The layout of Charlotte is byzantine owing to neighborhood associations fighting major roads being built through their turf. Therefore, if you want to stay off the major roads, there are a lot of winding residential-type roads that don't lead to much else. There is nothing that resembles a grid. Bike lanes are a new discovery for our city council. However, given a few weekends to scout an imaginative route, I found a safe, albeit longer route, from my home to my work. It is quiet, through pretty neighborhoods, and most folks are courtesy in sharing the road. On the major roads, it is a different story...I wouldn't commute if I had to take one of the more heavily travelled roads to work, and I used to bike to work in Manhattan up 1st Avenue.