Ride promotes bike safety

Bloomington’s Little 500, bike repair shops and shared bike lanes make it known for its positive biking attitude.

The Bloomington Department of Economic and Sustainable Development sponsored its annual Women’s Bike Ride on Thursday.

The event began at the Bloomington Banquet Sculpture behind City Hall.
The ride welcomed women of all ages to enjoy a short city biking  safety introduction before a ride downtown.

“Making biking safe and accessible for people is important on so many levels,” city Sustainability Coordinator Jacqueline Bauer said. “It’s an affordable, healthy, efficient way to get around, and avoids the impacts that cars have on public infrastructure.”

The department’s goal for the event was to educate local riders on the importance of bicycle safety and precautions every cyclist should know, Bauer said.

“The most important aspects of safe biking apply to safe driving as well,” Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Vince Caristo said. “Riding in the correct direction, using lights at night, obeying traffic signs. They have the same rights and responsibilities as drivers of motor vehicles.”

Bloomington is one of the safest places in the country for bicyclists according to data collected by the Bloomington City Council.

Local cyclist Shalom Drummond said she tries to commute via bicycle once a week, dropping off her son at school before continuing onto work.

“I am usually very comfortable biking around town, but I go by the mall and the construction,” Drummond said. “It is daunting but doable.”

In Bloomington, 2.7 percent of residents commute by bicycle to work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationwide, less than 1 percent of Americans commute by bicycle.

The more people who ride bicycles as a mode of transportation, the safer biking becomes, according to the Bike League Blog.

“Women are something of an ‘indicator species’ for how comfortable a community is with biking.” Bauer said. “If you can convince more women to get out on a bike, more people follow — kids, parents, friends and other women.”