Monday, May 13, 2019

May 13: Upcoming running/walking/bicycling/tri events

Upcoming events

Running/walking:

Cycling:
  • Wednesday, May 15: Ride of Silence, two options – Cape Coral and Sanibel. See bikewalklee.blogspot.com/2019/05/bikewalklee-silence-speaks-loudly-about.html for details.
  • Friday, May 17: NE-Lee Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7 p.m. at the Winn-Dixie, 14600 Palm Beach Blvd. Lights required, helmets recommended.(meetup.com/Biking-SWFL) 
  • Sunday, May 19: Wakey, Wakey! Weekly Sunday Morning Ride. All levels, all bikes, leaves from Fort Myers Trek store at 7:30 a.m. on a different route each week (mostly on bike paths). The ride is sanctioned by the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club, so helmets are required, no ear buds, and no aero bar use while in the group.(meetup.com/Biking-SWFL) 
  • Saturday, May 25: Saturday Slow Roll 8 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)  
  • Friday, May 31: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m., start at 8 p.m. at the Southwest Florida Military Museum parking lot at 4820 Leonard Street for a family-friendly ride through the Cape. Lights required, helmets recommended.(meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)  
  • Friday, June 7: SW Florida Critical Mass ride. A family-friendly slow ride through Fort Myers gathering at 7:15 p.m. and starting at 8 p.m. Front and rear bike lights required. Grab your helmet, bring all your friends and meet in the open field next to Publix at First Street Village, 2160 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL)  
  • Saturday-Sunday, July 13-14: Wheels & Wings, 15/32/50/62 mile rides from Beef O’Bradys, Punta Gorda (peaceriverridersbicycleclub.com)
  • Ongoing: Join the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club on one of their many weekly rides for members and potential members, with an array of paces and routes to choose from. Check them out online at www.caloosariders.org.
  • For more Lee County cycling and tri events, visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL).

Triathlons:









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Thursday, May 9, 2019

BikeWalkLee: Silence speaks loudly about safety

BikeWalkLee Column
The News-Press, May 9, 2019
by Ken Gooderham

May means National Bike Month. May also means the Ride of Silence – perhaps not the best way to celebrate cycling, some might say.

But you can’t celebrate cycling without promoting road safety, and riding to remember those who were injured or killed while on a bike is certainly an emphatic way to underscore how unsafe our roadways can be – particularly in Southwest Florida, where more cyclists have been killed so far in 2019 than in all of the previous year.

The Ride of Silence is a global event that takes place every May in 48 countries, seven continents and all 50 states (plus Washington, DC). Riders are requested to wear black arm bands (red if they have personally been injured in a cycling versus motor vehicle accident). Cyclists will ride in a silent, funeral-style procession at 10-12 mph for 7 miles.

Once again, there will be two Ride of Silence locally, both scheduled for Wednesday, May 15:
  • The Sanibel ride – organized by the Sanibel Bicycle Club, Billy’s Bike and Matzaluna Restaurant – will gather at 6:45 p.m. at Matzaluna, 1200 Periwinkle Way. The ride kicks off at 7 p.m. down Periwinkle to the Sanibel Causeway, crossing the two lower spans and turning around under the main span to return to Matzaluna. Helmets and lights required.
  • The Cape Coral ride – organized by the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club and Streets Alive of Southwest Florida – departs from the Southwest Florida Military Museum, 4820 Leonard Street, at 7 p.m. The 7-mile ride will be on public streets at speeds not to exceed 12 mph. Helmets and lights also required.

The Cape event will also feature an inaugural Walk of Silence organized by Streets Alive, to focus on the roadway risks facing walkers, runners, skaters and wheelchair users throughout Southwest Florida. Participants in the 1-mile walk are encouraged to wear white or neon-color shirts and comfortable shoes, and to bring a flashlight if possible (although reflective wristbands and lights will be handed out as necessary).

Cape bike racks coming


Some better news for cyclists who ride to downtown Cape Coral: The Cape Coral Community Foundation in partnership with Cape Coral Bike-Ped has established a fund to bring more bike racks to downtown – a great way to encourage cycling as well as burnish the city’s Bronze status as a Bike-Friendly Community.

