Much too soon, we are very sad to report, SBC Board Member, local racer and friend to the cycling community Jerry Jaycox passed away last night during the Georgia Tech ride.  Jerry was always ready to lend a hand, and there were lots of hands on the scene last night to return the favor.  Many on the ride worked to resuscitate him after he apparently went unconscious while still riding. An ambulance brought Jerry to Memorial last night, though he never regained consciousness.

Please keep Jerry’s wife Susan in your thoughts. The visitation will be Sunday from 2 to 5pm, with a memorial service on Monday at 2pm, all to take place at the Fox and Weeks funeral home at 7200 Hodgson Memorial Drive.

We have some good Safe Routes to School news to report.  On the heels of putting out its first grant cycle in December, GDOT has finally settled on a provider for its non-infrastructure SRTS resource center provider, URS Corporation.  Additional good news is that they are hiring 6 coordinators to manage the project throughout the state.  Would it not be great to have one of these folks based in Savannah?  Follow this link for more details.

Job Description:

URS Corporation is a fully integrated engineering, construction and technical services organization with the capabilities to support the full project life cycle—from inception through start-up and operation to decommissioning and closure. We offer planning, engineering and architectural design, environmental, construction, program and construction management, operations and maintenance, and management services. URS ranked #449 on the FORTUNE 500 list and #1 on Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) list of the Top 500 Design Firms for the eighth consecutive year.

In this position, you will join the Georgia Safe Routes to School team to assist in the establishment of healthy school travel options for elementary and middle school students statewide. You will educate school and community stakeholders on program benefits, build partnerships to design and implement Safe Routes initiatives, and evaluate program impacts. Safe Routes to School activities aim to reduce traffic congestions, air pollution, and traffic challenges while improving students’ health, mobility, and safety.

Responsibilities/Objectives

• Develop school-based outreach activities encouraging walking and bicycling
• Design customized solutions for elementary and middle schools, including education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation activities
• Assist with program implementation including adult-guided walking/bicycle groups and frequent walker/rider activities
• Specific tasks include: in-the-field outreach activities and delivering presentations to school stakeholders, including school administrators, teachers, parents, public safety officials, and community leaders

It’s a new year, and we’re more pumped than ever to make a difference for bicycling in Savannah.

The Board of Directors met in December and have settled on a schedule for the year.  More will come on these events, so stay tuned!

• Mayor’s Dump the Pump Bike Convoy – Every first Friday of the month, Baldwin Park and Habersham Village to downtown.  Rain date is the second Friday.  May event will be May 15 to correspond with National Bike to Work Day.
• Earth Day Savannah Wheelie and Post Wheelie Dealie – Saturday April 18, 3:00pm starting at Forsyth Park.  Party at Blowin Smoke is our annual membership drive!
• Midnight Garden Ride/Good & Evil Party – Saturday, Sept 5 at 8pm, night ride and party, start and finish at the Distillery (Liberty and MLK).
• Picnic in the Park Wheelie – Sunday October 3, 4pm
• Fort Pulaski Wheelie Cookout – Sunday November 15 at Fort Pulaski

We will also roll out plans for adult bicycling education classes.  Look for a semi-annual skill and confidence boosting course about caring for and driving your bike.

Last month in thanking our sponsors, I quite unfortunately intially left Dave Sanderson’s touring company, Bicycle Savannah, off the list.  Though that post has been corrected, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Dave Sanderson and his contribution to the cycling community and bicycle advocacy here in Savannah.  He has been a voice pressing for improved facilities along with others at the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club in Savannah for many years.  Last spring he joined forces with the Savannah Bicycle Campaign and is an active member on our board  — you can see him with Mayor Johnson below just prior to last April’s Earth Day Savannah Wheelie.

