Last night’s group bike ride, the one that starts and finishes at Cycles D’Oro, took the group to Revolution Mill at Yanceyville Street. The mill opened in 1898 by Moses and Caesar Cone and is quite an impressive east Greensboro landmark. It was also a good, off-road stopping point for the cyclists, many of whom are novice riders. The mill is quite successfully being repurposed as a mixed-use complex. As the cyclists took a water break, they got briefed about the second half of the 10 mile ride. One of the ride facilitators pointed out the water tower across from the mill, up on Textile Drive. He informed us that the water tower is on one of the highest elevations in that neighborhood, and we needed to get our bike in the lowest gear BEFORE heading up that hill.

Along the way, one of the riders started talking about the population of Greensboro and how it increased in the 1960s. That prompted us to look that up as soon as we got home. According to the Wikipedia timeline of Greensboro (see HERE), Greensboro’s population was 74,389 in 1950. By 1960, it was 119, 574. That is an increase of over 45,000 people, about 60%. By 1970, Greensboro’s population was 144,076, an increase of 25,000 or about 21%. Many of the Greensboro’s houses, including the ones on the ever-steep Textile Drive, were built in the 1960s. Some of us decided to return to look around when we weren’t concentrating on shifting gears and powering through a very tough hill. Oh the great thoughts being around others evokes.

Happy Wednesday!