Friday, May 06, 2011

Crap! Everyone knows about Bike Month but me

As I reported earlier, I was blindsided with the news that May is National Bike Month, which I found out by just happening to see an ad for it on the back of a Winn-Dixie receipt that I was about to throw away.  So, of course I was furious at everyone for not telling me that it was National Bike Month even though I should have known this being both a Gainesville hippie and a devout commuter cyclist.  So I started roaming around the local internets to see who I could blame for this; The University of Florida Office of Sustainability had a brief mention in their Events Page, but when you click "Read More" it goes to a Google Calendar marker page - so, put this on your Google Calendars, everyone!  Helpful but not very prominent!  Then, the blog for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (BPAB), Run Bike Walk (dot) com, had absolutely nothing about this (and someone needs to take this blog over, man, because it's starting to look like it was abandoned, or something).  I should note, however, that the main city page for BPAB did have information and links about Bike Month.  Then I went to the League of American Bicyclists who, thankfully, have a whole page devoted to Bike Month.  Almost every site I went to locally links to the League's site; they have been celebrating this since 1956!  Finally, I went to the Gainesville Sun website but they had really nothing about Bike Month, except a brief mention on Ron Cunningham's Under the Sun blog; I had forgotten that he is a big advocate of commuter cycling so I am adding his blog on AE's "Hogtown Links."  I suspect the Sun will have their annual piece about the Commuter Challenge the City of Gainesville does each year.  Wait, I'm not sure if this is what it's called.  I sent the main person at BPAB an email for more info so I'll update if I hear back.

Got the poster for National Bike Month from the Clif Bar Flickr feed

2 comments:

Dekova Batey said...

The City of Gainesville Bicycle/Pedestrian Program announces a media conference to closeout National Bike Month for Gainesville, Florida on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at noon. The event will be held in front of the Alachua County Library Headquarters downtown location.

Also featured will be a ribbon cutting for the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board (BPAB) “Bicycle Repair Station” pilot project structure and the results of a bicycle vs. car “Commuter Challenge” race involving Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe as the cyclist and University of Florida Police Officer James Thomas, former bicycle officer, cyclist and recent Alachua County Commission Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board (BPAB) appointee. Local and state groups will be on hand to provide bicycle related information and updates.


Link to event flyer: http://www.cityofgainesville.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ndHtKM4mtIE%3d&tabid=274

Web Page link: http://www.cityofgainesville.org/GOVERNMENT/CityDepartmentsNZ/PublicWorks/TransportationServices/BicyclePedestrianProgram/tabid/274/Default.aspx

Or visit directly: www.cityofgainesville.org + I WANT TO + Learn About + Bicycle/Pedestrian Program


For more information on "Bike Month" and bicycling information, please visit: www.bikeleague.org, or contact Dekova Batey, Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Coordinator, at 352-393-8493 / bikeped@cityofgainesville.org

Mistressmybae said...

Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Batey! If you don't mind, I will transfer this comment into a post of its own!