We’ve been busy working with the Shenandoah National Park, Adventure Cycling and the Shenandoah National Park Trust. Your Bicycle Coalition recently donated 150 bicycle tail lights that will be given to bicyclists who don’t have a working tail light on days when visibility is low on Skyline Drive.
SNP identified the need to be able to hand out rear bicycle flashing lights to bicyclists entering the park that do not have them. This will greatly increase the ability to see bicyclists, particularly in foggy weather which happens often on the Skyline Drive. This has been identified by SNP leadership as the top bicycle safety need of the SNP. Planet Bike partnered with the cause by helping us with the cost of lights. These lights were delivered to the SNP headquarters in Luray, VA on April 16, 2018.
Our partnership with the Shenandoah National Park and Adventure Cycling has resulted in some great progress to include:
- Bicycle Safety Campaign Master Plan which outlines safety and access goals for the SNP.
- Bicycle and motorist safety guidelines and responsibilities being added to the front page of the SNP newspaper that is handed out to all park visitors at entrance stations.
- A Car Free Day, April 23, 2017, that closed the northern section of the Skyline Drive to motorized vehicles and allowed it to be used by bicyclists and other human-powered means of transportation. Future Car Free days are being explored in partnership with the Shenandoah National Park Trust as the fiscal partner.
- A special use permit was issued to SVBC opening the Madison Run Administrative Road to bicycles for a weekend camping trip to Loft Mountain on August 26-27, 2017. This was very successful and well received. A proposal to open this road permanently to bicycles has been forward to Jennifer Flynn, Superintendent, Shenandoah National Park for her approval.
