Around 1974, Claudia Nix conceived the idea for a bicycle club that eventually became the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. At the time, Claudia was working at the YWCA as Health & PE Director. (This was long before the opening of Liberty Bicycles, where Claudia is now co-owner.) She was researching bike path information, and received phone calls from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation in Atlanta and the NCDOT Bike Program regarding bikeways. They organized a large meeting at the YWCA on South French Broad Avenue. Over 50 people attended the meeting, including many city officials. The bicycle riders in attendance decided a club was needed that would offer rides as well as work on developing a system of bikeways. It was out of that meeting a club was formed: Asheville Bikeways.
Leading rides was secondary to Asheville Bikeways, because the main interest was advocating for bike facilities. But as club membership expanded, so did members' interests, and the bikeways project became only one of many concerns. Claudia was point person and became president, serving for several years. There were rides a couple of weekends a month, but often she would go to the meeting place and only one or two people would show, if any at all. Then the club decided to organize a big bicycle ride with the Girl Scouts. The first leg was from the Health Department to the backside of Beaver Lake, and the second leg from Beaver Lake to Vance Birth Place in Weaverville. They worked with the police department for a rolling roadblock, advertised the ride in the newspaper, and a couple of bike shop owners in town agreed to help lead the second leg of the ride. The ride organizers were blown away when 79 people turned out to ride, and there were even families with little kids pedaling their tricycles! They had no idea there would be that kind of turnout, which proved that the people of Asheville wanted to ride if they felt safe.
Asheville Bikeways grew slowly, and a group decided to take a long distance tour the summer of 1977. Claudia and her husband, Mike, invited the club to try out the new Mountain-to-Sea Bike Route by the Bicycle Program, which ten of the club's members rode from Asheville to Manteo in eight days. This core group became the core officers and leaders of the club. As the club's focus shifted toward recreational riding, the name was changed to the Asheville Bike Club.
Liberty Bicycles did not open until March 1980. Before then, Mike had begun working on kid's bikes at home while teaching at Valley Springs Middle School. Sometimes he would buy an old bike for $5.00, fix it up and then sell it, so they called this little homeshop The Recycle Shop. It started in the basement, but after a while every room in the house had bikes in it, and several times they'd come home from work to find customers sitting on the doorstep waiting to have their bikes worked on. The cardfile box had accumulated 80 names, and the newspaper had done an article on Mike and his shop, calling him the "Bike Guru". It was time to open a store; Liberty Bicycles was born. Mike and Claudia partnered with John Rountree, who was already a customer and was eager to work.
In the late 1980s, the club almost died out. Liberty Bicycles took over the organization and offered rides from the shop. In 1990, a group of individuals agreed to run the club independently of the shop and renamed themselves the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. Although originally a road cycling club, increased interest in mountain biking developed during the 1990s. In response, the club has implemented trail maintenance programs in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and other trail user groups. The club is also active in advocacy efforts for safe cycling in the area, provides sponsorships, make donations that are pertinent to cycling, and supports area mountain bike trail maintenance and road bike lane cleanup efforts.
The first Hilly Hellacious Hundred ride was held in September of 1980 with 35 riders. A century and metric century were offered. In August of 1996 the event boasted 250 participants in three rides: a century, metric and quarter century.
In July 1995, the club hosted the League of American Bicyclists National Rally.
In the summer of 1999, the club began offering the Tour de Ralph.
Organized road and trail rides are offered year-round, including weekly 'show & go' rides, monthly road rides, and occasional excursions to other areas.
Current club membership is around 250. We have regular meetings, organized trail maintenance and lots of rides.
The club mailing address is:
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club
P.O. Box 309
Asheville NC 28802
© Blue Ridge Bicycle Club 2002