MY RIDE- Taylor and Meg Bowen: Trailer-bike

Who needs to drive downtown when you can ride a bike? Taylor Bowen and his daughter, Meg, certainly prefer their four-wheeler to the other, gas-guzzling kind.

The Bowens have had their trailer-bike– or half-bike as they prefer to call it– for several years. And Meg, 6, has been riding the half-bike since before she could ride a two-wheeler.

"I think it helped her to learn balance," says her proud father. "Meg's bike even has gears so she can really contribute to a swift ride."

The downtown residents often bike 6-8 miles– usually around downtown or to Riverview Park. 

"Every time we ride it, people stop and stare," Bowen says.  

All the head-turning gave Bowen the idea to start the Charlottesville Family Bike Club.

He enlisted other bike enthusiasts and started organizing bike rides in Charlottesville, Washington, and Lynchburg.

Bowen says the bike rides will probably be seasonal day trips, with the first event at the Dogwood Parade on Saturday, April 21. For more info, check out cvillefamilybikeclub.org

Taylor and Meg Bowen
PHOTO BY SARA GILLIAM

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