Outdoor weather is finally here, and cyclists from around the area are ready to ride during the 14th Annual Auburn Bike Bash Saturday, April 13.
In addition to promoting family-friendly fun and exercise, the event, hosted by the City of Auburn and the Auburn Bicycle Committee, wants to change the way people view transportation in their community.
"We're actually, currently, the only bicycle-friendly community in the state of Alabama, and we've been that way for roughly 15 years," said Brandy Ezelle, City of Auburn traffic engineer.
"The League Of American Bicyclists recognizes communities as bicycle friendly, and Auburn has been fortunate that we have been recognized as bicycle friendly really since their program began."
Ezelle, who has continued to work and live in for Auburn for the past 12 years, said she has seen the changes that additional bike lanes, educational programs in schools and more bike racks in pedestrian areas have brought on.
Bicycle Auburn has been instrumental in educating and uniting local cyclists through various events, and regularly meet in the parking lots of Auburn High School and the Ogletree shopping center for jaunts around town.
"What Bike Bash is about is allowing people to come, join a group ride, get comfortable riding on a street or learn their way around by bicycle," Ezelle said. "We move it around to different areas each year, so that even if you feel like you don't have a lot of bike lanes in your part of town, you can still ride by your house, and people don't always realize that."
The course is divided into loops based on skill level, ranging from one to four miles in the beginner stages to upwards of 20 miles in the advanced stages. The longest route, the 30-mile loop, stretches to the limits of Lake Forest Estates before winding back.
This year the Bike Bash will feature newly added off-road courses of varying skill levels in Chewacla State Park to highlight their recently expanded bike paths. The regularly scheduled bike events traverse primarily residential streets in the eastern and southeastern portions of Auburn and Opelika.
Though weather is always a factor in preparing for a safe ride, the event will continue, rain or shine, and a good turnout of cyclists is expected.
"When I first started i thought, 'Well, I'll ride with a group every once in a while,' but I think I'm really gonna do this on my own," and what it turns out, we have so many different group rides all week I almost never ride on my own because theres always a group thats fun to join," said David Kern, volunteer chair of Bike Bash and the Auburn Cycling Advisory Committee.
The Bike Bash isn't the only time for people to get together to ride, however. Kern said they have weekly bike events.
"We have a Saturday morning ride thats informal in Auburn, but we have 20 or 30 folks that get together. It is a very social activity," Kern said.
The Bike Bash is part of Bicycle Auburn's greater year-round agenda to educate and promote physical fitness and safety in all age levels through hands-on experience.
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