It's time to get outside, enjoy the spring weather, and get some use out of those wheels.
We're not saying go for a drive. May is National Bike Month, and while Miami isn't known as the most bike-friendly city in America, it's still the proud home of a growing cyclist community. But a lot of you still aren't riding, so Miami Bike Shop has teamed with local band Casely and the Jank to motivate Miamians to hit the trails.
It's all part of a new nation-wide movement built around a free mobile app, My City Bikes, and you can start using it now to get active, go green, and get to know our beautiful city a little better.
"I have one word for that: traffic," singer Jean-Carlos Casely said. "To get to the grocery store, it could take 20 minutes if you're stuck in traffic, and during that 20 minutes, you're polluting the air and you're not doing anything active for yourself. You can change that 20 minutes to five minutes if you pick up a bike, and you'll feel better at the end of the day."
My City Bikes is a free mobile app, available in iTunes and Google Play, that makes it easier than ever to enjoy the ride in Miami and other partner cities. The app for Miamians is called, appropriately enough, Miami Bikes, and includes tons of tips and tricks for getting around town. Whether you're looking for a commuter route, a road bike ride, an off-road trail, or just a place to get quality repairs, Miami Bikes has your back.
Casely and his band are serious fitness and biking enthusiasts, and they're currently roaming the country promoting the new app through their song "Life is a Cycle."
"We like to pair health and fitness with music, that's what we do," he said. "My City Bikes was just the clear direction and clear choice for us to pair with. We really like what they're doing for the community, as far as bringing biking and cycling awareness to the community, and we thought that's an organization that we wanted to work alongside with."
For Casely, the coolest feature is the maps to all the different trails in town. It's already shown him things he never even knew were there.
"There's a cool trail that I'd like to try when I get back into town on the Rickenbacker Causeway that looks pretty interesting," Casely said. "I think (the app) will expose people to a lot of areas to ride that they haven't thought about. That's something that didn't cross my mind before using the app, but that's what's so cool about it. It's providing an all-in-one place for people to get acquainted with Miami in different ways."
If you prefer riding with new friends, you can look up road rides by day, time, location, length, or speed. You can use their friendly road map to find the best commute for you each day. Why not give that car a rest and avoid the morning traffic? If you catch a snag, Miami Bikes offers handy bike maintenance tips for the diy fixer-upper in you, and it lists a bunch of local experts for when you're over your head. It even comes with a heat monitor, so you can head out into new lands fully aware of what you're in for.
"We're really excited about being a part of this initiative, a part of my city bikes, and working alongside Miami bike shop," Casely said. "Remember, life is a cycle, and everybody should just get out there at least once a day. If not once a day, a few times a week. Start with that and just remember, the biking and the fitness, it's going to lead to you feeling better."
Follow Kat Bein on Twitter @KatSaysKill.
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