Bicycles are everywhere these days. And you’ll be seeing a lot more of them this week as Bike Month kicks into high gear with events like Downtown Memphis’ Bike to Work Day and Bikesploitation at the Metal Museum.
The addition of 71 new miles of dedicated bike lanes and shared-use paths has led to increased bicycle usage. While pedal-pushing trend lines have remained flat for most of Tennessee, Memphis has seen its number of bike riders double since 2008. A four-week study conducted in the fall of 2013 showed 21,000 people using just the Wolf River Greenway with a 500-average of weekday users ramping up to 1,300 on the weekend. That sounds impressive, but the study concludes that while Memphis is becoming a more bike-friendly city, more events and opportunities for education will be required to catch us up to national averages. As it happens, more events are on the horizon.
Friday, May 16th, Downtown Memphis will celebrate five years of participating in Bike-to-Work Day, a competition to see which area businesses can put the most bikes on the street. Individuals register at downtownmemphis.com then each company will verify participation by posting a group photo to the Downtown Memphis Bike to Work Facebook page.
The two-wheeled goodness continues on Saturday with Bikesploitation. The free bike-centric festival, held at the Metal Museum, features a variety of events for cycling enthusiasts. Every Bikesploitation event is a little different, but they all feature music, bike-specific art and film, good food, family fun, and games, as well as some unusual bikes.
