Midnight Garden Ride Late Registration Available

From the press in Connect Savannah and Savannah Morning News this week, we have been getting lots of questions about how late registration will work. All the info is at midnightgardenride.com (sorry Safari and Chrome browser users, a bug in our theme makes the whole site black. Try it in Internet Explorer or Firefox!), but it’s also here if you want to take a look:

Ride weekend regisration is available for $25,

  • 6-9pm on Friday, September 4 at Bicycle Link at 408 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Savannah, GA 31401 and
  • 8-9am on Saturday, September 5 at the Savannah Century ride start in Ellabell and
  • 6-7:30pm at the Distillery on Saturday, September 5.

Current SBC members will still receive the reduced $15 price at late registration.

We’ll see you Saturday for the Midnight Garden Ride!

Chatham County with most car vs bike crashes

2008 data for Georgia indicate that Chatham had the most car vs bike crashes, leaping our county ahead of Fulton.  On a per capita basis, this makes us the leader by far as noted in this article in Saturday’s Savannah Morning News.

Why?  The rate is so much higher there must be an underlying reason.  We would assume there are differences in reporting (maybe we’re doing a better job of that than others?), but clearly there is a problem that we need to address in any case. We’d like to see better enforcement of existing aggressive driving laws, and going forward, a 3 foot passing law for cars as Florida and South Carolina have passed in recent years.  We also need to keep educating cyclists that they are safest when they act (and are therefore more likely to be treated) as operators of vehicles.

Take 2 Wheels 2 Work on Sept. 4

Commuters gathering before last months 2 Wheels 2 Work ride.

You’ve seen other people doing it on your  drive to work. You’ve wondered what it would be like. You’ve pondered trying it yourself. Maybe you just need a little company and encouragement to get started.

Well, we’ve been there and we can show you the way. If you’re ready to have fun, save money and enjoy the health benefits of bicycle commuting, ride along with us on Friday, Sept. 4.

At 7:30 a.m. (returning participants, please note the earlier departure time)  the Savannah Bicycle Campaign’s monthly bicycle commuting convoy will get rolling from the Habersham Village Shopping Center. This month’s 2 Wheels 2 Work destination is Johnson Square, where participants will enjoy fresh coffee from the bike-friendly folks at Jittery Joe’s and tasty eats from the Blue Goose Cafe, new bicycling public service announcements will be debuted and local officials will talk about the positive impact bicycle commuting can have public safety, public health and public life.

Whether you’ve never ridden your bike to work — or you ride every day — please join us in this causally paced ride and stay for the festivities that follow. As always, helmets are strongly encouraged. In the event of heavy rain, the ride will be postponed until Sept. 11.

More Good and Evil Details

If you have not been by the Midnight Garden Ride website lately, check it out for some new updates.

First, we are thrilled to have Bottles & Cans playing live for the Good & Evil Party courtesy of our friends at the Distillery.  While you get your groove on, buy some raffle tickets — there are some great prizes up for grabs including a shiny new bike.

As already mentioned, prizes for the costume contest are also listed — so get your disguise ready to win some great prizes and the admiration of your fellow riders.  Most importantly, preregistration closes at midnight August 31, just one week from now!  So, if you want to be sure you have your very own Midnight Garden Ride shirt, register today!

Mark your calendar: Walkable Communities Forum

walkable-savannah

Dan Burden, a national leader in developing livable communities through his work in the State of Florida and now as director of  the nonprofit Walkable Communities, will be giving a workshop on improving conditions for all road users on Wednesday September 2.  It’s an interesting selection of location for this topic, out near the Savannah Mall, but will undoubtedly be a scintillating discussion of all the topics we campaigners like to hear about.

Thanks to the City of Savannah for bringing him here.  We hope to see you there!

Who are you gonna be?

It’s always fun to dress up!  Prizes for the costume contest are confirmed for the Midnight Garden Ride.  We’ll be giving out prizes for the top 2 group themes, and top 3 best individual overall and top 3 individual lighting setups.  You are constrained only by your imagination and good taste.  Top honors will get you some nice gear, so be sure to head over to midnightgardenride.com to check them out!

While you’re there, be sure to register for the ride if you haven’t already — only riders preregistered by August 31 will be guaranteed their own Midnight Garden Ride organic cotton tee.  Prices at late registration go up to $25, so there are at least two great reasons to register now!

some good lighting points for the Chinese lanterns...
some good lighting points for the Chinese lanterns...

Board of Directors meeting tomorrow night

After our July break and August retreat, we are back on track for our usual meeting time, 6pm on the third Tuesday at Moon River.

Topics for consideration include Midnight Garden Ride logistics and volunteer opportunities, Coastal Georgia Greenway, and potential grant opportunities from the Alliance for Biking and Walking and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.  As always, all are welcome to attend, so we hope to see you there!

Mid Morning Live with David and Drew

Last minute warning: set your DVR (or go to wtoctv.com later today) to check out David Acuff and Drew Wade’s appearance on WTOC’s Mid Morning Live with Sonny and Jody today at 10am. We’ll post the interview here later today. We’ll be talking about what the Campaign is up to, and promoting the Midnight Garden Ride on September 5!

2 Wheels 2 Work: Bike Commuting Convoy

At our board retreat this weekend, we changed the name of our Dump the Pump bike commuting convoys to 2 Wheels 2 Work! As Dump the Pump is a program of the American Public Transportation Association, we felt it better to let them have their name back and use these monthly first Friday events to focus on those things that make bike commuting a great strategy for job-related mobility:

  1. Replace traffic-induced stress with exercise-induced endorphins.
  2. Save money.
  3. Save time.
  4. Save parking for customers and visitors bringing money into our local economy.
  5. Save yourself from an inactive lifestyle predisposing to diabetes AND/OR fees to and time spent at a gym.

This coming Friday, August 7 will be the first 2 Wheels 2 Work convoy under the new name. The new setup will be a mass start from Habersham Village at 8am. We will pick up additional riders at their convenience at points on Habersham Street north to Victory Drive from 8am to 8:10, or on Lincoln Street from Victory to Liberty from 8:10 to 8:20. We finish at Ex Libris bookstore on Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd for coffee compliments of our friends at Jittery Joe’s, probably some time just before 8:30.

UPDATE:
Typical hot August morning, good turnout. See the photos below — we’ll catch you all next month on September 4.