Providence Bicycle Coalition (PBC)
We’ve had a few people write and ask whether the B2WD event will still happen, even though they are predicting rain for tomorrow. The event is happening, rain or shine! Hope to see you tomorrow and let’s hope for the 50% chance of not getting rain.
I road home on the bike path this evening and it looks like the sewer repairs in Riverside won’t be completed in time for B2WD. So, I’ve updated the East Bay Bike Train map to reflect our detour. See you Friday!
We are pleased to announce that a Blackstone Bikeway train has now been organized. You can read more about this train on our bike train webpage.
Since the bike trail is still being developed, the online map data has not caught up with the physical changes. We’ve done our best to accurately represent the path of the train, but this train may not be represented as accurately as our other trains. However, the stopping points are correct.
The May 1st edition of the Providence City news has a piece on B2WD. It’s great to see an increase in publicity for the event this year. Now all we need is some nice weather!
The BikeTalk program on Brown Student Radio (BSR) covered B2WD on their latest show. You can listen to an archived version of this show. Thanks to Alex, Chris, and Tom for talking up the event.
The Providence Journal posted an article today entitled Heed the Rules of the Road. In addition to mentioning the upcoming Bike to Work festivities, the article reminds people that
Rhode Island’s four main bike paths are already crowded on good-weather weekends, not just with bicyclists but with walkers, dog walkers, Rollerbladers –– even Rollerbladers with dogs. With so many people using the bike paths, the potential for accidents and collisions is ever-present, so the start of the season is a good time for all users of the bike paths to be reminded of the rules.
Confusion arises because the posted signs and painted icons that instruct walkers to “walk in the left lane, facing bicyclists” don’t spell out the rest of the rule, which is that walkers are to stay to the left, close to the grass edge, and make way for oncoming bicyclists.
Just as on an automotive highway, pedestrians are safer if they are facing the oncoming traffic –– but that doesn’t mean that they can walk in the middle of the road.
Overall, I don’t have a strong opinion about what side of the bike path pedestrians use, I’d just like it to be consistent. I mentioned to my wife after my ride home on Monday that I’d seen the last of commuting home via the bike trail until the Fall. It’s just too tough to try and weed your way through the disorganization on the bike path in the afternoon, I’d rather leave the path for those that feel more comfortable away from automobile traffic.
Our list of bike trains continues to grow. We just added an additional train heading to the B2WD events originating from Glocester. If you live out this way, it’s a great way to try your hand at bike commuting! See our bike train page for a listing of all the offerings.
Our Providence Bike-to-Work Day event has been added to the League of American Cyclists B2WD event listing. If you haven’t already done so, I would suggest you take some time and peruse the league website. They have a lot of good information about cycling advocacy and just cycling in general. If you are looking for something more specific about B2WD events, you might want to read over their 50 ways to celebrate bike month (large pdf) article.
There is a fairly new Bike to Work Week site online. They are attempting to collect information about all the various Bike Month and B2WD events happening around the country. Our events have been added to the list, currently the sole event listed in the CT, MA, RI area.
Just a reminder. We have a lot going on this year. You can read about what’s happen at our event or find out if there is a bike train passing through your area. Hope to see YOU on the road May 16th!
An article in this morning’s Projo discusses the approach a variety of people are taking to deal with increasing gas prices. The majority of the article focuses on alternate cars, carpooling, bus ridership, etc. However, it does conclude by mentioning our upcoming B2WD event.