Friday, May 20: Bike to Work Day
- Join people all over the country and ride your bike to work today!
- SVBC will be hosting a free breakfast on Court Square, served from 7:00 till 10:00 am for all riders.
- Stop by on your way to work and join us for coffee and pastries, and some friendly conversation with fellow riders!
Press Release from AAA Mid-Atlantice:
AAA News Release: 5/19/2016
BIKE TO WORK DAY: AAA, THE CITY OF HARRISONBURG AND THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY BICYCLE COALITION GEAR UP TO PROMOTE SAFETY: AAA PROVIDES COMPLIMENTARY BICYCLE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE TO BIKE TO WORK DAY PARTICIPANTS IN HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA
HARRISONBURG, VA (Thursday, May 19th, 2016) –May is National Bike Month and with warmer weather luring a growing number of bicyclists onto roadways, AAA, the City of Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) encourage both bicyclists and motorists to make safety a top priority. While most adults ride bikes recreationally, an increasing number are riding their bike to work, to improve their health, save money and reduce their overall carbon footprint. To celebrate Bike to Work Day, AAA is providing complimentary bicycle roadside assistance to anyone in Harrisonburg, Virginia participating in the event on Friday, May 20th, 2016.
“Our commitment to the bicycle community has earned the City of Harrisonburg national awards,” said Mayor Christopher Jones. We pride ourselves in our continued commitment to adding bicycle and pedestrian facilities to new projects and identifying opportunities to improve the bicycle and pedestrian network within the City.”
Bike to Work day is a national event celebrated across the country to encourage communities to come together not just for one day, but all year long. According to The League of American Bicyclists, 40 percent of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work.
“We are a bicycle friendly community and as more cyclists hit the roads and trails, we welcome the opportunity to work with AAA to reinforce safety messages for cyclists and motorists,” said Alleyn Harned, with Virginia Clean Cities, the city’s Bike and Pedestrian Committee and on behalf of SVBC. “We have a responsibility to share the road – for healthy and happy commutes for bikers, drivers, and walkers.
AAA, the auto club well known for its commitment to road safety, will be providing complimentary bicycle roadside assistance to any cyclists participating in Harrisonburg’s Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 20, 2016. Transportation service will be provided when a bicycle is disabled or inoperable. AAA must be able to safely reach the bicyclist from any normally traveled, maintained road or a trail head. The bike will be secured to the service vehicle, and taken to wherever the bicyclist wants to go-work, home or a bicycle repair shop. To obtain assistance, please call 1-800-322-9222 and then dial 607.
Service vehicles are not equipped to repair a bicycle or change a flat tire. Complimentary transportation service is limited to three miles. Bicyclists will be responsible for any mileage over three miles at the provider’s prevailing rate.
AAA began offering Bicycle Roadside Assistance to its members last year. “Offering bicycle service is another great benefit for our AAA members and we’re proud to be able to provide the same legendary roadside service to cyclists as well as motorists” said Tammy Arnette, Senior Public Affairs Specialist for AAA. “Whether our members are riding for fun or commuting to work, we’ll be there to offer assistance if their bicycle breaks down.”
AAA provides the following tips for bicyclists:
Follow the Rules of the Road:
- Always ride with traffic, using the rightmost lane, obeying the same laws as motorists. Use hand and arm signals to indicate your intention to stop, merge or turn.
Be Visible:
- Ride where drivers can see you. Do not ride on the sidewalk. Wear brightly colored clothing at all times. At night, use a white front light and red rear light or reflector, and wear reflective clothing.
Be Predicable:
- Ride in a straight line and don’t swerve between parked cars.
- Make eye contact with motorists to let them know you are there.
Anticipate Conflicts:
- Always be aware of traffic around you and be prepared to take evasive action, exercising additional caution at intersections.
- Learn braking and turning techniques to avoid crashes.
Wear a Helmet:
- Helmets, when worn properly, are up to 85 percent effective in protecting the head and brain in the event of a crash. Should you crash, or have an impact that affects your helmet, replace it immediately.
- Fit matters: Wear your helmet level on your head, low on your forehead, with no more than two finger widths above your eyebrow.
AAA encourages motorists to take the following precautions when sharing the road with bicyclists:
- Stay alert, avoiding all distractions while driving.
- Yield to bicyclists when turning.
- Remember the “dooring bill”, SB117, which requires drivers to wait for a reasonable opportunity to open vehicle doors on the side adjacent to moving traffic or face a $50 fine.
- Always give cyclists extra passing room and give even more during inclement weather.
- Check mirrors and blind spots for bicyclists before entering or leaving a lane of traffic.
- Slow down and give at least 3 feet of clearance when passing.
- Reduce your speed when passing bicyclists, especially when the road is narrow.
- NEVER honk your horn at a bicyclist just to let them know you are there; it could cause them to swerve into traffic or off the roadway and crash. Save your horn for emergencies.
The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including but not limited to building and maintaining trails and related public works suitable for mountain biking, promoting and encouraging recreational road bicycling and safety, cooperating with public authorities in the observance of all traffic regulations, and educating members of the bicycling community and the public generally about effective trail construction and maintenance techniques, and the need for safer bicycling conditions. For more information on the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, visit https://svbcoalition.org.
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AAA Mid-Atlantic has its corporate headquarters in Wilmington and serves nearly four million members in Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, with automotive, travel, personal insurance and financial services through more than 60 retail stores, Car Care Insurance Travel Centers, regional operations centers and the internet, at AAA.com.
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