By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Thursday’s community bike ride is more than a pedal to the park.
The organizers have some serious points to make about the need to make Bowling Green a better place for bicycling.
The second Community Ride will begin Thursday at 5 p.m. at the fountain in front of the Administration Building on the Bowling Green State University campus. The riders will head west toward downtown, traveling eventually to Main Street, before reaching their destination, the green space at the corner of Church and West Wooster streets.
The first ride came after Lily Murnen, president of the Environmental Service Club, was talking to Rick Busselle, a BGSU faculty member and bicyclist. Busselle was upset by a couple incidents. A student was struck while bicycling near the CVS on East Wooster Street, and then was ticketed for riding on the sidewalk. Busselle himself took a spill while trying to navigate past that spot. His accident occurred in part because he was unsure at what point cyclists were allowed to ride on sidewalks.
The city lacks both clarity in the rules governing bicyclists and the bike lanes needed to make riding in the city safer, he said. Yet, the city officials didn’t really seem to think it was a problem.
He and Murnen discussed a mass bike riding event. These can involve a large group of bicyclists taking over the streets and, at times, violating traffic laws.
Instead they decided that it would be best to have the bicyclists adhere to the rules of the road, which in some instances may cause a greater inconvenience to drivers.
People, Murnen said, feel safer navigating the city’s streets in groups.
Murnen was in charge of putting together a list of events for Earth Week, so she decided a community ride would fit right in. The first ride attracted 25 riders, despite a change in the day of the ride.
Murnen said the ride attracted “a really nice mix” of students, faculty and community members.
The 25-minute ride went west on Wooster, turned right onto North Grove, left on Conneaut, right onto Fairview, right onto West Merry, right onto North Main Street and then proceeded to the Four Corners, where the group took a right onto Wooster and then a left on South Grove and the green space.
The route, Murnen said, was designed to minimize left turns, but also to travel through populated areas and downtown to get some visibility.
The response the riders received from people along the route, she said, was positive.
Thursday’s route will be similar, maybe with another loop added, she said.
She and Busselle would like to keep the rides going. Murnen who will be in town until July said she’d like to see others step up to organize it. It could be done by a group, she said.
She like the riders to sit down with Bowling Green Bicycle Safety Commission to hash out ideas.
Busselle said he hopes the rides bring attention to the city’s need for bicycle lanes and streets that are safe for bicycles, cars and pedestrians. “The goal is bike lanes.”
More also needs to be done to improve bicycle safety in the area around the high school and middle school, he said, to encourage more kids to ride their bikes.
