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Newsletter

Bike/Walk Central Florida Newsletter #44 — Nov. 17, 2011

on November 17, 2011 at 4:26 pm

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Bike/Walk Central Florida

We need your help this weekend! BWCF Bike Valet Still Needs Volunteers for Winter Park Harvest Festival 

Come hang out with us in downtown Winter Park! Help is needed to run the bike valet station at the Winter Park Harvest Festival on November 20th at Central Park.  Contact us at  [email protected] if you can spend an hour or two having fun in a beautiful setting for a good cause.  You can take a cool cargo ride to the festival. Check it out here:

http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2011/11/08/cargo-ride-winter-park-harvest-festival-2011/ 

Volunteer Ride Marshalls Needed for New Hope for Kids Christmas Lights Ride

What could be more fun than riding through Winter Park and Casselberry in a parade of bicycles and trailers festooned with lights and pealing holiday music?  Riding with hundreds of others and knowing your night of fun will help bring hope to children who’ve recently lost loved ones. Join the fun!  Ride marshals needed. Contact [email protected] to volunteer.

http://www.newhopeforkids.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&catid=42&Itemid=127

Saturday, December 10th

Check-in and pre-ride activities begin at 4 pm; ride begins promptly at 6:00 pm. 

Shopping Center Parking lot at the corner of SR 436 and Winter Park Dr.

(Near Buffalo Wild Wings)

900 SR 436 , Casselberry, FL 32707

News

The Buzz has begun about Best Foot Forward!

With grants from MetroPlan Orlando and the Winter Park Health Foundation, Bike/Walk Central Florida (www.bikewalkcentralflorida.org) has commissioned the Center for Education and Research in Safety (CERS) to bring real change and you’ll be hearing a lot about it over the next 18 months.  Principal researchers Dr. Ron Van Houten and Dr. Louis Malenfant have started work this week with MetroPlan Orlando, law enforcement agencies and traffic planners to identify locations ideal for engineering improvements and enhanced enforcement. The partnership will also include  developing education and outreach materials.  “An effective safety program involves much more than just educating pedestrians,” says Mighk Wilson.  “This three-prong approach reflects what is necessary to make our transportation system accessible and safe for those who drive, ride, and walk throughout our region.”

CERS has a proven track record showing substantial results in other projects around the country, with the percentage of cars yielding to pedestrians in targeted crosswalks increasing from single digits to 80 percent and higher.  Follow-up studies have shown the results to be sustainable over time, with enforcement and education being key.

“In all it does, the Winter Park Health Foundation is dedicated to helping develop the healthiest community in the country, so it made perfect sense to lend our support to this collaborative project,” said Lisa Portelli, WPHF Program Director.  “It is our hope that improved pedestrian safety will result in a community environment that helps people –young and old–become more active and stay that way.”

Planning has already begun.  Data collection and enforcement are scheduled to start in January. You’re going to see and hear about enforcement actions and education through a media campaign.  Once the methodology is honed, outreach and education will expand to cover surrounding areas in future years. 

“We all need to work together, as a community, to make our streets safe for children and families,” said former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, co-chair of Bike/Walk Central Florida. “Our goal, quite simply, is to get Metro Orlando off that Top 10 list.”

Cycling Kits from B3 Cafe

The B3 Café (Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux) has designed new cycling kits!  See them here – http://www.bikesbeansandbordeaux.com/store.html!  They’ll be the made the elite level of Verge Sport’s clothing line – this is the good stuff!  Sizing kits will be available at the B3 Café through November 13 and you can pre-order until then.  Questions?  Contact Jen at 407 427 1440.

Classes

Cycling Savvy

Do you know the difference between “riding” a bike and “driving” a bike? There’s a big difference! Cycling Savvy classes are available. 

Visit www.cyclingsavvy.org to register. Sign up today. Because the most important piece of safety equipment is you.

Events

B3 Cafe Ride

Saturday, December 10, leaving from the café at 7:00 p.m. (3022 Corrine Drive);  decorated bikes and kids are encouraged– you must have helmets, lights (front and rear);  there’ll be live music afterward!

Recurring Rides

(The next First Friday ride is December 2nd!)

First Fridays: Take it to the streets bike ride to promote civility: 6 p.m. on the First Friday of each month. Check our Facebook Fan page for start locations.

UCF Bike Bus: Downtown Orlando to UCF, then UCF to Downtown Orlando. Follow bike bus in real time via GPS at http://commuteorlando.com/bikebus/

Ride With Steve: Beginner ride. Meet at Winter Garden Wheel Works in Downtown Winter Garden, 8 a.m., Saturdays. – Sponsored by Winter Garden Wheel Works  .

See our Calendar for other family rides:

www.bikewalkcentralflorida.org

 

S-Cargo farmers market rides featuring utility bikes and trailers

Ice Cream Socials: night rides through Downtown Orlando

 

Unless specifically designated as a trail ride, our rides take place on public streets. Headlights and red rear flashers are required for night rides. Helmets are encouraged, and are required for children under 16.

We observe all traffic laws and traffic signals.

Our rides are typically 10 to 15 miles, roundtrip, and average 10 miles an hour, a comfortable pace for most adults and teens. May be too fast for younger children and adults with health issues.

 

These rides are social in nature.

For longer, more aggressive group rides, subscribe to Hal Downing’s group ride newsletter by emailing [email protected] .

If you prefer a slow ride bike group, try the Backpack Bikers, on Saturdays at 11 am outside by the bike rack at the 24-hour fitness club by Super Target near the corner of Orange Avenue and Michgan Street in the Crystal Lake Subdivision.  Contact Cynthia Morrison at [email protected]

If you have a social ride you would like us to help promote, please email me at the address below.

Brad

Brad Kuhn

Executive Director

[email protected]