BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Edwin Kay, 83, knows quite a bit about bikes after more than seven decades of riding.
Kay, the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation’s board treasurer, has logged about 20,000 cross-country touring miles across a few different continents in his time.
But for those who have never ridden a bike or are interested in it for either purpose or pleasure, Kay said to just get take it “one step at a time.”
“If you think about it as a life activity or one that’s going to keep you fit for that time, then there’s no rush,” Kay said Thursday, before a Lehigh Valley Bike to Work Week group ride in Bethlehem.
The celebration lasts from May 10-18.
"We’re trying to build a culture where people cooperate and that cyclists and motorists can cooperate together and work together.”Coalition for Appropriate Transportation Executive Director Scott Slingerland
A couple dozen riders assembled at City Hall ahead of a 6-mile group ride for the occasion — one with a goal of changing public outlook toward choosing a bike to commute.
“I want to say thank you to everybody who drives a car who passes with care or slows down when it’s necessary,” CAT Executive Director Scott Slingerland said.
“So that’s a little tongue-in-cheek, but we’re trying to build a culture where people cooperate and that cyclists and motorists can cooperate together and work together.”
'Just build on that'
The route took the group around City Hall, south across the Fahy Bridge and east at the South Bethlehem Greenway before turning around at the Bethlehem Skateplaza and heading back the opposite direction.
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, who went along for the ride, said broadening bike-friendly amenities is a priority for the city.
Bethlehem buying land to facilitate the connection of the South Bethlehem Greenway and Saucon Rail Trail, executing a contract for dedicated bike lanes and other streetscape improvements along West Broad Street, and CAT set to move its facility downtown — it’s all part of changing the culture, Reynolds said.
“That’s what we do in the community, is just get everybody together to do good things and realize how do we get from point A to point B — and we just build on that,” he said to the riders.
'The community I've needed'
Bethlehem resident Alexis Van Billiard said she enjoys her time alongside the CAT Women’s Group, which kicked off its riding season in recent weeks.
“It’s like the community I’ve needed for so long,” Billiard said.
Some of the community organizations and businesses represented in the ride included Action Wheels and Cutters bike shops, Northside Alive and the city’s health and recreation bureaus.
Another showing planned for Lehigh Valley Bike to Work Week includes an upcoming ride with Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Thursday, May 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Postponed due to weather, it was originally scheduled for Friday, May 16.
