Biking News

The Metroparks Bicycle Tour is Saturday, July 17 with 15-, 31-, 62- and 100-mile routes to choose from. Registration includes water stops, lunch at Farnsworth and roadside assistance just a phone call away. Depending on your route, enjoy scenic, low-traffic roads, up to four Metroparks plus the Wabash Cannonball and Towpath trails. Sponsored by Maumee Valley Adventurers. Registration opens at 7 a.m. at Fallen Timbers Middle School in Whitehouse. For more info and registration, visit Maumee Valley Adventurers.

The first trail will start at the Toledo Museum of Art and end at Toledo's Promenade Park in downtown. It will be completed by mid-August. More info here: Two-way bike lane coming soon to Jefferson Avenue

The second is a pedestrian and bike bridge over Main Street in East Toledo. It will be completed at the end of October and connect International Park with the new Glass City Metropark. More info here: Bridge Will Connect Riverfront Parks

 TMACOG is celebrating Bike Month virtually. Here are some ways you can celebrate National Bike month:

• See the TMACOG Bike Month 2021 article for information on taking the Bike Challenge or Gohio Challenge. 
• Sign up for the: Night Mountain Bike Ride with Metroparks Toledo scheduled for May 20th, 2021.

Robert Rausch, a beloved member of the Northwest Ohio cycling community, died after being hit by a car while riding his bike on Bancroft in Sylvania Twp. 

Keith Webb, director of We Are Traffic -- an advocacy group dedicated to promoting bicycling, said that 
20 cyclists were killed in traffic accidents last year in Ohio. He’s working to lower than number to zero. 

For more information, check out the 13ABC video & article.

Bicycling first boomed back in the 1890s. In 2020 the boom returned again when COVID-19 hit. Cities from Oakland to Philadelphia scrambled to meet the needs of a public abruptly uprooted from its daily routine. Taking advantage of a steep drop-off in car traffic, transportation departments began closing streets to give people more space to roam while designating temporary bike lanes to accommodate a pandemic-era surge in cycling. 

Check out the full article: HISTORY: How bikes got sidelined from American streets - Business Insider