If you missed Row Your Bike to Work Day (it was a bit of a gully washer, with lightning to boot on May 15), please join us this Friday, June 6 for our monthly group commute, the First Friday Bike Convoy.  Experienced riders will lead routes from Baldwin Park (Atlantic and 41st), Habersham Village, and Pierpont Circle in Gordonston into downtown.  The rides start at 8, and we’ll finish with coffee and some hanging out.

As for weather plans, check in at bicyclecampaign.org; for the latest — any call to cancel for weather will be made by 6:30am on the day of the ride.

Weather update:  It’s on like donkey kong.  Today’s ride will finish at Ex Libris, the SCAD bookstore on MLK near the Civic Center.  Inside is the local home of sponsor Jittery Joe’s who will again be treating participants to coffee this morning — enjoy!

We need your help again. If you can make it out to the MPC at 110 E State Street tomorrow at 6pm, you can add the voice of cyclists to the long range transportation plan (LRTP) for Chatham County. This is a process required by federal law, and the session tomorrow night includes small group breakouts, with reports of each group. The more cyclists are there, the less we can be regarded as a fringe interest.

Some concepts we would like to see in the mix:

1. Bicycle master plan: A suggestion of the Bicycle Friendly Communities program, we need a commitment to develop this at the MPC level, as an integrated project to evaluate both on road and greenways network for safe cycling access. Bridge access is lacking and hugely important. The plan must include targets and funding sources for infrastructure implementation from the MPO, the city and the county, though it should include descriptions for education and enforcement as well. The last time a bikeways plan was updated (2000), greenways and on-road bikeways were discussed separately, and only the report of the on-road bikeways was developed.
2. Savannah to Tybee rail trail: We need funding to evaluate the old Savannah-Tybee rail corridor vs the US 80 corridor to establish a connection between Savannah and the islands. A study would allow local groups to begin the conversation with elected officials and possible donors/sponsors.
3. Truman Linear Park Phase II: This is more a short term matter, and the county is committed to this project. We are awaiting final engineering from them and hopefully construction by the end of this year.

Check out the innovative show from New Moon of Savannah, one of the ventures of cyclists and local green community promoters Miriam and Jake Hodesh. The redeSIGN art project features retired road signs which have been repurposed by local artists. There will be a party at the show for Greendrinks next Tuesday May 12 at 5:30 pm at 312 W Broughton St. A portion of proceeds from the show will benefit your Savannah Bicycle Campaign!

Welcome to May, National Bike Month.  Many of you have just celebrated the fifth of May, and it is but one of thirty-one fantastically beautiful days to celebrate the bicycle.  There are haters, many would say this month is more for them than those of us who ride throughout the other 11 months.  Nevertheless, the debris has been cleared from the Habersham bike lane, and we can commence with the celebration!

The Truman Linear Park’s time has come.  The Chatham County Commission has agreed, and members have said at their meeting Friday that they will push the project forward with or without funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  This 4.8 mile segment of off-road multiuse trail is vitally important to fill the north-south safety gap of Skidaway, Truman Parkway, and Waters Ave where nonmotorized travel is particularly hazardous, and would also be a valuable recreational amenity for the community.

The Coastal Region MPO, our regional governmental transportation planning board for the greater Savannah area, will choose priorities for just over $7 million of ARRA transportation projects this Thursday April 30 at 10am at the MPC building at 112 E State St, and though there are some issues with whether this project will meet criteria (see comments here), the project’s earliest, best chance for full funding is now.

As mentioned recently elsewhere, road projects are an automatic for GDOT, but advocates for bicycle and pedestrian projects must repeatedly and forcefully make their voices heard if accomodation to users other than the fastest and heaviest is to be made.  Please, if you are available, come to the meeting with your helmet and set the tone for our local decision makers on Thursday at 10am, not only for this important and overdue project, but to let them know that continued ignorance of these problems is not an option.  This item will be early in the agenda, so please join us on Thursday!

Greetings to all of our new members and the hordes of Savannahians who joined us for the second annual Earth Day Savannah Wheelie on Saturday.  The weather was perfect and the 4.8 miles through downtown were a slow paced marvel.  We thank you all again, and we especially thank the SBC volunteers who made it happen in no particular order:  Ben Allen, Lee Burbage, John Bennett, Eve Seibert, Clint Murphy, Sean Brandon, Adam Kirk, Heidi Halabuda, Eric Breen, Patrick McLaughlin, Susan Jaycox and David Acuff — hopefully I have not left anyone out.  Note also our new logo by our fantastic board member/designer Heidi Halabuda.  Look for changes to the website to reflect the new logo, and grab one of our new shirts with it on the front while you still can!

We meet again as a board this coming Tuesday night, April 21 at Moon River Brewing Company on Bay Street.  We will start earlier than usual, 5:45pm, so that we will finish on time for the Coastal Georgia Greenway meeting that will follow at 7pm in the same room.  We will discuss the Wheelie gone by and how to make the next one even better, as well as upcoming events and initiatives — the agenda is linked below:

April 21, 2009 SBC Board Agenda

Join us as we continue to move bicycling in Savannah forward!

Reminder: the Wheelie is coming this Saturday — get ready!

Savannah Wheelie is back with the second annual Earth Day Wheelie Saturday April 18 at 3pm.  Last year, this free event drew close to 300 Savannahians from all walks of life.  This year, we bring back the mobile party through Savannah’s downtown streets to celebrate the joy and possibilities of bicycling.   Bring yourself, bring your friends, bring your kids — the Wheelie welcomes all!

The Wheelie will set off from the south end of Forsyth Park immediately after the closing of the Earth Day Festival at 3pm.  We will be joined again by the Mayor, Aldermen, and County Commissioners for the ride which will again include a police escort.  As always, helmets are strongly encouraged!  We will finish at Blowin’ Smoke BBQ at 514 MLK for the Post Wheelie Dealie for food, music, and fun.  The Post Wheelie Dealie is our annual membership drive, and paid members will dine courtesy of their Savannah Bicycle Campaign.

A little rain doesn’t dissuade the dedicated bicycle commuter. Even torrential downpours can be mitigated with the appropriate clothing and equipment. But because Dump the Pump is designed with beginners in mind, tomorrow might not be the best day for them to “get their feet wet” in the exciting world of bicycle commuting. The April 3 Dump the Pump will be rescheduled for April 10. The details remain the same: Bicycle caravans depart from Baldwin Park and Habersham Village around 8 a.m. Coffee and refreshments served by Jittery Joe’s (located in the Ex Libris Bookstore) in Davant Park. Helmets strongly encouraged.

Whatever happened to Dump the Pump? Well, we took a small hiatus to reorganize and reenergize. Rest assured that we are back in force and are restarting the Dump the Pump Bike Convoys every first Friday of the month (rain date second Friday) starting Fri March 6 at 8am.

Come out every month to Baldwin Park (Atlantic and 41st) or Habersham Village to join Mayor Otis Johnson, City Manager Michael Brown, other elected officials and fellow Savannahians on a short ride to downtown (<3 miles). Rides will be led by experienced bike commuters, and we will finish at Davant Park (the south end of Colonial Cemetery) for treats from Jittery Joe’s, which is located in the Ex Libris Bookstore.

Mayor Johnson will continue his participation in the Dump the Pump Bike Convoys.