ROANOKE, Va. – May 15 is National Bike to Work Day. To demonstrate the possibilities -- and to show off some brand-new cycling lanes in the Star City, volunteers set up aid stations around the city.
“Well, I mean, biking to work, I think it’s a great option. One, because it’s incredibly fun. It’s a wonderful day way to start your day. It also helps everybody who feels like a little bit time crunched and maybe they can’t get a workout in before or after work,” said Rob Issem, Complete Streets and Vision Zero Coordinator for the City of Roanoke and organizer of the ride.
To help promote the day, volunteers set up aid stations in five different sections of the city offering doughnuts, enthusiasm and coffee.
“It is so important to have people commuting to work on bikes because it creates a safer and cleaner community,” said Allison Duvall one of the aid station volunteers.
This ride is not actually a bike to work ride for most of us. It’s a tour of new cycling lanes and other infrastructure to help cyclists navigate the city safely. It’s a part of the city’s Complete Streets and Vision Zero programs. For instance, a bike lane over Gainsboro Bridge is less than a week old. Behind the Taubman Museum of Art there’s a special lane that allows cyclists to go against traffic on a one-way street. It’s called a contra flow bike lane.
Among the riders, Roanoke Mayor Joe Cobb.
“Well, I love to cycle. I love the Vision Zero work we’re doing in Complete Streets to make Roanoke a bike-friendly city, to make it safer for pedestrians, for cyclists, to be a multimodal city,” Cobb said.
“All of this infrastructure we’re doing continues to be a priority for the city, and today’s an opportunity with National Bike to Work Day to see just how critical this is as a cyclist, to see what the challenges are on our roadways, the safety challenges, and what the opportunities are, Cobb said.
One aid station was manned by Pedalsafe Roanoke.
“So really safe cycling in Roanoke, it means a couple of things. It means a connected network, not just spread apart infrastructure. It means something that’s safe enough to take your son and daughter, your grandchild, your niece,” said Tyler Breeding, a Pedalsafe board member.
Over the course of about 17-miles our group took in greenways, new bike lanes and even a railroad tunnel.
We saw and experienced things that people in cars just don’t take in. It’s kind of like the difference between watching a movie -- and actually being there.