At the beginning of May, I
posted about a few upcoming events such as Bike to Work week, the Ride of Silence, and the Imagine Greenville County planning meetings. I have been meaning to do a follow up post on all of those, but I haven’t found the time until now.
Overall, Bike to Work week went well. I am not sure exactly how many people showed up with their bikes for the ABC quick checks on Monday through Wednesday, but I do know that Greenville’s urban designer Andrew Meeker talked to quite a few people at Piazza Bergamo who had questions about commuting and were interested in seeing the City’s trails and Greenway master plan.
I attended the Thursday evening “commuter 101” course at
TTR and was pleased to see the turnout. Sally Nicholson and Paul LeFrancois did a great job of providing the group with basic safe riding and commuting tips. The group seemed to be pretty diverse in cycling experience, but I think most everyone got something out of the presentation. Many people asked questions, so I think it was definitely a worthwhile experience for all who attended.
Despite the rains overnight on Thursday, the commuter breakfast on Friday also went well. After a short ride from City Hall, Mayor White spoke about his vision of a bike friendly Greenville. He made what I thought was a great comparison between the current bike lane, trail, and greenway plans and the
Liberty Bridge project that became a reality just a few years ago. Though Liberty Bridge and all of Falls Park has become a showcase for the City, it started with just a handful of people who really wanted to see it happen and were willing to put forth the effort to make that dream a reality. There was certainly some opposition to the idea of tearing down an automobile bridge and building a pedestrian bridge in its place, but now that the project is complete, almost all Greenville residents are proud of Falls Park and view the new bridge as a symbol of the City. Let’s hope that future efforts to make Greenville bicycle and pedestrian friendly will be received the same way.
Another highlight of the commuter breakfast was
Greenville Spinners club president Tim St. Clair’s presentation of a
“Lights for Life” light to Police Chief Wilfong. Michelle James has been the driving force behind this initiative to get free blinky lights in the hands of those who need them by partnering with local law enforcement. I think this is a great initiative, so I really appreciate the time that Michelle has put into it. I also want to mention
Charleston attorney Peter Wilborn, who spoke to the Spinners at a club meeting about the importance of using lights. He is the one who donated the first 100 Planet Bike Blinky lights for this program, so we owe him our thanks for that. I almost forgot, we gave away really nice waterbottles (donated by the Great Escape) at the commuter breakfast. You can see one in the picture with the lights.
The joint Greenville/Spartanburg Ride of Silence on Hwy 101 was well attended and well organized.
Hundreds of cyclists rode to remember those who have been killed or injured while riding on the roads. It would be great to say it went off without a hitch, but one incident that took place during the ride points to the fact that the “share the road” message still needs to get out. The driver of a car, who was apparently not happy to see so many cyclists on the road, swerved near some of the riders. A Spartanburg County deputy who was escorting the ride pursued the driver for a short distance, but backed off to avoid a dangerous high-speed chase near the ride. Apparently the driver continued to travel at high speed until he flipped his car near the junction with I-85. I didn’t see it happen, but as the group I carpooled with left the ride, we saw the flipped car and skid marks. I didn’t know the full story until
I saw it on the news that evening.
Lastly, I want to mention the last
Imagine Greenville planning meeting that took place on May 13th. As I mentioned in previous posts, Nigel Darrington attended a few of these County meetings and reported that the issue of “Bikeways” was in the top 5 vote counts for all of the meetings he was able to attend. I am happy to report that it took the top spot at this last meeting by a large margin. Everyone at the meeting was given a survey to fill out. If you missed the meeting, you
can still fill out the survey online to let the County know that bike lanes and greenway trails are something you care about.
