Bike Month Knox Guide 2021 Edition

May is National Bike Month, a celebration of biking as transportation, as recreation, and as essential to our well-being and everyday lives.

Did you know Knoxville offers over 160 miles of greenways and trails? Knoxville has grown to be a mountain, road and commute biking destination over the past decade. The varied terrain and biking infrastructure offer a wide variety of opportunities for families and recreational cyclists seeking relatively flat paved greenways, for road cyclists seeking longer routes and strenuous climbs, and for mountain bikers seeking challenging technical trails.

Below you will find a list of events celebrating the bicycle this month. We did our best to find all events, but we're sure we missed a few. Would you like to see your event added to the guide? Email Savannah Robertson at savannah.robertson@knoxplanning.org.

Date: May 1 9am - 12pm

Cost: FREE!

Location: Sign up to see exact locations

Description: Looking for a way to give back to the mountain biking community? Help  Appalachian Mountain Bike Club  tackle some projects at the Hastie and Concord trails. Pack your gloves, put on your sturdiest pair of shoes, and be ready to be put to work! Tools will be supplied by AMBC. Lunch at noon and post work party refreshments at Hi-Wire Brewing.  Register today! 

Date: Saturday, May 1, 10:30am - 12:30pm

Cost: $25

Location:  Suttree Landing Park 

Description: Join spokeswomen Biking Club and Two Bikes to learn everything you need to know about getting your bike (and yourself) ready to ride. Bring the bike you would like to work on. Additional bikes will not be supplied. Bike stands, rags, tools, lubricants, and solvents will be provided. If you have your own multitool or tool you would like experience using, bring it!  Register today! 

Date: Every Tuesday during May, 4 - 10pm

Cost: TBD - Depends on how thirsty you are

Location:  Printshop Beer Co. 

Description: Beer tastes better when there's a cause behind it. $1 from each pint purchased on Tuesday nights in May at  Printshop Beer Co.  will go to  Kickstand  and  Knox Loves Bikes . Registration not required.

Date: Every Wednesday night during May, 5:15pm

Cost: Adults: $22,  Juniors: $15

Location: Sharp's Ridge (5/5), Baker Creek (5/12), Concord (5/26)

Description: Knox Bike Racings' Wednesday Night MTB race series consists of races using multiple trail systems in the area. These are high quality, fun and affordable cross country mountain bike races and categories are spaced a few min apart at the start. Come out and give racing a try for the first time or experienced racers can see if they have what it takes to stand on the top of the podium in the Expert class!  Register for the next race here .

Date: Every Thursday, 6pm departure

Cost: Free!

Location: varies,  check their Instagram for updates !

Description: spokeswomen is a biking group for all levels, founded & led by women. They post weekly routes every Monday on  Instagram . The goal of their club is to bring women together promoting physical outdoor activity in a safe & welcoming environment while exploring Knoxville's greenway systems & urban wilderness. Be sure to bring your own bike, helmet, water, and mask! No registration required.

Date: Wednesday, May 5th, all day!

Cost: Free!

Location: Your home --> school

Description: All students across our community are encouraged to participate in National Bike to School Day by riding their bikes to school with their families and sharing their pictures on social media with #BTSDKnox. Interested in planning a bike ride to your kiddo's school? Give  Bike Walk Knoxville  a call today! No registration required.

Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2pm - 3pm

Cost: Free!

Description: North Carolina's TDM program,  GoTriangle , is hosting a free webinar for those buying their first bike or a replacement. Whether it's your first or not, Go Triangle and local cyclists will give you details on how to select a bike based on how and where you ride, your body and abilities, and your budget. They'll have a Q&A, too, so you can feel confident in your bike selection and not be intimidated by all of the options when you make your purchase.  Register today! 

Date: Saturday, May 15th, 11am - 4pm

Cost: Free!

Location:  Macedonia United Methodist Church 

Description: Join in the celebration of the grand opening of Kickstand Community Bike Shop's second location and Friends of Literacy's new offices inside Macedonia United Methodist Church. More information  here . No registration required.

Date: Bike to Work Week May 17 - 23, Bike to Work Day May 21

Cost: Free!

Location: your home --> your place of work

Description: Bike to Work Day has grown into a national event with countless bicyclists taking to the streets nationwide in an effort to get commuters to try bicycling to work as a healthy and safe alternative to driving alone. So join your fellow sweaty coworkers who make the effort to bike to work. Even if you'll still be working from home in May, get your exercise in by biking during one of your breaks. Interested in planning a Bike to Work Day event at your worksite?  Smart Trips  can help! No registration required.

Date: Saturday, May 22nd, 9am - 4pm

Cost: $50 *Financial assistance available!

Location: TBD - Revealed after registration

Description: Here's a 10-15 mile bike ride where you can learn about affordable housing in Knoxville and become an advocate for decent housing for all. Find out how to take action in your community and meet representatives of three local Housing Organizations.  Register today! 

Date: Monday, May 24th, 6:00pm

Cost: Free!

Location:  Jean Teague Greenway 

Description:  Bike Walk Knoxville  will be leading a community bike ride on the Jean Teague and Ten Mile Creek greenways. Ride will start at the greenway parking lot (across the street from  West Hills Elementary ) and ride out to the AMC Theater along the greenway system and back, about a 6 mile route in total. The ride will be family friendly, so bring your tiny humans! Click  here  for more info. No registration required.

Date: Tuesday, May 25th, 12pm - 1pm & 6pm - 7pm

Cost: Free!

