Sign the pledge for a more bike-friendly tomorrow: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/

Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. While the ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.

The first Critical Mass in Spartanburg took place last Friday, March 26, departing Morgan Square at 6 pm. There were over 30 cyclists in attendance! See the blog here and plan to attend the next Critical Mass!

Congratulations to the Winners of the Alliance for

Biking and Walking’s 2010 Advocacy Awards!

Paul LeFrancois
Paul LeFrancois, President and a founding board member of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, has been honored with the 2010 Advocate of the Year Award. This award goes to an individual who has shown tireless commitment to promoting bicycling and walking in his community and serves as a role model for other advocates in the region and in North America. Paul has gone above and beyond the call of duty to transform South Carolina into a better place for biking and walking. Among his many accomplishments, Paul created and secured passage of a SC Share the Road license plate (one of the first in the U.S.), has coordinated bicycling legislative events in cities throughout South Carolina, and has assisted communities throughout the state in securing bicycle-friendly designation from the League of American Bicyclists. With his leadership the PCC had its most significant success passing major reforms to South Carolina’s bicycle traffic safety laws in 2008. Paul’s knowledge, creativity, and commitment are the highest standard of excellence making him a role model in the Palmetto State and for biking and walking advocates.

Did you know Spartanburg High School has a club cycling team? The Spartanburg Junior Cycling (SJC) team has been training hard through the winter months for the upcoming spring racing season. The Palmetto Criterium, the Assault on Marion and Tour de Red Cell are all on the agenda for these young and ambitious cyclists.

Looking for a way to help the team? We’re always taking donations of new or used cycling gear, bikes and clothing. The team is in high need of bottle cages, trainers, gloves, tubes and tires.

Local cyclists can also come to our Wednesday and Saturday morning practices to help supervise and teach the riders during their workout.

Call Amanda at 864.598.9638 with any questions!

Check them out on Twitter (un: SpbgJrCycling) and on facebook (un: Spartanburg Junior Cycling).

Google now has a ‘travel by bicycle’ feature on their maps page.  Get turn by turn bicycling directions, add your own route and see bike-friendly roads and trials here!

Check out the new facebook group page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=301654786712&ref=ts.

The Hub Cycle program promotes physical activity by allowing Spartanburg residents to borrow a bicycle, helmet and lock for three months ($15 deposit required). The program is funded by donations, partnerships and the generosity of the community. So far, Hub Cycle has received $16,253 in equipment and services through donations from people living in the area. Without this help the program would fall short in its mission to get the community active and healthy.

Hub Cycle continues to grow and over 260 people have already taken advantage of the Hub Cycle program. In a voluntary survey of bike borrowers, users said they rode their bikes for three main reasons: transportation, leisurely fun, and exercise. When asked what caused them not to ride, the resounding answers were “not enough time to ride,” or “not enough safe places to ride.” Their favorite thing about the Hub Cycle program was the length of the rental. Borrowers can rent bikes for three months at a time with the option to renew once.

Through the Hub Cycle program and other efforts, Partners for Active Living is working fervently to help the Spartanburg community understand the importance of making time for health and wellness. The organization is also pushing for more bicycle friendly enviornments, to insure there are no excuses for being inactive! Hub Cycle encourages anyone who wants to give cycling and living an active lifestyle a try to contact the organization