Embrace the Dark

Stepping out of your comfort zone can be rewarding.

By Briana Moore

There is a Wednesday night group road ride that has been meeting for 10 years in Hot Springs. This loyal group of riders, brought together by Mike Hardage, starts on the Greenway and meanders through downtown and West Mountain Drive.

I’ve been asked to join this merry bunch for several years and I’ve always created excuses not to participate. Some of these excuses include: I won’t like riding on the road, it’s dark, it’s cold, drivers are mean, it’s not safe. Some of these reasons are based on fact. It is cold and dark in the middle of winter. Also, Arkansas ranks 48th out of 50 states for cyclist safety.

I’ll be the first to admit that I watch Northwest Arkansas’s infrastructure and bicycle opportunities with envy (more admiration than jealousy). At the OZ Women’s Sunset Summit, we rode part of the Razorback Greenway and I was amazed. The public art, Airship Coffee, the accessibility! Yet, I had never ridden the Greenway in my own town. The Hot Springs Greenway hugs Hot Springs Creek for 5.5 miles with more miles planned for the future with access to Lake Hamilton.

This pops into my head as I prepare to head out for my first group road ride, to try something new despite the statistics. I’ve got my headlight and taillight fully charged and dressed for the winter weather. Mike had a few guidelines for the group ride, starting with that we ride as a group at all street crossings. As we started down the Greenway, all of my nervousness disappeared. It was a social pace and an interesting route to experience Hot Springs. Drivers were courteous and more respectful than I was expecting.

The PeopleForBikes City Rating for Hot Springs is dismal. It is in the fourth percentile for access, opportunity, core services, recreation, retail and access to major transit hubs. (The average rating for cities was 27 in 2022).

Hot Springs has the opportunity to embrace change and improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure for the future. If we can’t have protected bike lanes through downtown yet, a good start would be placing bike racks at the Hill Wheatley Plaza hot water fountain. It was the perfect place to mix up hot chocolate with the famous Hot Springs thermal water, a sweet reward for riding on a cold night with a fun group of cyclists. Mike’s second guideline was to be sure to clean your water bottle after hot chocolate!

The Wednesday night group ride leaves at 6 p.m. from the Seneca Street Greenway trailhead in Hot Springs. Expect about 15 miles in distance and two and half hours of riding. This is a no-drop ride and helmets, taillights and headlights are required.