Location: Virtual (Zoom link provided after registration)

Description: Hear how bicycling can unite, activate and heal our community.  These  Active Knox  and  TPO  events will feature Anthony Taylor, founder of  Slow Roll Twin Cities . Slow Roll Twin Cities empowers people to rediscover, reconnect, and reimagine their communities together, on bicycles. Anthony will be joined by two local panelists: Jalonda Thompson, Knoxville's local leader with  Black Girls Do Bike , and De'Ossie Dingus, director of  Alliance House Community Coalition .  Register today! 

Date: Saturday, May 29, 2021 8am - 3pm

Cost: 62 and 33 mile riders $30 early registration or $40 week of event, Greenway riders $5 recommended donation

Location:  West Bicycles 

Description: Earn your "bragging rights" or go for your personal record with these 62 mile and 33 mile routes.  Register today! 

 Bicycle Rack Grant Program 

 Biking  by Legacy Park's Outdoor Knoxville

 Cycling in Knoxville  by Visit Knoxville

 Directory of Businesses Offering Discounts to People Who Arrive by Bicycle  by Knox Loves Bikes

 Get to Know a Greenway  by I Bike KNX

Interactive Map of Bicycle Facilities by Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization

 Links to Local Bike Shop & Group Rides 

Bike Walk Knoxville: a network of individuals who create power through a unified voice for bicycling and walking. They are deeply interested in creating safer streets across Knoxville.  Learn more. 

Black Girls Do Bike: BGDB's interest is in growing and supporting a community of women of color who share a passion for cycling. They champion efforts to introduce the joy of cycling to all women, but especially, women and girls of color.  Learn more. 

Free Bikes 4 Kids: This one-time hobby was born in a two-car garage in 2008 where a group of passionate cyclists collected, refurbished, and gave away 250 bikes over a two week period. Since then, that hobby has grown to become the largest organization of its kind in the country.  Learn more. 

League of American Bicyclists: The League has a mission “to promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation and work through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America." Become a member and join over 300,000 affiliated cyclists.  Learn more. 

Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation: The Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation is an organization named after a father, Jeff Roth, was killed by a pickup truck driver in Maryville, TN in 2006. Through the grass roots efforts of concerned cyclists a bill was drafted, unanimously passed and signed into Tennessee law in 2007 as the Jeff Roth and Brian Brown Protection Act.  Learn more. 

I Bike KNX: I BIKE KNX promotes bicycling as part of the overall transportation system. Housed within the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, IBK works to implement the 2009 Regional Bicycle Plan.  Learn more. 

National Complete Streets Coalition: This coalition promotes the development and implementation of Complete Streets policies and professional practices. To date, over 1450 agencies at the local, regional, and state levels have adopted Complete Streets policies, totaling more than 1500 policies nationwide.  Learn more .

People for Bikes: The team at People for Bikes focuses on making every bike ride safer, easier to access and more fun. They work for you, your family, your neighbors, your business and your community.  Learn more. 

Safe Routes Partnership: This national nonprofit organization works to advance safe walking and rolling to and from schools and in everyday life, improving the health and well-being of people of all races, income levels, and abilities, and building healthy, thriving communities for everyone.  Learn more .

Tennessee Bicycle Crash Attorney: As a Tennessee bike crash attorney, Amy Benner Johnson recognizes that a bike crash is rarely a "bike accident." Amy has represented cyclists in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, and from all across the state.  Learn more. 

Vision Zero: As a collaborative campaign, Vision Zero is helping communities reach their goals of Vision Zero -- zero traffic fatalities and zero severe injuries -- while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. As a nonprofit project, the Vision Zero Network is committed to defining, building momentum, and advancing Vision Zero in communities across the U.S.  Learn more .

USA Cycling Pro Road Championships: USA Cycling is hosting the Pro Road championships in Knoxville this summer, June 17-20, and they are recruiting volunteers to act as course marshals! Knoxville is excited to welcome back USA Cycling for another championship, and even more excited that it is an Olympic year! Some of competing cyclists will be going on to Tokyo to compete in the Summer Olympics.  Sign up here! 

Bicycle Justice and Urban Transformation by Aaron Golub, Melody L. Hoffmann, Adonia E. Lugo, Gerardo F. Sandoval (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture & Resistance by Adonia Lugo, PhD (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Bike Lanes are White Lanes by Melody L. Hoffman (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Everyday Bicycling: Ride a Bike for Transportation (Whatever Your Lifestyle) by Elly Blue (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Queens of Pain: Legends & Rebels of Cycling by Isabel Best (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

The Stolen Bicycle by Wu Min-Yi, Darryl Sterk (Translator) (Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution by Janette Sadik-Khan and Seth Solomonow (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Urban Revolutions: A Woman's Guide to Two-Wheeled Transportation by Emili Bahr (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

Where There's a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent by Emily Chappell (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

With the Sun on Our Right: The People We Met While Cycling the World by Tim Moss (Non-Fiction)  Purchase online. 

"I, as well as many others, believe that knowledge is power. All of the books listed above have been made available on the Smart Trips Commuter Store. Any time you ride and log your bike ride, you can use the points earned to purchase any of these books." -- Savannah Robertson, Smart Trips Program Coordinator

Sean Conway's 'A Life More Adventurous' (2020) In 2019, extreme adventurer Sean Conway set a new world record by cycling unsupported across Europe from Portugal to Russia in just 24 days. This fascinating fly-on-the-wall British cycling documentary sees Conway battle with dangerous roads, strong head winds, a lack of sleep and a shocking diet.  Watch on Amazon Prime. 

Liz Canning's Motherload (2020) This crowdsourced documentary is about our cultural shift toward isolation and disconnection, what that means for the future of the planet, and how life on a cargo bike could possibly be an antidote.  Watch on Vimeo.