Can Art Make Our Roads Safer?
Cyclists tend to be skeptical about the safety value of paint.
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Becoming a Cyclist
ReCYCLEry Bike Co-Op Is a Community Gem
Special Olympics Spreads the Joy of Cycling
Why I Am Not Going to Buy an E-Bike
Imperfect Circles
Traffic engineers love roundabouts, for good reasons.
Looking Back at Chapel Hill’s Guerrilla Trail Builders
They spoke in code about the results of their work.
Outdated Law Shields Unsafe Drivers from Accountability
It’s illegal in North Carolina to have sex in a motel room if you’re not married.
Girls Ride the Wave on Carrboro’s Pump Track
The trick, said cycling instructor Tamara Sanders, is to use your bike and body in response to the terrain to keep the bike moving forward.
Flying Squirrels, Missing Bridges, and Other Uncommon Cycling Hazards in North Carolina
Funny things can happen when you ride a bike in North Carolina.
Can We Make Bicycle Safety a Priority in Orange County?
Ten cyclists were moving in a paceline down Orange Grove Road when a pickup truck blew past.
Advice for the Interested but Concerned
Transportation planners worry about cyclists who don’t ride bikes.
Inexpensive Fixes to Sweeten the Ride
It’s hard for a cyclist to complain about Weaver Dairy Road. A rebuild eight years ago created wide bike lanes on each side, from Martin Luther King Boulevard…
An Open Letter for the Open Road
I write to you as a neighbor, fellow road user and cyclist. In 30 years of riding in and around Chapel Hill, I have seen and, at times, nearly been the victim of some awful driving behavior…
Think Big: Post Pandemic Trail, Park & Greenway Plan
Parks and conservation areas aren’t created out of thin air. They happen because 1) a particular person or group sees the beauty and natural promise of an area, and…
What We Owe Our Dogs After the Pandemic
I never had a dog when I was growing up. For years, we left Chapel Hill to spend summers in the U.K. where my father taught at a university, and a dog was too much of a complication.
A Shot in the Arm for UNC Health
Over our pandemic year I’ve been lucky enough to mountain bike with a group of five or so friends on a regular basis.
The Why of BMX
I didn’t ride BMX bikes when I was a kid, but plenty of kids I knew did. There was even a (sort of) hit BMX movie in 1986, “Rad,” which included a very young Lori Loughlin and plenty of awesome biking sequences.
Bicycling Towards Recovery
For many of us, it’s been a very hard year. Now it’s December, we all are ready to move on, and we still are facing a tough few months. In this community especially, we have many who serve on the front line at UNC Hospitals and other clinics.
Take the Kids Hiking: Seven Favorite Spots
Besides bicycling, I also love hiking the amazing woods and trails in our area. Since I was a kid in the 1970s we’ve lost some trails but gained significantly more.
How Businesses Adapt When New Competitors Arise
Like any small business, bicycle shops have had to grow and change over the last 40 years in response to increasing competition as our retail economy shifted dramatically. In the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and surrounding area of 1980, there was no Amazon, no Best Buy, no Target, no REI.
Lessons from Carrboro’s Tumbleweed Cyclery
I was about 10 years old in 1977 when I got my first “real” bicycle, a 10-speed racer made in Europe by Puch, a now long-defunct brand.
Gifts for Good Bicyclists
Yes, there were some few extraordinarily lucky riders out there who might have gotten a new Santa Cruz full suspension carbon mountain bike or a camper van with a custom bicycle rack and an outdoor hot shower. But what about the rest of us?
Recreational Forests & Trails
Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina are linked historically, economically and physically. Chapel Hill’s fire trucks are not only painted Carolina blue but our town was created at the founding of UNC to quite simply “serve the University”.
A Few “Best Rides”
Chapel Hill and Carrboro have much to offer, but it isn’t always easy to find the best suggestions for bicycling. Everyone has his or her own favorite rides, so below are a few of my own. I’d suggest making sure you have Google Maps on your phone — it has a bicycling function that clearly shows greenways and bike lanes.
Riding with Kids: Trailers, Tag-a-Longs and First Bikes
THE BIKE BEAT By Adam Searing One of the great joys of being a parent for me has been riding with my kids over the years. Our children create the…
Our Area Has One of the Largest Communities of Mountain Bikers
THE BIKE BEAT By Adam Searing The Chapel Hill-Carrboro area has one of the largest communities of cyclists who ride mountain bikes in the state. Why? We are blessed with…