It does my heart good to see people–especially grown ups–discover how much fun it is to ride a bike. The photo here is of a new neighborhood ride near Tampa. The palm trees and Spanish moss look especially nice to this winter-weary rider.

A 1World2Wheels reader, Alan Snel, shared his story about the Seminole Heights Riding Club.

According to Snel, “I’d been leading bike rides on neighborhood streets for local folks who fear Tampa’s roads since September. I decided to lead 6-mile rides for newbies, and casual hybrid-bike types in our neighborhood, which has lots of old oaks and bungalow houses.

The weekly bike rides became the foundation for the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club. The club formed when 25 people showed up at Snel’s house and together they organized the club right on his front porch.

The inaugural ride of the Seminole Bike Club was 2 weeks ago and 60 cyclists showed up. Starbucks chipped in with free coffee and water for the bike ride that included Tampa mayor Pam Iorio.

One outcome of the ride is that Mayor Iorio pledged to paint a bike lane on a wide, one-way road that leads into downtown Tampa.

The Seminole Heights Bike Club is grassroots in the purest form; no hierarchy, no connection to an agency, no dues. Just people of all biycling levels and types of bikes and ages coming together for the pure love of biking and neighborhood spirit. Sweet!
You can find more photos and information here: http://www.seminoleheightsbicycleclub.com/rides.html