Now that bicycles are more common on the region’s roads, some motorists and bikers aren’t happy with the conditions.

Morris Getz (in mirror) was one of six bicyclists that rolled out of the Sardis Crossing Shopping Center around 8:15 Sunday morning for a 30-mile Ultimate Bicycle Sunday Ride that covered parts of Mecklenburg and Union counties. The ride has happened nearly every Sunday for seven years. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer)

Arrogant bicyclists who flout traffic laws and force drivers to idle behind them, or angry automobile drivers who honk, speed and curse their way around vulnerable cyclists: Who’s to blame for tension on the region’s streets?

It’s a question likely to be asked more over the coming years. Transportation experts and bike advocates say they believe more Charlotte and Mecklenburg County cyclists than ever are riding to work, for exercise, to save money and to help the environment. And two years ago, Charlotte adopted a multiyear plan to expand bicycle access.

Read the full story

Police issued 14 citations for under-age drinking after being called to a party in the River Run neighborhood on Tuesday, July 6. Also, someone stole $3,700 worth of wood and other building supplies from a home under construction off June Washam Road in east Davidson. Details about those and other incidents below. Read the full story

Another local bicyclist was struck by a car and injured on Saturday, this time on North Main Street in downtown Davidson. The accident came just a week after another local cyclist was struck from behind while cycling on a rural road in Mount Mourne. Davidson’s police chief Monday offered this reminder: Bicycles have the same status as other vehicles, and drivers and cyclists must share the road.

Read the full story

The N.C. Highway Patrol has charged a Davidson driver in connection with a crash Sunday afternoon in Mount Mourne that seriously injured a Davidson bicyclist. The victim, 41-year-old Julie Zimmerman, is now out of intensive care at a Charlotte hospital and “on the mend,” according to her husband.

Read the full story

Updated 10:58 a.m.
A Davidson bicyclist was seriously injured on Sunday, July 4, when she was struck by an SUV while riding on Faith Road in Mount Mourne, just north of Davidson. She was in intensive care at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte on Monday with a fractured spine and punctured lung, but was “hanging in there,” her husband says.

Read the full story

From WFAE-FM: WA Rowan County man is due in court Tuesday on charges that he plowed his SUV into a group of bicyclists on a Cabarrus County road last Wednesday, May 19, then left the scene. Nobody was killed, but four were hurt. Word about the case has spread quickly through the local cycling community. Reporter Julie Rose of public radio station WFAE-FM produced a report in the case. Read or listen on WFAE.org. Read the full story

Iredell County Commissioners have given their endorsement to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s planned Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan. Commissioners voted 4-0 on Tuesday in favor of the plan, the Statesville Record & Landmark reported. Read the full story

Board sets 2010 dates for quarterly retreats

Davidson’s Town Board meeting on Tuesday night, Feb. 9, includes a vote on a series of budget amendments – including cuts needed to cover a budget shortfall at the town-owned MI-Connection cable TV system. The board also will hear  presentations and vote on two regional projects: the Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan and Carolina Thread Trail. Read the full story