Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition to meet at noon on Friday, June 1

The Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition will meet from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, June 1, at the North Sister Juice and Crepe Company (located on Seward Street next to Subway).

The monthly meeting is open to everyone interested in making Sitka an even better town for cyclists of all ages. Topics include a review and evaluation of recent events for National Bike Month in May, scheduling monthly bike rides through the summer, planning the annual Kidical Mass family friendly event in September, a discussion about what we can do to make Sitka more bicycle friendly, and other topics.

For more information, call Doug Osborne at 747-0373.

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Scenes from the annual Sitka Community Bike Ride held on May 26

The threat of rain made it a smaller group of cyclists who turned out for the annual Sitka Community Bike Ride held on Saturday, May 26.

The cyclists met at Totem Square park, and rode the length of Lincoln Street to the entrance of Sitka National Historical Park, then returned to Totem Square park. The annual event capped off about a dozen special events in Sitka for National Bike Month in May, and it commemorated the arrival of what’s thought to be the first bicycle in Sitka 127 years ago (on May 28, 1891).

A slideshow of images from the Sitka Community Bike Ride is posted below.

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Scenes from Sitka’s Worldwide Ride of Silence event held on May 16

A small group of cyclists joined together with local clergy and church-goers for a Blessing of the Bikes followed by Sitka’s first Worldwide Ride of Silence on Wednesday, May 16, at the Crescent Harbor Shelter.

This was the 16th annual Worldwide Ride of Silence, which last year featured rides in 390 cities in all 50 states and 22 countries. The Worldwide Ride of Silence honors those bicyclists who have been killed or seriously injured by cars. It also is a way to remind drivers that cyclists legally have a right to share the roads, and to promote bike safety.

In Sitka, only five cyclists showed up for the event — Doug Osborne, Holly Marban, Bill Foster, Nate Stearman (pastor of Sitka Seventh-Day Adventist Church) and Charles Bingham (who also took pictures while riding) — which was preceded by a Blessing of the Bikes from Rev. Julie Platson (Rector of St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church) and Fr. Andy Sensenig, OMI (Priest at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church). There also was a small choir of women from St. Peter’s.

This was one of several cycling events in Sitka for National Bike Month (May) and National Bike To Work Week (May 14-18). The Ride of Silence always takes place at 7 p.m. local time on the third Wednesday in May. Upcoming events include National Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 18; the Julie Hughes Triathlon on Saturday, May 19; and the annual Sitka Community Bike Ride on Saturday, May 26.

A slideshow of scenes from the Blessing of the Bikes and Sitka’s event in the Worldwide Ride of Silence is posted below.

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Getting fitted for a new helmet at the Sitka Bike Rodeo

SMART FIT – Jene Keith, age 7, has his new helmet adjusted by Holly Marban of the Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition during the annual Sitka Bike Rodeo hosted on Saturday (May 12, 2018) by the Rotary Club of Sitka at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka hangar. Participants learned about bike safety and they were able to get a free bike tune-up and have their bicycles registered with the Sitka Police Department. The event also included a bike swap, a bike obstacle course and snacks. (Daily Sitka Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Hanging the National Bike Month banner is a sign of spring in Sitka

BIKE MONTH — Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition members Holly Marban, red jacket, and Doug Osborne hang a National Bike Month banner on a fence around the basketball court near the corner of Lincoln Street and Jeff Davis Street on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. More than a dozen events are scheduled in Sitka during May in recognition of National Bike Month, including the Sitka Bike Rodeo and Bike Swap on Saturday, May 12, and the annual Sitka Community Bike Ride on Saturday, May 26. (Daily Sitka Sentinel photos by James Poulson, the larger photo appeared in the Thursday, May 3, 2018, edition and both photos are used with permission).

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