On Saturday, March 20, Asheville on Bikes hosted Bike of the Irish (Covid-19 Edition). Over 120 teams participated in the event and fourteen businesses or organizations hosted checkpoints.

Here are what a few of our participants had to say:

“It was a pretty day and nice to see lots of people out on bikes in green.”

“It was a super fun day! We came from Boone to do it. I also liked some of the signs along the way like the tongue twister going up the big hill.”

“Good to see participants from the other bicycle advocacy groups helping out.”

“It was fun to do for the first time. I loved having the route on my phone that talked to me. The checkpoints were fun to find and well spaced.”

Bike of the Irish 2021 would not have been possible without the help of our local partners!

Local businesses that served as checkpoints along the Bike of the Irish routes opened their doors to a number of BOI participants. Here are just a few of the quotes from our checkpoint partners on the day of the event:

“[We saw] steady traffic of visitors. Many stuck around for a complimentary beverage and asked about our bikes and service.”

“Lots of excited participants checking out our spot for the first time!”

“We decided to not play a large role this year and not be there in person because of COVID, but AoB made it very easy for us to display our board and play a small part! Looking forward to doing more in the future.”

And finally, we would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s Bike of the Irish event.

Cruisers:

Best Overall

Team: Team Agan
Members: Steve Agan, Maggie Agan
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64125793

City Centric:

Most Points in the Least Amount of Time (this includes checkpoints and bonus points)

Team: ‘O Bear
Members: Ed Broadbear (solo)
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64116882 

Runner Up and Best Photographs

Team: Leslie’s Team (Team Leslie)
Members: Kristy Carter, Wade Rogers, Leslie Houde, Bronie Reynolds
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64121752

Best Team Name

Team: Very Hungry Catermillers
Members: Wes Miller, Kristi Miller, Brent Miller, Nicole Miller, Trenton Miller, Bellatrix Lestrange
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35410139?privacy_code=osb3QyLKNYJpFcWi

Rough & Rowdy:

Most Points and Most Elevation (this includes checkpoints and bonus points)

Team: Riley and Luke
Members: Luke Paulson and Riley West
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64117321

Most Points and Least Amount of Time

Team: Zoller
Team Member: Jason Zoller (solo)
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64136576

Best Team Name & Best Costume

Team: Irish I Was at the Pub
Members: Garrett Burrell, Monty Burrell, Juanelle Burrell
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/64126884