Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or a biking novice eager to hit the pavement (gravel or dirt), Bike Month is the perfect time to set new goals and reach personal bests! If you’re a Folsom local or simply curious about what the city and its terrain have to offer, read on to learn more about how you can make the most of Bike Month in Folsom, CA.
1. Get to Know Your Bike Shops
Looking to rent or purchase a bike? Perhaps you’d like some advice or insights from a knowledgeable source? Bike Month is the perfect time to support local businesses in the Folsom area.
Folsom Bike has been a part of the Folsom community since 2009 and provides award-winning sales and service advice, items and bikes designed specifically for female riders, and bike rentals. Their full-service coffee bar doesn’t hurt either!
Folsom Bike offers weekly options for those interested in training and improving their fitness among fellow cyclists if you're searching for team and group rides. You can even win prizes by participating in monthly challenge rides in person or using Strava, a mobile app and website that connects millions of runners and cyclists worldwide.
Folsom Bike Strava
Sutter Street Cruisers, located in the heart of Old Town Folsom, has offered an eclectic mix of BMX, Beach Cruiser, and custom bicycles that can be built to your specifications since 2014. If you want a ride that reflects your personality, this is the place to let your imagination run wild.
Mike’s Bikes is a growing family of bike shops that was originally founded in 1964 as one of Marin County’s first Schwinn shops. Their singular goal is to get as many people on bikes as possible. Mike’s Bikes has weekly group rides in Folsom and free Tuesday Nigh Tech Clinics for those who want to learn more about repairing, maintaining, and upgrading their bikes.
2. Find Local Routes
Folsom Bike has cataloged over one hundred local cycling routes with several categories to make choosing the perfect ride a breeze–including the Johnny Cash Trail!
With handy route tags, you can choose based on distance, bike type, climb and descent, family-friendliness, and if you’ll start or finish at a Folsom location. Adjacent to the new Folsom Bridge and American River Bike Trail, Folsom Bike’s proximity lets you hit the ground running (or cycling, we should say).
Bike Month is an excellent opportunity to explore Folsom and outlying areas if you prefer a longer and more challenging route.
Folsom Bike’s Local Cycling Routes
3. Join a Cycling Club
One of the greatest benefits of Bike Month is discovering a rich community of cycling enthusiasts in your own backyard who want to share their knowledge and support. Folsom is home to cycling clubs that embrace all levels of fitness.
Cycle Folsom notably emphasizes proper guidance, safety, and skill development via group cycling. Their primary focus is improving fitness and ensuring your safety and that of pedestrians, other cyclists, and drivers who may be on the trail or road.
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The Folsom Bike Jr. MTB Program provides training and a curriculum for the next generation of mountain bikers aged eight to fourteen years old. This program invites all levels of youth mountain bikers to participate. Skills practice and trail rides near Folsom Lake give young people a chance to appreciate the local scenery and hone their mountain biking skills.
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4. #BikeThere Instead
Bike Month is the perfect time to focus on individual and community wellbeing by swapping out a car ride for a bike ride. Biking for essential trips like a work commute or an errand run may seem like subtle changes, but the immediate and long-term health and environmental implications are staggering.
According to the Adventure Cycling Association, the two greatest environmental benefits of bicycling are that it produces no pollution and consumes no fossil fuel. Annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the U.S. are projected to increase 35 percent by 2030, from 7.2 to 9.7 billion tons CO2 equivalent. The greater the number of trips made by bicycle, the slower the rate of increase.
Biking instead of driving improves your physical health and mental well-being while reducing your carbon footprint, making you a part of a growing movement for “safer streets, connected communities, a healthier planet, and happier people.” (The League of American Bicyclists).
5. Watch the Bicycle Film Festival
Find the confluence between cycling and art by participating in the virtual Bicycle Film Festival. Bicycle Film Festival - Sacramento Region features four virtual short film programs with over forty films and filmmakers from more than a dozen countries.
The festival has celebrated “bicycles through art, film, and music for the last 22 years with over 100 cities worldwide and a viewer audience of 1 million and growing. The festival has an incredible history of working with the most important artists, filmmakers, venues, and institutions around the world.”
Each short film is roughly ninety minutes long and available to watch virtually worldwide through the end of May.
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Now that you know about Folsom's many resources and opportunities, how will you participate in Bike Month? You can share your Bike Month journey online by posting with the hashtags #MayIsBikeMonth, #BikeMonth, #BikeThere, #BikePossible, #NationalBikeMonth, and of course, #JohnnyCashTrail.