October 1, 2020 — (Winter Park, Fla) — Bike/Walk Central Florida is hosting its signature ride event, the fourth annual Bike 5 Cities’ 28-mile ride on Saturday, October 3, in partnership with the cities of Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Casselberry and the town of Eatonville.
Presented by Alert Today Florida, this slow-paced, social distance event gives bicyclists a chance to safely get back out on local routes and trails with other riders. This means drivers should be on the lookout for small groups of no more than five riders continuously crossing at intersections with their guides on bike-friendly roads between 7:00 a.m. and noon.
High-traffic areas along the route include:
Orlando, starting point Lake Druid Park:
- North Mills Avenue (US 17-92) at Lake Highland Dr., Princeton St. and Rollins St.
- North Orlando Ave. at Lee Rd.
- N. Bumby Ave. at Illinois St.
- Maguire Blvd. at Woodcock Rd.
Winter Park, starting point Mead Botanical Garden:
- Aloma Avenue at N Phelps Ave.
- N. Denning Dr. at Morse Blvd., Fairbanks Ave. and Minnesota Ave.
Maitland, starting point Maitland Community Park:
- North Maitland Ave. at Sandspur Rd.
Casselberry, starting point Wirz Park:
- Semoran Blvd. at Wilshire Blvd.
- Lake Howell Rd. at Howell Branch Rd.
Eatonville, starting point Eatonville Community Center:
- East Kennedy Blvd. and S. College Street
Unlike past ride events, when bicyclists took off together in one group from the same location, this year’s ride has limited in-person interactions. Riders will travel in their small groups along with an experienced ride leader. Each small group has a set “departure window”, leaving every 15-minutes from all five city locations. This allows riders to maintain social distancing and limited group gathering precautions still in places across Central Florida.
To see the complete 28-mile route, check out the Bike 5 Cities GPS map or Google map.
Please note that riders will follow the route clockwise this year.
Riders will make scheduled rest stops in each city for bottled water and individually wrapped snacks. Participants will have opportunities to have their picture taken in photo booths sponsored by Firefly Creative Solutions, Inc.
The fourth annual Bike 5 Cities is one of the first slow-paced ride events in Central Florida since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bike/Walk Central Florida members have carefully monitored the changing conditions since the shutdown to create health related protocols for the safety and wellness of cyclists, volunteers, staff, partners and members of the community throughout the event.
Bike 5 Cities COVID-19 guidelines require riders to wear masks:
- at each city start location
- at the city rest stops
- at the request of the ride leader
- at all stops – such as traffic signals, stop signs, etc.
- at crowded locations along the trail or route such as Cady Way and Baldwin Park
Bike 5 Cities started as a simple idea to create a bike-friendly route through the Orlando metro area to show people where they can ride comfortably. As the ride’s popularity skyrocketed, it has turned out to be an advocacy asset in the movement to push for more bike-friendly infrastructure in not only the five cities but throughout Metro-Orlando.
Because Bike/Walk Central Florida is an advocacy organization, its Board of Director and staff uses the Bike 5 Cities route map to remind public officials, local leaders and residents that people want safe, accessible places to ride their bike whether it’s in their neighborhood, over to a friend’s house, to work, or down a trail.
This event is made possible with the help of our Presenting Sponsor Alert Today Florida, the Florida Department of Transportation’s bicycle and pedestrian advocacy initiative. The event’s official Videography & Photo Booth Sponsor is Firefly Creative Event Solutions, Inc. For a list of all sponsors who helped make this event possible, please visit the Bike 5 Cities event page.
For more information, contact Bike/Walk Central Florida Executive Director Emily Hanna at 407-636-5606, [email protected].
