A version of the following article appeared in the July 27, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Children learn how to safely ride bikes around Charlotte 🚲
For the past decade, CLT Bike Camp has taught safe biking practices to youth across Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of Bethanie Johnson)
by Cooper Hall
In 2016, Bethanie Johnson was running a group bike ride out of the school where she worked when a parent asked her about teaching a class on bike safety skills. Inspired by the suggestion, she and Charlotte Cadieux founded CLT Bike Camp that summer.
CLT Bike Camp teaches children ranging from five to 13 how to be safe, responsible bikers around the city of Charlotte. A day at camp usually includes riding around local parks and greenways, playing games and safety drills, like stopping and starting, using your hand to signal and reading stop lights.
During its first summer a decade ago, CLT Bike Camp offered two camps. Neither one filled up.
Now, in 2026, the camp offers six programs covering all skill levels, from those who have never ridden a bike to experienced cyclists, and available spots fill up quickly during registration.
Camps are staffed in part by youth staff and volunteers, many of whom used to be campers themselves.
The camp aims to be accessible for all children who want to attend. The organization works with local nonprofit The Recyclery to get bikes for children who don’t already have one. Additionally, scholarships are provided for families who can’t cover the registration cost.
Johnson said that she thinks cycling in Charlotte has grown in recent years, with greenway and sidewalk improvements leading to more accessible paths for bikes.
“Everything that's been built for cycles in Charlotte have made riding less dangerous and more family friendly,” she said.
However, road safety — bike rules for a sidewalk, how to safely operate a bike, precautions to take on a road — is still a top priority at camps, and specific focus is placed on crafting campers into responsible road users.
Johnson emphasizes that part of being a responsible cyclist is looking ahead and planning your next step. She said that this teaches campers how to make smart, thought-out decisions in real life as well.
Beyond that, she said, through the camp, kids are able to gain a sense of autonomy.
“What I love that they get out of it is a feeling of independence and growth because I think, and some of it is for the better, but children don't get that many opportunities to be independent in this day and age,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she often hears stories from parents that their child showed them a bike route after riding it at camp, and guided their family on the ride.
Biking, she said, expands options of screen-free, outdoor, family-friendly activities.
“Everybody's always decrying or talking about how children are inside all the time and on devices all the time,” Johnson said. “But we also don't provide many opportunities to get them outside, and so that is really a big part of what we do.”