With an abundance of bike lanes and trails around town, weekly group bike rides hosted by local shops have become an avenue for cyclists to socialize as well as a healthy incentive to pedal faster.
At Bikes and More, closing up shop doesn’t necessarily mean employees rush home immediately.
Austin Joiner, an employee at the shop at 2133 NW Sixth St., said staff members spontaneously go for joyrides after closing. They’ll call friends to see who is available to join, and after the ride, they go back to the shop to hang out and drink beer together.
The shop also organizes Sunday morning racing team road rides and Wednesday evening mountain bike rides through town. The mountain bike group usually has about seven to 15 participants, Joiner said.
Similarly, the 8th Ave. Bike & Coffee House, 235 NW Eighth Ave., recently added a Tuesday Night Sweaty Ride to its schedule. The shop also holds a Sunday Recovery Ride to Micanopy, and Ride and Dine on Thursday nights.
“The distinctive factor of leading a ride out of Eighth Avenue is that it’s more accessible to everyone in the community,” said Ali Brody, a shop employee.
Apart from the weekly ride schedule, the shop has held an Espresso Social, during which participants rode around town sampling coffee from local shops, and the Amour Chat Alleycat, a couples team bike scavenger hunt.
Swift Cycle, located at 607 W. University Ave., also contributes to the cycling community calendar. A group ride departs from the shop at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday mornings, said Keith Richards, one of the owners.
Though local bike shops are competitors in the market, Richards said the employees are friends across businesses.
That’s how Ryan Aulton, the 32-year-old co-owner of 8th Ave. Bike & Coffee House, sees the community bike rides.
“It’s just riding, having fun, chitchatting,” he said.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 10/23/2013 under the headline "Bike culture taking off in Gainesville as shops organize scheduled rides"
