We hope you can join us this Saturday for the second of many Saturday
Market cyclovia's in Ithaca. We will meet at DeWitt park at 10:00 and
bicycle in a group to the Farmer's Market. The term "cyclovia" was
coined by cyclers in Bogata, Colombia who take over the streets for
festive fun bicycle rides every Sunday and holiday. They attract 2
million cyclers regularly in Bogata.
This cyclovia is an initiative of Connect Ithaca and serves the dual
purpose of supporting the creation of a network of safe bicycle
corridors throughout the city while having fun.
See press release below for more details.
Joan Bokaer and Elizabeth Harrod
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
For Immediate Release, May 28, 2008
Imagine roads full of a diverse group of people of all ages walking,
cycling, line skating, and pushing a stroller or a wheelchair having
fun and feeling confident. Starting Saturday, May 31st, you can do
more than imagine it, you can experience it.
Connect Ithaca, a group committed to promoting principles of
ecological city design in the Ithaca area, is launching Cyclovia
Saturdays. Cyclovias will create a bicycle- and pedestrian-transit
corridor from Downtown to the Ithaca Farmer's Market every Saturday
morning, providing an enjoyable group travel experience for people of
all ages and abilities. Cyclovia Saturdays will promote safe
bike/pedestrian habits, provide tips and skill-building, and help
people of all experience levels have a great time as they travel to
the market.
Ithaca already has a large population of people who travel without a
car, and the ultimate goal is to support efforts to establish even
more bicycle/pedestrian/wheelchair-accessible corridors throughout
the city.
"Ithaca is a perfect place to launch the Cyclovia Saturday
initiative. We have the highest percentage of people biking and
walking to work in the state of New York. We want to continue that
kind of commitment and work to increase it by helping even more
people feel comfortable biking and walking to their destinations,"
says Joan Bokaer, a member of Connect Ithaca and the initiator of the
Cyclovia Saturday project. "When people experience how much fun it is
to enjoy the streets, we think they will want to leave their cars
behind more and more."
"Cyclovia Saturdays fit in perfectly with the City of Ithaca's
'sharrows' project on Cayuga St., where we want to reinforce the idea
that a range of users can safely share the road," says city
transportation engineer Tim Logue. "The City is very excited to
support this event and to see more and more people out on their
bikes. We hope that with events like Cyclovia, returning and new
bicyclists will have a comfortable place to (re)learn how to ride
confidently in the street."
The first Cyclovia Saturday will take place on May 31 beginning at De
Witt Park at 10:00 AM, following Cayuga Street to Tompkins, turning
left to Third Street, and then continuing to the Farmer's Market.
There will be a designated bicycle parking area for Cyclovia
participants at the Market.
Participants of all ages and abilities are encouraged to join the
Cyclovia. Veteran bikers and members of Recycle Ithaca's Bikes (RIBS)
will be on hand to support novices.
Cyclovia, or bicycle days, originated in Bogota, Columbia in 1976 and
now hosts more than two million bicyclers every Sunday and holiday
enjoying festivities along bicycle streets.
============
Joan Bokaer, Connect Ithaca
[EMAIL PROTECTED], (607) 277-2483
--
Elan Shapiro
Sustainable Tompkins Community Partnership Coordinator
Sustainable Living Associates, Principal
Frog's Way B&B
211 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-275-0249 607-592-8402 Cell
"We must be the change we want to see in the world"
Mohandas Gandhi
_______________________________________________
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