Greenville Alley Cat to benefit Upstate SORBA

Don’t forget the Greenville Alley Cat and MTB movie night tomorrow, May 23^rd. It is $5 for the race and another $5 to see the movies, and all proceeds go to Upstate SORBA’s trail building fund.   

Meet in the alley behind Chicora Alley (makes sense for an Alley Cat, right?), and the race will start at 6:30 pm.

Check out the excellent poster by Brad Allen for more details. Hope to see you there!

Ride of Silence tommorow night

The National Ride of Silence takes place tomorrow, Wednesday May 16^th. Plan to join Bikeville for a silent community bike ride through downtown Greenville to honor those bicyclists who have been killed or injured while riding on public roadways. Meet in front of City Hall (206 S. Main St.) at 6:30pm to get your black armband and to hear a reading of the Ride of Silence poem. The one hour ride will start at 7:00.

So far in 2012, the SC Department of Safety reports that 7 bicyclists have been killed while riding on South Carolina roads. For several years we have been ranked as one of the least safe states in the nation for cycling, so it is quite alarming that we are on track for an even higher number of fatalities than the 13 which occurred in this state last year. Please come out tomorrow to remember those who have died, and to remind people to be careful and watch for others on our public roadways.

GOFO Urban farm bike tours

The second annual Greenville Urban Farm tour, presented by Greenville Organic Food Organization, will take place next Saturday, May 12^th. As part of Bike Month in Greenville, Bikeville Volunteers (myself included) will be guiding bicycle tours of select urban farms near the downtown area. There will be morning and afternoon rides, which will each visit 5 to 6 different locations. Preregistration is required, so check out the bike tours section of the UFT website to get more information and to register. 

Remember to visit the Bikeville Bike Month page for a complete list of events planned for the month of May. You can also find a poster/flyer there to download and share with others.

Sad news from Simpsonville

If you are reading this, you have probably already heard about the tragic crash last week in Simpsonville that took the life of Walter Glenn Brackin Jr. while he was cycling. I didn’t know Mr. Brackin personally, and I don’t know any details about the incident other than what is stated in the news story. As always though, I feel deeply saddened any time I hear of the death of a fellow cyclist on our roadways and I urge you to keep Glenn Brackin’s family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

While overall traffic fatalities have dropped slightly in South Carolina in recent years, there is an “upward trend in fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists who are considered Vulnerable Roadway Users.” We need to reverse that trend, so please remember to be careful and alert anytime you are out on our roads…especially if you are driving a car.  Watch for pedestrians and cyclists and be extremely careful as you pass. That person walking or on a bike is someone’s son, daughter, wife, father, husband, sister (I could go on, but you get the idea). It is up to all of us to pay full attention and watch out for each other on our public roads. Many accidents can be avoided with a little extra vigilance from everyone, so please remember to always pay full attention to the road and your surroundings when you are behind the wheel of a car.