Long ride ends in driveway, but this trip is far from over
One in a series of Open Streets 704 profiles on Charlotte’s bike and pedestrian advocates.
Riding your bike to school is a time-honored tradition. A block or two with a helmet and a backpack? No problem! It’s a rite of passage for many kids.
But would you be inclined to do it if your school was more than 8 miles away through uptown traffic? Probably not, unless you’re Douglas Welton and his determined group of friends.
Welton and his son’s classmates at JT Williams Montessori School meet once a week at Freedom Park in south Charlotte to ride with their parents to the new magnet middle & high school, located on the other side of uptown Charlotte — up Statesville Avenue where I-77 and I-85 cross each other. The group grew out Park Road Montessori’s Bicycle Friday program led by Bethanie Johnson and Heather Ruckterstuhl.
It’s a little further than just around the corner and up the block. “We go with them, and show them it’s possible,” says Welton about encouraging the kids ride their bikes that far to school.
Welton is a big fan of biking. He set a personal goal of riding the circumference of the earth — 24,901 miles — in five years between 2009 and 2014. He rode 16 miles a day and reached his goal just 50 feet from his driveway. What made him want to do that?
“I’m just trying to encourage people to get out on bikes,” he says with a laugh.
Sometimes it’s easier than others. Last fall when Open Streets 704 wound through Myers Park and Madison Park, Welton got 30 Madison Park neighbors together to ride the route as a group. It was a great way to bring neighbors together and show them how easy a bike trip can be, he said. The event, as its name suggests, is dedicated to open streets without cars — an afternoon of “car(e) free streets,” if you will– and Welton and his neighbors would enjoy that firsthand as the course wound through their neighborhood.
And riding just got a lot easier for Welton and his neighbors, too, with new greenways opening just to Madison Park’s north and south. The ribbon was cut on a route from Tyvola Road to Huntingtowne Farms Park in June; another picks up behind Park Road Shopping Center and runs north just past midtown. In a couple of years, the greenways will extend far enough to ride from NoDa to Pineville.
“I think that’s just great!” says Welton. “It is the most desirable amenity the city can provide for our neighborhood, ever!”
As a bike or pedestrian commuter, the possibilities are limitless. As a parent, it brings a peace of mind every parent wants for neighborhood children. “We can get to rec centers without ever seeing a car,” Welton says. “The potential for my kids to ride his bike to school safely — and it’s okay to say, ‘go’ — it’s positive for our neighborhood.”
Socially, it encourages anyone who is used to jumping in the car to go a mile or two — to the store or a local restaurant — to hop on a bike instead. Several social hotspots are within biking distance of Madison Park now, including Montford Avenue, Park Road Shopping Center, uptown (including Knights, Panthers, and Hornets games and concerts), SouthEnd and LoSo, and SouthPark.
Welton is excited about it all. Neighbors have picked up social rides on the Back Yard Trails behind the Montclaire/Madison Park neighborhoods, and Thursday night “Ride to a Beer” nights.
Bike commuting isn’t just for work anymore, or just to school. For Welton, it’s a daily thing, and it’s so easy, he says everyone can do it — just like when we were kids.
