Date: Saturday, May 18th
Time: Bike Ride @10:00am & Lunch @12:30pm
Difficulty: Bike ride moderate (6/10) – 16 miles roundtrip, elevation gain: 1,109′
Total ride time is estimated to be 2-2.5 hours, including stops.
Cost: FREE for all participants, but registration is required and space is limited
Join us and special guests from Pathways to Parks on a special countryside bicycle ride exploring farmland conservation and rural black history in Alexander, NC. This loop rolls over gentle hills through the Alexander/Leicester area with views of open farmland valleys and breathtaking vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The vision of Pathways to Parks is to motivate Americans of color to get outdoors and enjoy the benefits of nature in our national, state and local parks and to help make it easy and accessible for them to do so.
The ride will begin at the SAHC Community Farm and then proceed to the historic Alexander Chapel Baptist Church, site of a historic African American church and cemetery. At this stop, riders will be joined by Annette Coleman, whose family was from this area. Annette will share information about the history of the church and preservation efforts to care for the site. Annette is one of the members of ASCORE – the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equity – which desegregated public spaces in Asheville in the 1960s.
This ride will start and end at the SAHC Community Farm where afterward everyone will enjoy a catered lunch courtesy of Pathways to Parks. If you are not interested in the bike ride but are still interested in the event, please still join us for lunch, where we will have a remarks and presentation on the history of the Alexander Baptist Church. Everyone is invited to join us for lunch and fellowship after the ride, starting at 12:30pm.
This ride is FREE and open to the public, but some road cycling experience and proper safety equipment are recommended. Helmets are required, and we recommend water bottles as well as a snack for emergency energy. You may want to consider bringing a spare tube and pump. Less experienced riders should feel comfortable on this route, however, riding in this region always involves some hill climbing and this route is no exception. There are three climbs with a 1-2% grade that will require low gears and moderate to high effort. We will be riding on rural roads with no bike lanes alongside some vehicle traffic. This is a no-drop ride, so nobody will be left behind!
Thank you for your interest in this event but the registration is currently FULL. If you are still interested in the ride and would like to be added to the waitlist, please email Travis@appalachian.org. Thank you!
