Weekend Ride: the Charleston Pint Pedal

I mentioned the Charleston Pint Pedal in last week’s post, and I wanted to share the details of the ride, which took place last Saturday in downtown Charleston.

The ride began at the Palmetto Brewery downtown. The courtyard was already filled with bicycles by the time I arrived - the most I've seen outside of a bike shop. One of the coolest things was the sheer variety of bikes - everything from high-end racing bikes, to beach cruisers, to fixies, and just about everything in between. The ride was for everyone, whether they had a carbon-fiber racing bike or a department-store Huffy, which to me is what biking is all about.

One of my favorite bikes that I saw was actually a well-worn cruiser that had a vintage military feel to it and looked as if it has actually seen battle. It had more character than just about any bike I've ever seen, and I managed to snap a picture of it:

The riders were just as varied as the bicycles. Of the roughly 200 people in attendance, nearly all of them were in seersucker, which was the theme of the day. There was even a pair of dachshunds along for the ride, both looking handsome in seersucker and bow ties.

The ride itself was a heck of a lot of fun. We started off at the Palmetto Brewery and rode a relatively straight route to the Coast Brewing Company five and a half miles away, then went back to our starting point. As far as I could tell, half of the people in attendance were beer drinkers who also enjoyed cycling, and the other half were cyclists who also enjoyed beer. It was a fun crowd, and I got to meet several other bike commuters as we rode.

At Coast Brewing, I tried their new Saison du Fus, which was a delicious beer that paired well with the barbeque and strawberries that were also available. There was live music that kept the mood going while everyone relaxed and ate. After Coast, we were in high spirits as we began the ride back to Palmetto Brewery. One of my favorite parts of the ride back was when a person walking along the sidewalk asked what holiday it was, to which a quick-thinking rider simply replied, "It's Saturday!"

Cranford Hollow playing at Palmetto Brewery

When we arrived back at Palmetto Brewery, I tried their Charleston Lager, which hit the spot after a good ride on a warm day. There was also a great local band playing called Cranford Hollow. I'd never heard of them before, but their music was the perfect end to a weekend ride.

What I really loved about the Pint Pedal was how it presented a vision of what cycling in America could be – a group of happy, friendly people riding down the street, waving hello to people we passed and secure from cars thanks to our sheer numbers. Yet in spite of our numbers, we did little to impede traffic flow. A few intersections got temporarily blocked, but everyone obeyed traffic laws, and cyclists and drivers alike were courteous and able to easily share the road. That’s what cycling could, and should, be – not just a sport or weekend activity, but something people do every day as a way to get places, to connect with others, and to experience the joy of two wheels. We were not riding with traffic, we were part of the traffic – just another form of transportation that had an equal right to use public roads to reach our destination. Events like the Pint Pedal are great, but how wonderful would it be if it didn't take a special event to get this many cyclists out on the road - if groups of riders in the hundreds was a daily occurrence?

It wouldn't take much to make that happen - just get on your bikes and ride!

Me on my bike, before the ride.