A check ceremony was held May 6 to hand funds over to the city, with special thanks to Mike Swanson of Cape Coral Bike Ped and Mike Holm of Fort Myers Cyclery for working together to raise these funds initially.

Keep an eye out for the new racks at the next Cape Coral Critical Mass ride, set for Friday, May 31… or grab your bike and head over to downtown on your own!

Cape tri Saturday


So we’ve covered biking and walking in the Cape… let’s end with an event that combines both (well, running rather than walking) and throws in swimming to kick things off.

Of course, that means Saturday’s Cape Coral Sprint Tri, celebrating its 10th year and once again using the Yacht Club as its base. Alas, if you haven’t already signed up the event website says the registration cut-off was May 6… but you can still come down and cheer on the triathletes Saturday morning.

 

Ready to ride or run? 

Run? Two 5Ks this Saturday – the Lovers Key run/walk on fort Myers Beach and the Lipman 5K Run for Backpacks in Immokalee – followed by the Cape Cops 5K run walk on May 18. Details at ftmyerstrackclub.com and active.com.

Ride? Critical Mass takes to the streets of Sanibel Saturday night and NE Lee a week from Friday (May 17). Lights are required for night rides and helmets are recommended; details at meetup.com.
Wednesday brings the two Rides of Silence outlined in the article.

Both? Upcoming events include:
  • Saturday, May 11: Cape Coral Sprint Tri (trifind.com)
  • Saturday, May 18: Life’s a Beach Tri, Sarasota (trifind.com)
  • Sunday, June 2: 33rd Annual Fitness Challenge Triathlon, Naples (trifind.com)
  • Sunday, June 9: Heartland Sprint and Olympic Tri, Sebring (trifind.com)
  • Sunday, June 23: Sirens Sprint Tri, Sarasota (trifind.com) 
  • Registration is open for this year’s Galloway Captiva Tri on Sept. 7-8, which offers a new format this go-round with the sprint race on Saturday morning and the kids’ events Sunday morning. Details at www.gearedup.biz/captiva-triathlon.
  • Willing to drive? Check trifind.com or active.com for tris around the state.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County — streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at www.BikeWalkLee.org. 


 

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Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Rides of Silence, other events planned during National Bike Month


Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, May 8, 2019
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com


Ghost Bikes remind us of those who’ve lost their lives
May is National Bike Month, a time meant to increase awareness and use of one of the most efficient human-powered machines ever invented. Besides the bicycle’s efficiency and versatility, it provides users with a positive experience — at least much of the time. The obvious exceptions involve poor road and pathway design (especially at intersections), disrespect and intimidation by motorists and crashes. While the latter doesn’t always involve motor vehicles (those represent less than 20% of crashes among operators of bikes), those that do frequently involve serious injury or death.

During May different dates are designated for specific activities. Wednesday, May 8 is Bike to School Day. The third week of May is Bike to Work Week; Friday May 17 is Bike to Work Day. Also during that week: Wednesday, May 15, the annual Ride of Silence (www.rideofsilence.org) takes place. It’s a day set aside to commemorate those who have been killed or injured while on their bikes. This year the main Ride of Silence in Lee County will happen in Cape Coral rather than its usual venue in Fort Myers.

The League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.org) has sponsored National Bike Month since 1956. It is meant to exemplify the many positive aspects of cycling. But, like all aspects of interacting with traffic, it comes with risk. Unfortunately, here in Southwest Florida — and Lee County in particular — the risk is much higher than it could and should be. Because our roadways are designed first and foremost to move as many motor vehicles as efficiently as possible those on foot and bicycle all too often pay the price. And because of the real and perceived danger of operating a bike on the road many who would otherwise do just that end up deciding to use sidewalks meant for pedestrians, sometimes increasing their own risk and that of true pedestrians. For that reason — and because many more pedestrians are victims of crashes with motor vehicles — this year’s Ride of Silence will also include pedestrians.

As always, to learn about these topics and more visit bikewalklee.blogspot.com and www.streetsaliveswfl.org. And be sure to get out and ride during National Bike Month. visit . ¦




 
- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334-6417. 

For Lee County cycling and tri events visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). The Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) is your source for statewide happenings. BikeWalkLee’s blog site has all the information you’ll need to stay abreast of advocacy efforts in Southwest Florida as well as statewide and nationally.






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