We had a great BTWD event

Greenville’s Bike to Work Day event last week was a great success. Over 60 cyclists showed up at Hincapie Sportswear early Friday morning for the ride with Mayor White and city council members to Piazza Bergamo. I want to thank those of you who got up early to participate in the ride on Friday. I think that Mayor White was impressed with the crowd as well. In his speech, the Mayor mentioned that it was a good turnout, but that next year we would shoot for an even 100 participants. Building on the success of this year’s event, I think that we, as a cycling community, can reach that goal for BTWD 2008.

I also want to again thank the sponsors for this year’s event. Atlanta Bread Company, Carolina Triathlon, Great Escape, Hincapie Sportswear, and Pulze Fitness all donated items that helped make this event a success. While I am thanking people, I should mention Greenville’s urban designer Andrew Meeker, who did the bulk of the work in putting this event together. I was glad to help him out a bit, but he deserves the credit for pulling this all together. Also, of course, thank you to Mayor Knox White for his participation and his continued dedication to making Greenville a bicycle friendly community. The Mayor mentioned a few projects in the works, including a planned underpass below River Street for the Greenway trail. This will link the busy path by Riverplace with the newest section of trail that currently begins at Linky Stone Park (the section that was part of the route on Friday morning).

If you were unable to attend, you can download a copy of the handout here (front and back) which has some basic commuting information. I would love to post pictures of the event, but somehow I forgot to pack my camera before I rode down on Friday. If any of you have pictures that you took on Friday and wish to share, please let me know.