As debates over ebike safety intensify, many communities are considering new rules aimed at reducing accidents and reckless riding. Much of the concern is driven by reports of teenagers speeding through neighborhoods, ignoring traffic laws, riding without helmets, and creating hazards for pedestrians and motorists alike. Those concerns deserve serious attention. But the central question is not whether ebikes should be regulated, it is how. Effective policy should target risky

Some communities spend millions trying to create a downtown people want to visit and still cannot quite figure it out. Travelers Rest, South Carolina, feels different because it understands something simple but incredibly important. Great places are built through details. As we explored downtown, that idea showed up over and over again. One moment, you are walking beside cyclists rolling through town on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Next, you notice flowers spilling out of planters

I'm a downtown economic developer by profession. With almost twenty years of experience helping communities revitalize their downtown, connecting downtowns to trails is one of those ideas that shows up in almost every conference, strategic plan, and community conversation. Everyone agrees it’s important. Everyone can point to great examples. But far fewer communities actually move from talking about it to seeing real people come off the trail, into downtown, and spending mon

The Joy 2022 The Witches Ride | Asheville on Bike's "Pumpkin Pedaller Event" at New Belgium Brewing Company My bike group decided to do something crazy. We decided to do a "witches ride" in October. We thought, Why not? Let's go back to being kids and ride a trail imagining that our bikes were our brooms. In 2022, we decided to go where others were in costume, so we found an event in Asheville, NC, that fit the bill!!! We pulled out our costumes and gathered all kinds of garn

Easy | 33.7 Miles | Virginia Creeper Trail | RAIL TRAIL | Gravel I never knew there was a mecca of wonder in Virginia until people told me I needed to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail on FB. I looked it up and saw it was on a mountain. Um, that is a heck no. But there was something that kept making me go back to it. Why are people so obsessed with it? Why are people renting bikes? Why don't they take their bike? Why are all these people in so much better shape than I am? Can t