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Is it too hilly to enjoy bicycling in Charlotte? I'm in Durham now, and I miss riding -- but you have to be Superman here to do it, and I can't imagine anyone enjoying it.
Is it too hilly to enjoy bicycling in Charlotte? I'm in Durham now, and I miss riding -- but you have to be Superman here to do it, and I can't imagine anyone enjoying it.
Is it too hilly to enjoy bicycling in Charlotte? I'm in Durham now, and I miss riding -- but you have to be Superman here to do it, and I can't imagine anyone enjoying it.
Not if you're Lance "Superman" Armstrong.
I think you can find less hilly areas in Charlotte to ride. The greenways certainly are flat enough for casual bicyclists. And if you ride often enough, the hills will start shrinking.
The bigger issue is the bickering between motorists and bicyclists, but that surely is an issue in most cities.
It's only too hilly on the way up. Luckily hills in Charlotte are nothing like the ones my old man told me about in Michigan, where apparently all hills are uphill, even on the downslope. LOL!
Last edited by Reggie4417; 08-29-2012 at 04:38 PM..
It's not the terrain that makes Charlotte unsuitable for bicycling, in fact I would consider it almost ideal.
It's the traffic and the way the roads are built that makes cycling here dangerous and aggravating to both cyclist and motorist alike.
The narrow streets with an almost complete lack of bike lanes or shoulder on the roads means bikes have to fight with cars for real estate on most of the roads.
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 08-30-2012 at 08:38 AM..
I don't mind a few uphills because then you get a break on the downhills. I remember riding in central Illinois. You had to keep pedaling for hours. No coasting there or you would stop. In fact, I prefer hilly terrain.
Charlotte is not very good for biking in the outer suburban areas since most of the connecting roads are heavily trafficked main roads (due to cul-de-sac neighborhoods). However I think biking in the older central nieghborhoods (Dilworth, Myers Park, etc) is delightful especially when you include the greenways. Many of the roads even include bike lanes - google maps is a great source to find out where these are.
The solid green are dedicated bike lanes. Dotted is recommended for riding.
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