| Winter Garden Bike Fest and Criterium
The Winter Garden Bike Fest and Criterium i s Saturday, April 6th. The event benefits Noah’s Light Foundation. There are rides of varying lengths in the morning and a family 1-mile ride in the late afternoon. The Hindu Cowboys are the headline band in the evening. It all takes place in the lovely and historic Winter Garden downtown area. Bike/Walk Central Florida will be there to man the Bike Valet and talk about bicycling and pedestrian safety. We need volunteers to help throughout the day with both the valet service and chatting with folks. Please contact Marianne at 407-412-5980 or [email protected] to volunteer for an hour or two. If you aren’t available on April 6th, perhaps you can volunteer for Earth Day at Lake Eola, on April 20th. Not only do you get to meet like-minded people at the Bike Valet, you also get to enjoy the festivities!
Cycling Savvy Classes Nearly Full
Cycling Savvy has posted its spring class schedule. There were only two spaces available as of the beginning of this week. Click here for updated status.
How to Advocate
Walk Score ® Blog has an article about bicycling and walking advocacy that includes ten tips and/or stories that may inspire you to become involved. None of the tips here require a political science degree, just a great love for the community. Click here for the full article. You can also read about cycling styles, resources for women cyclists, improving your city cycling and several other articles.
OTHER News
More Tips
Berkeley Wellness, University of California, has twelve basic straightforward tips for better cycling.
AND…
The Times U.K. recently wrote about Volvo’s new radar detection system which is designed to identify imminent collisions and apply the brakes automatically. Click here to read the full article. A second article reports on a drive to design cycle-friendly lorries, eliminating blind spots. There is also a call to include cycling in a safety course as part of the certification process for lorry drivers. Click here to read the article.
ALSO…
This 1963 Bike Safety movie, One Got Fat, is narrated by Edward Everett Horton (“Fractured Fairy Tales” ring a bell?). The style of it may explain why so many of us born in the 1960s are a little warped, but the video still has a lot of valid points about bicycle safety. Enjoy!
The oldest bicycle, known as a celerifere, was constructed in 1790 by Comte Mede de Sivrac of France. It had no pedals or steering and was propelled by “scooting” the feet. See here for the full story. Frankly, the celerifere, pictured at right, looks like it has an alligator head attached to the front!
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 5
See details below, under Recurring Rides.
April 6 – Winter Garden Bike Fest
See above for details.
April 8
Click here for details.
April 20-21
Click here for details.
RESOURCES
Bicycle Parking Map
From our friends at Commute Orlando: Peter Martinez has created a collaborative Bike Parking map, designed to help Bicyclists plan their routes and park their bikes on secure racks, rather than a stop sign or a tree. Read more . . .
 Best Foot Forward is a community-wide coalition formed to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries in Metro Orlando.The five-year initiative is currently focused on Orange County and will expand into Seminole and Osceola counties as resources permit. Five cities, two towns, and Orange County have passed resolutions supporting the initiative. Orlando Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, police agencies in Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville, and police chiefs from throughout Orange County, have pledged their support to the initiative, launched by Bike/Walk Central Florida and the Florida Bicycle Association, with financial support from the Winter Park Health Foundation, MetroPlan Orlando, Orange County, City of Orlando, Florida Department of Transportation, Orlando Police Department, Orange Cycle, David’s World Cycle, and Track Shack.
When was the last time you saved a life? Your contributions of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, or more, can make a big difference. Checks should be made out to the Florida Bicycle Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and mailed to: Betsy Holl at: P.O. Box 916715, Longwood, FL 32791-6715. Please specify that you are donating to Best Foot Forward.
Community Calendar Link
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/community-calendar/
- First Fridays: Take it to the Streets: bike ride to promote civility: 6 p.m. on the First Friday of each month (Upcoming Dates: April 5, 2013 and May 3, 2013).
- 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 .
- Sunday Ride in the Hills: Ride 30-plus miles through the hills of Clermont and Minneola, Sundays mornings at 7am, beginning at David’s World Cycle in Winter Garden. Call Ross at 407-654-7071 to confirm.
- 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 by law 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 challenging group rides, subscribe to Hal Downing’s group ride newsletter by emailing [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
brad@bikewalkcentralflorida.org
Bike/Walk Central Florida Would like to thank our sponsors:
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Transforming Central Florida into a Premier Biking and Walking Community! 
