Savannah’s most popular (and only) bicycle commuting event returns this Friday. The concept and route are the same as last month’s Dump the Pump ride. Bicycle caravans will depart at 8 a.m. from Baldwin Park (Atlantic and 41st) or Habersham Village Shopping Center for the short ride to downtown (<3 miles). Rides will be led by experienced bike commuters and we will conclude at Davant Park (the south end of Colonial Cemetery) for treats from Jittery Joe’s, which is located in the Ex Libris Bookstore. For those who have considered riding their bikes to work, Dump the Pump presents an excellent opportunity to give it a try in a group context. Try it once and you’ll be hooked!

There is a meeting for public comment on changes to the transportation plan for FY2010-2013 at MPC scheduled for Tuesday, 3/24 at 5pm.

Because we feel it’s important to be present and engaged in this process at MPC, we have rescheduled the SBC board meeting for 7pm at Moon River — it will be an abbreviated meeting, and should not take more than 30 minutes.  We just got notice of the meeting at MPC yesterday, but still have a few urgent matters we need to addres.

We need your help on Tuesday at 5pm at MPC at 110 State Street (between Abercorn and Drayton).  At stake are the priorities that will be set for transportation in the next 3 years, including what happens with stimulus spending locally. Despite our efforts at the technical committee meeting last month in getting the Truman Linear Park inserted into the plan, it is still not in the list of preliminary priorities for the MPO. 

We had scheduled a Coastal Georgia Greenway meeting that evening at Moon River to follow our board meeting, but it will be rescheduled for April — please look for that announcement.

Please come out to MPC Tuesday, bring your helmet, and speak for more bikeways, for complete streets.  Stick around and we’ll head over to Moon River at 7.

Agenda for the SBC board meeting is available at this link.

Good coverage in the evening news last night on WTOC, along with some pro-cycling commentary from anchor-cyclist Sonny Dixon.  Thanks to them for highlighting this assault on well known local cyclist Nick Baker.

It was not noted in their story, but as Nick was traveling on the northern stretch of Skidaway Road, wearing bright yellow as so many of us do, so it’s hard to imagine that whoever hit him could not have seen him. Please contact Savannah-Chatham Police if you have any tips.

Ok, clearly no mountains.  We do have trails, though, at Tom Triplett Park, with a ~7 mile loop and some newly renovated bridges.

3 items of mountain bike interest for you today:

This Sunday, March 8 at Triplett Park of US80 in Pooler, Trek will demo their line of mountain bikes courtesy of your friends at the Bicycle Link.  Bring your legs and your skills to try out the new bridges and get a last look at the last of the broken down bridges, because next week,

Saturday, March 14, starting at 8am, join other enthusiastic local mountain bikers who have been renovating the bridges.  We were fortunate to have Chatham County step in to provide the materials, and the last project is a big one:  a 130′ span that will be dedicated to the memory of Jerry Jaycox.

Finally, while you’re thinking about rebuilding and shredding that singletrack out at Triplett, help to get some more local MTB action.  There is a petition circulating to get some singletrack built out in Claxton:  click here for the petition, or email Micah Whitley, micahwhitley [a t] frontiernet [dot] net for more details.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the MPC last week to show support for bicycling projects in Chatham County, GDOT and Savannah’s projects to be included in stimulus funding.  We were thrilled to have at least ten bike advocates packing the Tuesday night meeting which recommended the local projects from GDOT, Chatham County, and Savannah for stimulus funding eligibility.

Much good came of our presence that night — specifically, the Truman Linear Park phase II, which had been wiped from Chatham County’s list of projects for stimulus funding, was clarified and added to the list of stimulus-funding-eligible projects that was approved at the policy committee of the MPO Wednesday 2/25.  We very much hope that Chatham County will make this project a priority and obtain the $600,000 in stimulus funding that is needed for full funding of the project.  This money in addition to the $1 million in existing funding will allow completion of a bridge for the path over Derenne Avenue.

The entire project will link Lake Mayer to 52nd Street just east of the Truman Parkway, and connect to the Police Memorial Trail on the west side of Truman Parkway.  With all of this in place, a paved multi-use path linkage between Daffin Park and Lake Mayer Park will be complete.  Our understanding is that the county is currently seeking environmental review and pending stimulus funding would begin construction this fall.

We need your help in urging your county commissioners to take the necessary steps to secure the stimulus funding and get this trail built!  Follow this link for your county commissioner’s contact information and district maps.

Want to have fun with your bike, and feel good about helping your community at the same time?  We have some great ideas for you!

Sat Feb 28 at 7:30am-10am:  SBC volunteers on bikes will be helping direct runners at the Historic Savannah Foundation Critz Race for Preservation.  Cheer on your friends running in the race.  Volunteers will get a race T-shirt for helping out.  Please email Drew at awade1975 <at> gmail <d o t> com if you can help.

Tue-Wed Mar 3-4:  The City of Savannah and Savannah Bicycle Campaign are conducting the first ever Savannah bike census.  This weighs heavily in the application for Bicycle Friendly Community Status and will be a benchmark from which to measure future progress.  Take part in this historic event, as we will need volunteers stationed at multiple locations to count bicyclists!  Email Sean Brandon (Sean_Brandon <a t> savannahga <dot> gov), Director of Parking and Mobility for the City of Savannah, if you are interested in volunteering for one or more hour.  Locations include Bull and Broughton (Panera), Lincoln at Gwinnett (Kroger), Bull and Park (Bean/Forsyth), and Habersham and 52nd (Ardsley).   Counts will be conducted between 8am and 6pm.   This is a vitally important to our efforts, and we need your help, so please join us.

Sat May 2:   Interfaith Hospitality Network is holding their first Tour de Kids event in Daffin Park.  Designed for ages 3-13, kids will ride a closed course in the park in the morning.  A festival for the kids awaits at the end.  Volunteers are needed to mark off and marshal the courses, and to man the safety check station for the bikes.  Proceeds benefit Interfaith Hospitality Network’s support of homeless families with children.

Please join us in supporting these local events, and in so doing spread the goodwill of the Savannah Bicycle Campaign to all of Savannah.  If you are available to volunteer, please contact us at savbikecampaign <a t> yahoo <dot> com.