Jerry Jaycox Memorial Ride

Honor our friend Jerry who died on his bike this January with a ride tomorrow morning at 9am.  The 30 mile casual ride leaves from the Georgia Tech campus on Jimmy Deloach Parkway, and returns for food and drinks.

Jerry Jaycox

This is a co-hosted event of the Savannah Wheelmen and Coastal Bicycle Touring Club, two groups Jerry loved to ride with.  If you want a little extra, you can leave early with one of the following groups from town:

7:15 AM – Leave Habersham YMCA – David Udinsky will be leading
8:00 AM – Leave Gallery Espresso (pace of 20 mph needed to arrive on time)

Cycle, Recycle

Those within the Savannah and Tybee city limits have it easy.  That is to say, they have what many communities across the country have established in the last 20 years, curbside recycling.  Sure, there are facilities available for recycling for the motivated — collect and sort, load and drive, unload and drive home.  It’s an inefficient use of time and gas.  If instead, this were rolled into a regular service as it has been in Savannah, many more would use it.

Recycle Chatham has begun a petition that has already garnered 5,000 of the required 16,626 to place the measure on the ballot.  Though our organization is focused on bicycles, we see the value in this and our board has therefore endorsed the petition.  If  you live in Chatham County and are a registered voter, please take the (very short) time to go to the petition and make your voice heard in support of this measure.  Think of it this way:  your rides will then be free from all of those cars driving their recycling to the transfer stations!

Don’t forget: First Friday Bike Convoy

row-row-row-your-bike
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!

Calling all cyclists

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.

core-mpo

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.

National Bike to Work Day/DtP Bike Convoy

Aloha, campaigners.  The big event for bike month is the National Bike to Work Day, Friday May 15.  This is a day where we welcome all comers into the wonderful realm of commuting by bicycle.  Savannah is particularly well suited for this, and hopefully some new faces will join us, elected officials and city staff for the Dump the Pump Bike Convoys.  Separate rides will leave simultaneously at 8am from Baldwin Park (Atlantic and 42nd), Habersham Village, and a fresh *NEW* location, Pierpont Circle in Gordonston.

btw-day

Jittery Joe’s, the ever percolating friends of cycling, will again provide coffee and breakfast treats at Davant Park, the south end of Colonial Cemetery.  We will also have some announcements there, including a celebration of Savannah’s newly minted honorable mention status in the Bicycle Friendly Community designations.  Please come and join in the fun!

redeSIGN, Greendrinks, SBC and you

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!

redeSIGN poster

Bike Month is On

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!


Honorably yours

Greetings, campaigners!

We have good news.  The efforts of the city of Savannah have resulted in an Honorable Mention from the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Communities program. While our city has not yet achieved a designation (bronze, silver, gold, platinum), this award is confirmation that we are moving in the right direction. With the support of city government, we hope to move on upcoming suggestions from experts in the League of American Bicyclists to bring Savannah closer to bicycle nirvana with each coming day.

Stay tuned for the breakdown on how we scored. Incidentally, Decatur, GA was also awarded an honorable mention in this go-around. Roswell remains the only community in Georgia with a current Bicycle Friendly Communtiy designation.

Connect Daffin Park and Lake Mayer Park!

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.

core-mpo

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!

Truman Linear Park: County Commission 4/24 and MPO 4/30

Two meetings I wanted you all to be aware of.  If you were to pick one to attend, the second on 4/30 is more important, though we expect both to pass and get this project started before March of next year:

COUNTY COMMISSION TOMORROW 4/24 9:30am:

Our request to move the Truman Linear Park phase II into construction before March of next year, thus qualifying for ARRA stimulus funds, is very likely to pass at the County Commission meeting on Friday (agenda is here).  I think it would be a nice gesture if you are available to attend, to be there to say thank you to the commissioners for their support of this project which has been a long time in coming.  It is though all of your advocacy efforts at the county and the MPC that this project is very likely moving forward.  The meeting is at 124 Bull St, 2nd Floor at 9:30am this Friday, April 24.

MPO MEETING THURSDAY 4/30 10am:

The funds will be obligated at the CORE/MPO meeting on April 30 at 10am at the MPC at 112 E State St, and that is where we MUST be present in numbers, with helmets in hand if not on head, to remind the county and local municipal officials that these projects are important and should make the priority list (the Truman Linear Park project IS on their preliminary listing here).

Also, look for a new Savannah Bicycle Calendar coming soon to this site that will include events such as these as well as other local cycling activities.