National Bike Month/Week/Day

 With National Bike Month (May), Bike to Work Week (May 14-18), Bike to Work Day (May 18), and Bike to School Day (oops, missed it, May 9), things can get pretty confusing. Better to bike every day and hope it coincides with one or another designated calendar event.

For instance, I was doing my usual pedaled puddle jump to get groceries two days ago when I saw many bicyclists converging at the Princeton Shopping Center parking lot. The purpose was to take part in the national Ride of Silence, "in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways."

For Anchor House in Trenton, this year's ride of silence had particular significance, given the loss of long time rider Doug McCune last year in an accident during the last day of the the 2011 Anchor House Ride.



Tomorrow, May 19, hundreds of bicyclists will be staying overnight in Princeton as part of the Climate Ride, a ride from New York to Washington, D.C. The mission of Climate Ride is  "to inspire and empower citizens to work toward a new energy future. We use sport as a means to change lives and build an effective, citizen-based sustainability movement.

Here is their website's description of the ride's first day, from New York City to Princeton:

45 MILES

"Climate Riders will depart from Manhattan’s spectacular urban landscape, riding en masse through New York City.

A ferry awaits to transport our group across New York Harbor to Atlantic Highlands, NJ. After disembarking, we'll enjoy a tasty picnic, before hopping on our bikes and pedaling into rural countryside of the Garden State. Quiet roads weave past small farms on the way to tonight’s destination, Princeton, NJ, home to Princeton University. In the evening, we'll gather in a ivy-covered McCosh hall on the Princeton campus to hear from some of our expert speakers." 

A past post of photos of the campout on the YMCA lawn, can be found here. In colonial times, Princeton, specifically an inn on Gulick Farm in eastern Princeton, was the stopover for travelers riding by horse from Philadelphia to New York. It's about 50 miles from either city to here.