Classes, special rides set for Bike Month

5/15/2012

Three experienced Toledo bicycle commuters are to lead a skills class today for others interested in safe road bicycling.

The hourlong event, to begin at 9 a.m., is organized by the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council Governments as part of Bike Month in May. Instructors Howard Abts, Bill Saunders, and Pat Squire are to cover "fundamental bike-riding skills," including riding in traffic safely.

Participants should bring their own bicycles and bike-riding helmets. The class is to convene in front of the upper level of Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza, near Wade and Newton streets just south of downtown and is to include a ride on nearby streets.

The council of governments expects more than 200 cyclists to participate Wednesday in an eight-mile "Ride of Silence" around West Toledo to remind motorists that bicycles have the legal right to use public roadways. Police are to escort the riders, briefly blocking traffic at intersections and driveways along the route.

The event is to begin at 6:45 p.m. at the University of Toledo. Its element of silence is in the memory of Toledoans killed or injured while bicycling.

A public reception for artists who designed bike racks for placement in the UpTown arts and entertainment area is scheduled Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Manhattan's restaurant, 1516 Adams St.

Friday is Bike to Work Day, during which commuters are encouraged to try bicycling to work for a day, and Saturday is Bike Day at the Toledo Farmers' Market.

People who bike to the market are to receive free Bike Month T-shirts and cups of coffee as long as supplies last. Maps and other local bicycling information are to be on display.

A children's bike safety rodeo is scheduled Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Larc Lane School. On Sunday at 4 p.m., a four-mile "Birds, Blooms, and Bikes" group ride is to set off through Woodlawn Cemetery in West Toledo.

Bike Month sponsors include TMACOG, ProMedica Health System, the Metroparks of the Toledo Area, Ohio Department of Transportation District 2, the city of Oregon, Oregon City Schools, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, the Safe Kids Coalition, the University of Toledo, the Black Swamp Bicyclists Society, Hostelling International, Maumee Valley Wheelmen, and Toledo Area Bicyclists.