A LOT of activity since our last post:
* 14 business-sponsored bike racks confirmed! and in production. Designs by the Steel Yard of Providence and Aardvark Antiques of Newport are underway. Stay tuned for the next wave where we’ll invite more Newport-specific bike rack ideas from Newport industrial artists.
* 28 bicycle signs on their way to town, funded by Narragansett Bay Wheelmen, to be installed by the City of Newport.
* A Student Bike Maintenance site is confirmed at the Tech Ed building behind Rogers HS. Now Rogers, Met School and Salve students can collaborate on a bicycle recovery, repair and distribution program. Another generous NBW grant will help get them started.
* Fourth of July Bike Decorating! Starting at 9am at Gravelly Park (west-most harbor end of Long Wharf). OOdles of Red White & Blue to dress up your bicycle for the People’s Parade that starts from this point at 10am. Parade proceeds to Washington Square for great music and the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence, plus blueberry pie-eating contests and more! BIKE DECORATING SPONSORED BY NEWPORT BICYCLEfor ALL ages. Decorate in the morning and ride your colors all day! It will DEFINITELY beat the holiday traffic(!) and you’ll be grateful that you’re not searching parking(!!)
* Community Bike Rides will be starting soon. Stay tuned – and, if you haven’t already, sign up for updates at the top of any page on this site.
* Also coming soon – Traffic 101 – How to ride on Newport Roads – to be offered by US Open Cycling Foundation. Stay tuned for class announcement, or visit USOCF education page for more information.
WELCOME! to NPD Community Officer Jonathan Cortes – now part of the Bike Newport team! Bike Newport and the NPD will be working together on a community awareness program to stop bicyclists from riding the wrong way on one way streets – the #1 complaint and the #1 most dangerous practice on our shared roads. Be warned! Tickets are being issued to law-breaking cyclists. Know the rules – bicyclists MUST follow the same rules as cars, including:
– Drive in the correct direction and on the correct side of the street.
– Stay off the sidewalk if you are over 13 years of age.
– Obey all traffic lights and traffic signs.
– And give pedestrians the right of way.
Let’s all model the right way to ride so we can all be safe and so motorists and cyclists alike become accustomed to safely sharing our roads. Thoughts, ideas, comments? Share them here and feel free to email info@bikenewport.me.
Bike Newport