Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition to meet at noon on Friday, June 16

The Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition will meet from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at the North Sister Crepes and Juice Company (located on Seward Street next to Subway). Please note this is a change of location from where we usually meet.

The monthly meeting is open to everyone interested in making Sitka an even better town for cyclists of all ages. Topics include planning for the commuter bike portion of a summer fitness challenge.

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

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Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition to meet at noon on Friday, May 19

Eric Haseltine fixes the brakes on Jeremiah Ward’s bicycle Saturday, May 13, during the annual Sitka Bike Rodeo, hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and Sitka Rotary Club. Scores of children turned out to learn about bike safety and have their bicycles tuned up. May is national bike month, and this week is bike to work week. Cyclists commuting to work this week are invited to register at Yellow Jersey Cycle Shop for a prize. (Daily Sitka Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition will meet from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, May 19, at the North Sister Crepes and Juice Company (located on Seward Street next to Subway). Please note this is a change of location from where we usually meet. Also, this is National Bike To Work Day, so ride your bike.

The monthly meeting is open to everyone interested in making Sitka an even better town for cyclists of all ages. Topics include a review of our series of events for National Bike Month in May (as well as National Bike To Work Week/Day and National Bike To School Day events), including a community bike ride through downtown on May 6, the Sitka Bike Rodeo on May 13, the Julie Hughes Triathlon on May 20, and a guided bike ride May 27 on the Sitka Cross Trail. We also will discuss the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities‘ plan to upgrade the bike and pedestrian infrastructure on Sawmill Creek Road from the roundabout to Jeff Davis Street.

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

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It’s National Bike To Work Week on May 15-19, so get on your bike and ride

Sitka Mayor Matt Hunter is a regular bike commuter to his job teaching at Mount Edgecumbe High School.

National Bike To Work Week is May 15-19, and Sitka residents are encouraged to get on their bikes and ride this week. Also, Friday, May 19, is National Bike To Work Day.

Forty percent of people have commutes of less than two miles, which makes cycling to work about as time-consuming as driving. Not only is biking to work healthy, but it reduces pollution in the environment. Commuting by bike also is a great way to jump-start your day with a short workout.

This year, those cyclists who ride their bike to work, school or on errands during National Bike To Work Week can fill out tickets at Yellow Jersey Cycle Shop for a chance to win prizes, including a $100 gift certificate from Yellow Jersey and other prizes possible. The prize drawing will be at the Julie Hughes Triathlon on May 20. You fill in one ticket for each trip to work or home by bike.

On National Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 19, and the Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community Coalition will hold its monthly meeting at noon at the North Sisters Crepes and Juice Company‘s new location at 327 Seward St. (next to Subway). This meeting is open to the public.

In 2016, Sitka found out it had been upgraded to a Silver level designation in the Bicycle Friendly Community program. We were Alaska’s first Bicycle Friendly Community in 2008, and the first to renew in 2012, earning a Bronze award both times. In 2016, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Sitka Campus earned a renewal of its Bronze award in the Bicycle Friendly Business program (it originally won the designation in 2011).

For more information, contact Doug Osborne at 747-0373 or Charles Bingham at 623-7660.

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