RIDE THE RIGHT WAY DAY LUNCHEON

APRIL 24, 2006, 11:30 AM to 1 PM

Local police officers, the region’s bike safety instructors, representatives from the Lehigh Valley’s full service bike shops and others involved in the bicycling industry join CAT to recognize, Monday, April 24, 2006, as the Ninth Annual Lehigh Valley Ride the Right Way Day. The luncheon will be held in the Lehigh Valley Bike/Ped/Transit Center, 60 West Broad Street in downtown Bethlehem.

Ride the Right Way Day in the Bethlehem Bicycle Cooperative

Riding the Right Way in simplest terms means:

Bicyclists should ride on the same side of the road and in the same direction as other vehicles.

Genesis Bicycles Assistant Manager, Mary Merritt

The Ride the Right Way Day Luncheon is sponsored by Genesis Bicycles of Easton.

The featured speaker will be Genesis Assistant Manager, Mary Merritt. She will give a presentation on using League of American Bicyclists certified Cycling Instructors to lead rides at Genesis Bicycles. Genesis has arranged to certify six LCIs at the Bethlehem LCI Seminar the week before the Ride the Right Way Day Luncheon. Virtually all rides leaving Genesis during the 2006 season will be led by certified LCIs.

Merritt will also talk about the second Cheston Elementary Bike Derby to held May 6^th 2006 at Cheston Elementary School in Easton. “This is the best way to design a bike derby,” said Mary during last year’s event. “You start with all the interested groups, including the local police department, the school district, the Health Bureau, the YMCA, CAT, your local bike shop, the Girl Scouts and so on. We have a dozen people working months to plan this event. Instead of lots of little events, we have one well-planned effort that follows a nationally approved program, and has liability insurance. It’s not lots of little derbies run by people who have their own ideas of bike education, ideas that differ from group to group.”

CAT Ride the Right Way Day Coordinator, Barbara Rowley, says, “We expect the best turn out ever for Ride the Right Way Day 2006. It shows enforcement officers and bike sellers take bike education seriously.”

CAT Director, Steve Schmitt said, “The Ride the Right Way Luncheon is also planned for those who sell bikes to meet their local police officers and League of American Bicyclists certified Cycling Instructors (LCIs).  This enables planning for more and better bike safety events throughout the region. Anyone planning a bike education event can get in touch with CAT, 610-954-5744, and we can help you get the most of your efforts.” Also Schmitt added, that coordinating with CAT helps group avoid organizations having their events on the same day, allowing better use of the region’s bicycle mechanics, portable tool systems and LCIs.

The CAT-Coalition for Appropriate Transportation office is a great one-stop shop for bicycle safety materials, too.  For example, CAT has thousands of copies of the Pennsylvania Bicycle Drivers Manual on hand.  This booklet contains the vehicle code as it applies to bicyclists and also a copy of Street Smarts by cycling expert, John Allen.  The PA Bicycle Drivers Manual is the perfect publication for every new bike owner.  It fits right in the same packet as the bicycle owner’s manual.  CAT distributed more than 8,000 copies of the PA Bicycle Drivers Manual during 2005.

Bicycle retailers who want to promote bicycle safety to their customers may also put CAT handle bar tags on each bicycle sold. The handle bar tags remind bicycle purchasers to wear a helmet, look both ways when entering traffic, ride with the traffic, stop for red lights and stop signs, and to be predictable and visible.  Cyclists can return a portion of the tag to register the bike in the CAT recovery lost bike program and to receive information about CAT bicycle safety classes.   More than 1,000 handlebar tags were handed out at last year’s Ride the Right Way Day 2005 luncheon.

In addition CAT has brochures that let bike riders know about informational classes such as the Park Tool School Mechanic Class, Basic Bike Information and Kids, Too.  All bike safety materials are also available by appointment.  Please call the CAT office for more information, 610.954.5744 or email cat@car-free.org.

Those interested in coordinating a bike safety event for a scout troop, school group, church gathering or other off-site event can call CAT today, 610-954-5744, for assistance locating the right instructor for you. We have male and female instructors, old and young instructors, instructors who like to ride on trails, racing instructors, and those who enjoy riding on city streets to get somewhere. We can help you plan for any group or family event. 

Over the 8 years CAT has held the Ride the Right Way Day Luncheon, the percentage of cyclists traveling the correct direction on the road has increased from 55% to 73%. “This is a real credit to the police officers, bike retailers and certified bike instructors who participate in the Ride the Right Way program,” said Schmitt.

Contact: Steve Schmitt

CAT-Coalition for Appropriate Transportation Director
60 West Broad Street #97
Bethlehem, PA  18018
610.954.5744 fax 610.954.0142
cat@car-free.org http://www.car-free.org

CAT Programs:
http://www.car-free.org/guts/program.htm

Remember:

Bicycles enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as other road users.