Friendliest Bike Ride in America set for Tuesday in Roanoke

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WSLS 10 Anchor John Carlin talks with local cyclist Rob Issem.

The "Friendliest bike ride in America" will be taking place at 5:45 Tuesday evening June 7, 2016 in Roanoke.

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Rob Issem, a Roanoke-based cyclist, wanted to create a ride that was welcoming to everyone, so he created the ride and started recruiting people using Facebook and other social media sites.

He's expecting a large crowd to pedal away from the Transportation Museum in downtown Roanoke at 5:45 p.m.

"When you arrive, everybody that shows up are already best friends. Very warmly welcomed. It's a nice size group. You feel like you fit in and then as we roll on all the experienced riders are super happy to help and give tips to the novice riders and so we are keeping everybody safe. We're trying our best to introduce them to the dynamics of road riding and really just making it fun from start to finish," said Issem.

The ride of about 20 miles, goes out Bandy Road and features several shorter distance options. The longest and most difficult heads to the top of Crowell's Gap on the Franklin County line. The last quarter-mile or so is a gravel road that features steep pitches with a grade of up to 19 percent.

Even Issem says he has had to dismount and push the bike on sections of the climb.  But, he expects most riders will opt for the slightly easier loop that turns prior to the Crowell's Gap portion.

"The classic route is 19 miles. It's the Bandy figure 8 which the majority of people do -- and then kind of the crazy people who are up for this challenge are going to go do Bandy figure 8 plus about five miles which is to the summit of Crowell's Gap and back and it's challenging but it's completely doable," said Issem.

After the ride, cyclists are expected to gather as they traditionally have on Tuesday evenings, at Cornerstone Restaurant near the City Market.

For more information click here.

WSLS anchor John Carlin will be riding with the group on Tuesday and filing a report for the Tuesday 11 p.m. news.


About the Author:

John Carlin co-anchors the 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on WSLS 10.