May 1 is barely a week away. What is your bike club, organization, company, or local government doing for Bike Month? How about Bike To Work Day on May 16?
VBF celebrates Bike Month with our annual Cross-State Ride. (Join us!) Our sister organization BikeWalk Virginia also has festivities planned.
Announce your event and share your ideas in the comments section.
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May is National Bike Month, and a
coalition of local bicycle and alternative transportation groups have
been working to make Roanoke’s celebration a special one. The group,
led by the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club’s J.D. Ritchie and consisting of
RIDE Solutions, BikeWalk Virginia’s Roanoke Chapter, Sharebike, the
Virginia Bicycle Federation, and the Roanoke City Health Department,
have scheduled a series of events to engage cyclists of all ages,
skill levels and interests.
The group has been planning to recognize Bike Month since January,
after attending a Bicycle Friendly Community workshop led by Andy
Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists. Community-wide,
bicycle-oriented events were highlighted as a key component in the
City’s quest to become bicycle friendly.
Bike Month began early with a proclamation by the City of Roanoke at
its April 21st Council meeting. The Proclamation, stating “[b]icycling
is a safe, clean, and affordable mode of transportation used … to
reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil [and] residents of all ages
engage in bicycling for transportation, recreation, fitness and fun on
public streets, greenways and for safe routes to school,” established
May as Bike Month in Roanoke. Along with the rides, safety classes,
contests, and other events being planned by the Bike Month group, some
area businesses are also joining in the celebration: Fork in the Alley
is offering a 10% discount to anyone who rides a bike to their Crystal
Spring restaurant throughout the month.
Some highlights of the events include:
* A series of four Family Fun Rides led by Sharebike and utilizing the
valley’s Greenways. Two rides are scheduled for May 17, one starting
at Lincoln Terrace elementary school and the other at the Southeast
Roanoke Police Substation on Jamison; two more are scheduled for May
31, one starting from Piedmont Park and the other from Grandin
Gardens.
* Bike rodeos at local elementary schools and neighborhood groups,
with bike helmet fittings, safety lessons, and helmet giveaways.
* Clean Commute Day on May 16, including a hospitality tent at the
Virginia Museum of Transportation with refreshments for bicycle
commuters and a chance for a new bike from Cardinal Bicycle.
* Recreational rides throughout the month organized by the Blue Ridge
Bicycle Club.
* Bike rack giveaways to qualified businesses and organizations.
A complete calendar of events can be found online at
http://www.ridesolutions.org/bikemonth. All daily rides can be found at the
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club’s website, http://www.brbcva.org.