Savannah Wheelie. Tour de Georgia. Dump the Pump!

It’s coming. Soon. If you love bikes and you love Savannah, you had better hope you are here and ready for the weekend of April 18-21.

Friday April 18, the day before Savannah’s Earth Day festival, is the first of three Dump the Pump days sponsored by Savannah Development and Renewal Authority, Savannah Bicycle Campaign, PACE, CAT and the City of Savannah. Downtown workers are encouraged to bike, walk, carpool or take transit and leave their cars at home for the day. The next is May 16 to correspond with National Bike to Work day and the third June 19 to correspond with the American Public Transit Association’s Dump the Pump day. Thanks to SavannahTransit.com who note that multimodal commute fans get an added benefit: if you board CAT with a bike, your fare is 25 cents!

Saturday, April 19, we welcome everyone to join us at 3pm for the first ever Savannah Wheelie, a free social ride beginning and ending at Forsyth Park. Pedal over to Blowin’ Smoke on MLK afterwards (4pm) for the Post Wheelie Dealie to enjoy some fine BBQ, live music and great people. Tickets are available in advance online, and also at Blowin’ Smoke and Quality Bike. This is a membership drive for Savannah Bicycle Campaign as well, so we hope you will join us in a collective call to make Savannah into a world class bicycle friendly community. Click here for a Wheelie Poster to print and post.

The fun continues April 19 with the arrival of international professional cycling to the Coastal Empire. The Tour de Georgia kickoff party, Toast de Tour, is at the Trade Center at 6pm. It’s a casual affair, with an introduction of the teams including Astana led by 2007 tour de France champion Alberto Contador and 2007 US National Road Race Champion Levi Leipheimer, as well as the first visit by a professional Chinese team to the US (from VeloNews):

Founded in 2005, Marco Polo Cycling is China’s first professional cycling team. Its participation in the Tour de Georgia marks the first time a China-based cycling team has ever raced on American soil, further enhancing the event’s international profile.

Sunday, April 20 holds the TdG’s Ride for Research, a charity ride benefitting AFLAC Children’s Cancer Center, leaving from Tybee at 10am. The route will follow much of Monday’s race route and include former pro cyclists.
Check out active.com to register.

To round out the weekend, on Monday, April 21 the cream of professional cycling converge on Tybee Island for the opening stage of Tour de Georgia, a renowned warmup for le tour in July. The first stage will cover 71 miles, and include 3 sprint lines, and marks the first time in 5 years Tour de Georgia has raced through Chatham County. The map is available here; start time from Tybee is 10am. Liberty Street is the center of the action downtown, and riders should zip through westbound between 10:30 and 11am. Finishers are expected at the Civic Center (Liberty and Montgomery) between 1 and 1:45pm. Hang around for the expo, and as always, ride your bike there! Keep your eyes open for the bike valet provided by Savannah Bicycle Campaign.

Come one and all for the first ever Savannah Wheelie, a casual, slow paced family friendly ride through downtown Savannah on Saturday, April 19 at 3pm. The ride will set off from the south end of Forsyth Park with honorary ride leaders Mayor Otis Johnson and Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis, at the close of the Earth Day Festival. We will have a police escort and travel at a comfortable pace for everyone, finishing back at the park:  click here for the route. There is no charge for the ride and no pre-registration. Helmets are strongly encouraged.

When we’re done with the ride, come on to the Post Wheelie Dealie at around 4pm, a celebration of bicycles with live music and great food at Savannah’s newest barbecue establishment, Blowin’ Smoke at 514 MLK. Prepurchase tickets are available online here or at Quality Bike and Blowin’ Smoke: $5 for SBC members, $10 for nonmembers, $5 for kids under 12. Tickets will also be available at the door for ($12 for nonmembers or $5 for SBC members).

Your ticket buys you a BBQ sandwich, a side and your choice of a beer or soft drink, live entertainment, and a warm fuzzy feeling inside from supporting a good cause. We hope you will join as a member of Savannah Bicycle Campaign as well — you can do it right now online through Paypal. Members will receive notification of local bicycling happenings, including special discounts at bicycle friendly establishments in and around Savannah.

Many thanks to our sponsors: Quality Bike, SouthCoast Imaging Center, Blowin’ Smoke, Bicycle Savannah, Seabolt Brokers and Islands Bicycles!

Starting in May, future Savannah Wheelie rides will roll on the third Sunday of every month at 3:30pm.

The Parking and Mobility Task Force of the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority is promoting April 18 as Multi-Modal Transit Dump the Pump Day, encouraging downtown workers to leave their cars at home and commute by walking, CAT, carpool, skates, or bike.

This event is the day before the Savannah Earth Day Festival with the first ever Savannah Wheelie April 19, and should also serve an excellent warm-up for Bike to Work Week May 12-16.

Via Streetsblog, an article arguing that 2008 may be the tipping point for bicycle transportation in the United States:

“Moves to add painted bike lanes along city roadways are being eclipsed by proposals for entire networks of “bike boulevards” — roadways altered radically to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians. And a companion “Complete Streets” movement — making roadway space for cyclists and pedestrians, not just cars and trucks — is gaining traction nationwide.”

Read more here.

Our first project is the Savannah Wheelie, a monthly casual, social, slow paced bike ride to enjoy the sights, sounds, and people of Savannah. Our first ride will be in association with Earth Day festivities at Forsyth Park on Saturday April 19 at 3 p.m. Find your cruiser, your old ten speed, your fixie, whatever you like to pedal. Don’t forget to bring the kids! It will be a parade under pedal power—the more the merrier.

We will set off at the closing of the festival around 3 p.m. Helmets are strongly encouraged. We will ride the Historic Downtown Bikeway and finish at Forsyth Park. Future Savannah Wheelie bike rides will be on the third Sunday of each month at 3:30 p.m. If you would like to learn more, please drop us a line: drewwade@coastalgeorgiagreenway.org or info@sustainablesavannah.com