First
Flight Bicycles
216 S. Center St. Statesville, NC (704)878-9683
Rides
Northern Iredell County boasts some of the best cycling in the state of North Carolina. The area is blessed with a system of rural roads that are lightly trafficked with rural scenery that is rapidly disappearing in the southern part of the county. The local terrain is mostly moderate rolling hills with few truly flat areas. The further north you ride, the bigger the hills. If you look hard enough, there are even a handful of dirt roads left for those looking for a little more primitive riding (try finding that in Charlotte!).
While on your ride, there are plenty of interesting sites to check out in and near Iredell County.
For mountain biking in Statesville, check out the Signal Hill Mountain Bike Trail. 4.25 of challenging singletrack with some interesting structures. Accessible from the Statesville Greenway.
In the Troutman area, stop for a bottle wine at
Daveste Vineyards
or take a ride through scenic
Lake
Norman State Park. The park is home of the
Itusi Mountain Bike Trails which currently has 18+ miles of
singletrack trail with a planned expansion to over 30 miles.
A little further north in Statesville, there are more sights to take in. Most of our ride routes begin at First Flight Bicycles in historic Downtown Statesville. If you enjoy the history of the bicycle, check out the MOMBAT collection of 450+ bikes which is housed at First Flight Bicycles. Several of the popular road routes will take you right past the Iredell County Museum which is located on the Statesville Greenway. The Signal Hill Trail offers 4 miles of singletrack trail within the Statesville City Limits. If you are coming through in October, don't miss the Carolina BallooonFest featuring 50+ hot air balloons.
Heading north of Statesville, take a break at the Fort Dobbs
historic
site which dates from the French and Indian War. The
next popular stop on the trek northward is the western town of
Love
Valley. Several other destinations that lie just outside
Iredell County include
Murray's Mill and the
gem mines
of Hiddenite. If you are feeling especially strong, Brushy
Mountain is a challenging destination and makes a nice 80 mile round
trip ride from Statesville.
Now available: Iredell County road ride routes PDF
To explore some of the scenic country mentioned above, plan on riding the Eau de Vie Metric Century.
TuesdayWeekly mountain bike ride: Leave from the shop at 6:00 sharp, ride to the Signal Hill Trail (about 2.5 miles on the road), ride a 4 mile lap or two and return to the shop via the Statesville Greenway or Broad Street. Round trip is approximately 12.5 miles. With winter weather, we try to ride most weeks but it's a good idea to phone ahead especially if the weather has been questionable.
Thursday
Weekly mountain bike ride:
For the months of May, June, July, August, September and October we will be riding at Lake Norman State Park if they are open. During the winter months we may occasionally ride the Signal Hill Trail.
Saturday
Weekly road bike ride: leave from the shop at 8:00AM sharp. Since we will need to return to open the shop at 10:00, we will ride approximately 1.5 hours. There may be groups who split off to ride longer for those who have a little more time. Our riding season will roughly start and stop with the time change. Routes typically run about 25 miles at a 15.5-16.5 mph average. The are casual beginner-friendly rides so don't be intimidated! There are plenty of good training races out there so this ride is for the sport level rider. This ride typically starts and ends with the time change in the spring and in the fall.
Everyday
All routes start from First Flight Bikes.
One of my favorite rides. Fairly flat and fast beginning with a very good climb in the middle and rolling ending. This ride gives you a little bit of everything the road can throw at you.
Rolling roads will keep you smiling the whole time. The section on 64 is a little busy with traffic
The first 3/4 of this ride is hilly but you are rewarded with a long ride on Midway Rd which is one of the fastest roads around
Some rolling hills with a couple longer flat roads. We use this route to make most of our rides especially longer rides.
If you try all of these and are looking for more, Wes is always trying to add more routes on his profile located here
North Carolina Rides
For a great list of rides in North
Carolina, click below:
Piedmont Area Rides
For a list of Charlotte area road and mountain rides, click on the links below.
Tarheel Trailblazer Calendar
The Trailblazers keep a comprehensive calendar of rides and meetings on their calendar page.
Mountain Bike Trails
For a list of local mountain bike trails, click below.
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Eau de Vie Metric Century II
Coming Spring 2012.
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