May is Bike Month

Bicycle parking at Heights High in September 2014 illustrates the growing popularity of biking to school.

On May 4, for the fifth year in a row, Cleveland Heights City Council will pass a resolution declaring May Bike Month in the community. That bit of business will kick off numerous events in May highlighting the growth of bicycling in the city.

May 6 is Walk or Bike to School Day. In the spring and fall, Walk or Bike to School Day encourages children and their parents to use the trip to school for some of the 60 minutes of exercise children need every day to be fit and ready to learn when they arrive in their classrooms. The dates are listed on the CH-UH City School District calendar and school websites. The City of Cleveland Heights uses some of the Safe Routes to School funds received last year from the Ohio Department of Transportation to produce flyers. Ruffing Montessori School also joins the fun.

May 11–15 is Bike to Work Week, culminating on May 15 in Bike to Work Day. For four years, Heights Bicycle Coalition (HBC) has collaborated with the City of Cleveland Heights, FutureHeights, Phoenix Coffee and Zagara’s Marketplace to host a popular “energizer station” for bicyclists at the intersection of Edgehill and Overlook roads. This will once again be the site of free coffee, pastries, conversation and information on Friday, May 15, 7–9:30 a.m. More bicyclists pass this intersection every day than any other location in Northeast Ohio, according to traffic counts by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA). 

New this year, Canterbury Elementary School at 2530 Canterbury Road is offering a free communitywide family bicycling event, All Geared Up, on Saturday, May 16, 9 a.m. to noon. Enjoy family bicycle rides through surrounding neighborhoods in University Heights and Cleveland Heights, a bike rodeo to teach safe cycling to children, a bicycle swap and more. 

Wednesday, May 20, is the annual Ride of Silence, a silent, slow-paced ride in honor of those injured or killed while bicycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public sometimes isn't aware of these rights or fails to notice cyclists on the roads. Gathering at 5:45 p.m. in the parking lot on the southwest side of John Carroll University, participating bicyclists will start riding west at 6 p.m. via Fairmount Boulevard to University Hospitals on Adelbert Road in University Circle. At 7 p.m., a contingent starting from the Free Stamp in Cleveland will meet with the Heights riders for discussion.

May is also Preservation Month, and HBC is collaborating with the Cleveland Heights Historical Society for a Bike Tour of Four Historic Districts on Saturday, May 23. The event starts at 9:30 a.m., at Ensemble Theatre in the former Coventry School building, with a lecture by Cleveland State University history professor Mark Souther on the architectural features and landmarks to be seen on the bike tour, whcih begins at 10 a.m. The four historic districts are Herrick Mews, Euclid Heights, Mayfield Heights and Grant Deming’s Forest Hill. [Reservations are required; call 216-291-4878.]

Finally, Saturday, May 30 is Bike Tune-up Day, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at Coventry CourtYard, on the northwest corner of Coventry Road and Euclid Heights Boulevard. In this collaborative effort of Hirobel LLC, Coventry Village Special Improvement District and HBC, bicycle mechanics and trained volunteers will provide free bike safey inspections and make minor repairs.

For more information, visit www.bikesintheheights.org.

Heights Bicycle Coalition

The Heights Bicycle Coalition was formed in the spring of 2010 and works to encourage citizens to ride their bicycles for fun, fitness and transportation. HBC member Mary Dunbar wrote this month's column.

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Volume 8, Issue 5, Posted 10:32 AM, 04.28.2015