week is Bike Charlotte. Make sure you go to BikeCharlotte.com for all the local bike related events this week.
May is National Bike Month, Bike-to-work week is May 12-16, and Bike-to-work day is May 16. If you need more ideas on how to promote cycling in your area the League of American Wheelmen have a .PDF file for you, 50 Things For Bike Month.
Just a reminder, the Inaugural Poker Ride, sponsored by Bicycles East, will be held this Saturday May 10. Find out more at BikesEast.com and sign up at ActiverZach.
When I first came back to riding BIKE! Charlotte was the first organized event that Nicole and I did together. That was two years ago. This year the events surrounding BIKE! Charlotte run from Thursday May 1st through Sunday May 11th.
Bikes can ride for free on CATS Buses and LYNX Light Rail.
Learn more about BIKE! Charlotte here.
The list of events are posted here.
In this first annual cycling event, each registered rider will pick up a random playing card at each of the four rest stops with the final card being received at the finish.
1st place wins $400, 2nd place wins $200 and 3rd place wins $100. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, just the draw of the cards. All the proceeds from the event will go to the Matthews Help Center and the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center.
This was my first ride with this group and on this route. There is a considerable amount of riding within Matthews and Charlotte, but once out of town you have some very good roads in Cabarrus County and the very northeastern part of Union County. I have included splits for each mile so you can see for yourself when the ride speeds up or slows down. The splits also give you an idea of the elevation gain per mile, red means you are generally going uphill and green downhill. Please note that the elevation changes are not cumulative for the splits.
I decided to go out and try the Bicycles East mid-Saturday morning ride. Today was a beautiful day to be out on the bike. There were about 20 people or so that went out starting from downtown Matthews riding on the edges of Union and Mecklenburg Counties. The creators of this route have done a real good job avoiding the congestion of Matthews, Stallings, Indian Trail and Mint Hill. The route does have just under 900 feet of elevation gain, and there was one climb where I did see a 10% grade. But overall it is just rolling. There was a little bit of wind just before getting to Mint Hill but otherwise the ride is mostly sheltered from the wind.
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