Dave, has four children, seven grandchildren, five great grandchildren and is still riding and leading tours at 80 (years!  yes!). He is an avid but not a lifelong cyclist.  In fact, Dave did not start riding until he developed diabetes in his sixties.  Until recently, his touring company, Bicycle Savannah, LLC, put on the Labor Day Historic Savannah Bikefest (where SBC board member Joe Steffen met his wife), Jekyll Island Jingle Bell Ride among the countless other multi-day tours throughout the southeast that they still put on.

Check out what else Dave is up to at his blog (yes, he has a blog!).  To see what is still possible if you stay active is impressive, and our helmets are off to you, Dave for all you have done to advance the cause of better bicycling in Savannah.

SBC member Andy Woods is passionate about bicycling, especially mountain biking.  Yes, this is Savannah, and there are not many local venues for mountain biking; however, Tom Triplett Park is one exception.

The 7 miles of singletrack trail at Tom Triplett Park in Pooler off US-80 are probably some of the best here in Chatham County.  Running as they do, however, through wetlands, after years of relative neglect, many of the bridges are in complete disrepair, with a sampling pictured below:

Seeing this need at the park, and with permission from Chatham County, Andy and some other dedicated volunteers have taken to identifying problems and replacing those bridges.  Savannah Bicycle Campaign has provided nearly $400 for materials to make the first bridge replacement, built by Andy and his band of merry volunteers to International Mountain Biking Association specifications.

The estimate for materials to replace the remaining bridges of the park is $1200.  Provided funding and/or materials, volunteers stand at the ready to replace the remaining bridges.  As an organization, we are proud to support this work for the benefit of all local residents, and hope that there are others who see the value in such a project.  Please consider a donation to SBC to help fund this project.  Considering shrunken local government budgets and economic uncertainty for private citizens who fund nonprofits like ours, this is a difficult time.  Nevertheless, the free labor provided by volunteers will make donated dollars and/or building materials go much farther.  If you are interested in helping us secure the additional materials for the remaining repairs, please leave a comment here or contact us.

We have had a fantastic debut year, with many successes to celebrate!  New downtown bike racks, a resolution by the city to seek Bicycle Friendly Community status, big support from the mayor, aldermen, city manager, and city staff, legions of happy bicycling Savannahians, and dozens of new members — thank you to everyone who has made that possible, especially those of you who have seen the potential for a better bicycling Savannah and have already joined as members.

A special thanks goes to our generous sponsors, for without their contributions, we would not be where we are today:

Quality Bike Shop has been an early and frequent sponsor, most recently donating the grand prize for the Holiday Wheelie, a beautiful new cruiser that went to SCAD Professor Bonnie Kubasta for her outstanding elf-on-a-reindeer ride (see below).  Thanks to Mike Maynor and Robert Weil for their consistent assistance and support to our group!

Georgia Bike Law/Attorney Joe Steffen were huge supporters of Wheelies all year long, and are always there should you ever need legal help with your bike or otherwise.

Big H little h design and illustration provided design services for our website, logo, and Wheelies.  Every time you saw one of those great Wheelie posters, Big H little h was behind it.

Bicycle Link were business members and Wheelie sponsors, and John Skiljan and his family were frequent Wheelie participants (see below for their Holiday Wheelie setup) — keep up the great work, Skiljans!

Dave Sanderson and his touring company Bicycle Savannah were among our first business members, and we thank him for his years of advocacy in the Savannah area — more on that soon.

Star Bike Shop were Wheelie sponsors, and supported us all along the way.  Islands Bikes and Boards were also Wheelie sponsors, and came out to fix flats and get folks ready for the April and November rides.

For your holiday shopping pleasure, remember that SBC members get 10% off accessories at Quality, Bicycle Link and Islands — and 5% off bikes, racks and other larger items at Quality, so join today!

Thanks to our other sponsors this year — the City of Savannah, Southcoast Imaging Center, Blowin’ Smoke BBQ, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Chatham County Health Department, Dr. Stephen Acuff, and Seabolt Brokers.

Our board has set the schedule for another great year of events, education, and infrastructure advocacy — stay tuned for the details, including the 2009 Wheelie schedule and the Night Ride announcement, coming soon.