News / Articles

October 2023

What's a CRIT? Read all about it this month. Find out Who's Riding The Pinellas Trail. Browse an updated list of upcoming cycling-related area events. And get the latest SPBC board news.

Upcoming Events

• The October St Pete Mural Tour By Bicycle with Kris Woodcock is SOLD OUT. Watch the SPBC Facebook page for info on the next SPBC members only tour sometime in November.
  
  
• Mount Dora Bicycle Festival, Oct 13-14: The 49th annual event in Lake County, FL offers a metric century, hilly routes and a 13 mile family fun ride.
  
  

• LAGBRAI, Oct 14-15: The"LAGS ANNUAL GREAT BIKE RIDE ACROSS I-4" is an 80 mile out and back, two day fundraising event through the scenic farmlands of Central Florida. The route starts at the Hooters Restaurant in Brandon, Florida and runs parallel to Interstate 4 to end up in Orlando at the Red Lion Hotel. Three water stops, SAG, and medical support will be provided. All proceeds will be donated to Prostate Cancer Research. Register at CureOnWheels.org.
  
  

• CRIT Championship tour in downtown St Pete, Oct 21: Come watch CRIT Championship races from 9a-7p in the Edge District at Central Ave in DTSP. Start/Finish Line: 1118 Central Ave. Criteriums, also known as “crits,” are where cyclists race a course through downtown streets, taking tight turns at 30mph among as many as 100 racers. A race on a closed-circuit route, laps are usually a half-mile to 1.5 miles long with four or more turns.
  
  
• Fall Edition Sunflower Tour -- Women Only,  Oct 26-29. Bike Florida's ultimate girls weekend is a 250 mile route from Titusville to St. Pete. Registration restricted to women only.  $750 Registration Fee covers three hotel nights at double occupancy, SAG, insurance, support, staff, event jersey, maps, and a daily happy hour.
  
  
• Gulf Coast Cyclefest, Nov 5: Hosted by the Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club, this event features four cycling routes from 16-100 miles through Manatee and Sarasota counties.
  
  
  
• Bike Florida Fall Coast to Coast Tour, Nov 9: A challenging three day 250+ mile trail ride between St. Pete and Titusville.
  
  
  
• Veterans Day Bike Ride, Nov 11: Benefiting the Long Walk Home, this event offers 10-, 32- and 55-mile loops that start at Ft DeSoto County Park. Registration fee includes a T-shirt and a full steak lunch at the end of the ride. The Veterans Day Bike Ride supports vets as they make the transition from military life to civilian life.
  
  
• Volunteer of the Year Party, Nov 12: 4p at PAWS (Pinellas Ale Works), St Petersburg.
  
  
  
• SPBC Holiday Party, Dec 3: St Pete Yacht Club.

Who Is Riding The Pinellas Trail?

by Dave Zornow

What’s fast and slow, ridden by young and old, lets you plug’n play, and a form of transportation about which everyone seems to have an opinion? Last Spring, Forward Pinellas and the Friends of the Pinellas Trail conducted an online survey of trail users, and the impact of E-Bikes was one of the significant findings of the study.

The four week online survey in March-April included 2,288 respondents, 1,836 of which were used for this analysis of cyclists’ trail usage. Although not statistically representative of all trail users, the Pinellas Trail self-selected survey is still a useful tool to understand the behaviors and concerns of trail users.

The 2023 survey showed E-Bikes as a growing segment of users — and of concern among other trail users in comments about perceived safety of the trail. 

The survey found that the median age for all cyclists on the trail is 57.3 years old with E-Bike users trending slightly older (58.5). Nearly half of all E-Bikes riders are between the ages of 50 and 64. Almost 7 of 10 E-Bike riders 35-49 are female. 

Other key findings included:

• Survey respondents who typically ride bikes on the trail tend to be older: Adults 50 and older account for 78% of all cyclists.
• Eight of ten respondents (81%) who live in St Pete typically ride a bike when they use the trail. Outside of St Pete – principally Dunedin – there’s a higher percentage of walkers/joggers (36%) than in the city limits.

The survey included a question about respondents perception of safety. In response to “Do you feel safe on the Pinellas Trail,” a clear majority (75%) said Yes. However, 450 respondents said they did not and cited a variety of reasons for their concern.

• E-Bikes topped the list of "don't feel safe" concerns for both walkers/joggers who said they didn’t feel safe (44% of comments) and among bike/E-Bikers (37%).
  
• Lack of courtesy was mentioned ("share the path" etiquette) was twice as high among those who don't typically bike (16% vs 9%)
• 10% of the comments cited "fear/harassment" as a concern.

Respondents were invited to take the survey via signs placed along the trail with a QR code which they could scan to complete the online questionnaire.  This approach tends to over represent popular parts of the trail and under represent some demographics. For example, Dunedin and St Petersburg respondents were over represented by 84% and 29% respectively when compared to trail counters during the survey period; Palm Harbor was under represented by 46%. Also, only a handful of respondents less than 18 completed the survey although observation shows that teens and tweens are frequent users of the trail.