Decatur, once braved only by the most daring cyclists, has apparently made enough inroads to improve its bike infrastructure to receive “official” designation.

Decatur Active Living’s Cheryl Burnette writes on the Be Active Decatur blog that the city has been designated a “bike-friendly community” (bronze level) by the League of American Bicyclists.  Here’s a quote from League President Andy Clarke, via the Be Active blog…

“We are excited that the City of Decatur recognizes that simple steps to make biking safe and comfortable pay huge dividends in civic, community and economic development’.  Bicycling is more than a practical, cost effective solution to many municipal challenges – it’s a way to make Decatur a place where people don’t just live and work, but thrive.”

Cheryl points out our new bike lanes, bike racks, sharrows, bike stores and valets.  (I can’t believe she forgot the first crowd-sourced bike rack!) What additional bike improvements would you like to see in the COD?

Decatur commissioner Fred Boykin forwards along his message that sums up tomorrow’s annual “Georgia Rides to the Capitol” event tomorrow.

I wanted to let folks know that the 6th annual Georgia Rides To The Capitol bicycle ride is coming up on Tuesday, March 22nd. We’d love to have you join us! Please visit www.GeorgiaRidesToTheCapitol.org for details and (free) registration. There is an easy paced Decatur ride from the East Lake MARTA station that leaves at 10:45 am. We meet up downtown with a group riding from Roswell. Last year we had over 1,500 cyclists at the Capitol.

Mayor Floyd is leading the Decatur ride and we should also have a group of Glennwood Academy students riding too. If you have any Decatur students interested in doing the ride, please contact me for details. It’s my understanding that the ride is an excused absence for Decatur students.

Gov. Deal will address the crowd from the Capitol steps and Lt. Gov. Cagle plans to do the Decatur ride with us. We have over 35 mayors and elected officials either riding or meeting us at the Capitol this year. It’s a fun event.

Please join us.

Has everyone already heard about the great, new bicycle option in Google maps’ directions?  I’m a day behind.

Google admits these particular directions will take time to refine, since cyclists also must consider topography and street traffic when deciding a route, but with time they hope to refine routes for “hundreds of major U.S. cities”.

A quick look at directions from Decatur Square to the AJC building downtown looks promising.  It keeps you off DeKalb Avenue and recognizes the Freedom Path as a viable route.  Not bad.

AJC Photo

Roswell has begun painting “bike boxes” at city intersections, after their director of transportation saw them on a visit to Portland, Oregon.

What is a “bike box”?  From the AJC…

Bike boxes are designated spots where cyclists can wait at the front of the line for traffic lights, making them more visible to motorists. The Roswell bike box has a narrow green lane that leads cyclists up to the box and guides them in making a left turn onto Riverside Road.

Is this something Decatur could do?  As the AJC noted, “bike boxes and sharrows don’t cost much, just a few cans of paint, so more are coming.”

Kids from left to right: Max Holland, Noah Watts-Hull, Paul Coiron, Emily Sciarrone, Terry Cronic, Jude Holmes, Boyd Brim, Brogan Ellis, Jack Bricker and Sienna Elliott

This past Tuesday, cyclists from all over metro Atlanta headed to the Capitol to promote bike awareness.  And while many of the photos and stories I’ve seen thus far about the two-wheeled campaign have focused on area political leaders sporting smart-looking helmets, there was another group from Decatur that was perhaps even more unique.  Kids.

Cathy writes in and sends along a great photo (above)…

10 kids from Glennwood Academy along with several parents, joined the Georgia Rides to the Capitol campaign.  Riding behind a 12-motorcycle police escort, the kids joined Mayor Bill Floyd and hundreds of other cyclists to raise awareness about the need for the development of a regional-scale bicycle network of both on-road facilities and multi-use-trails, and a pedestrian network focused around major transit facilities and activity centers and near schools.

Thousands of cyclists converged on the Capitol to hear legislators speak to this effort.

The only kids there were from Decatur.  Pretty cool.

Strap on your helmet and help raise bicycle awareness with a ride to the Capitol with Mayor Floyd and Commissioner Fred Boykin next Tuesday, March 3rd!

The Decatur group will leave the East Lake MARTA station north parking lot at 10:45a on a police-escorted ride that should reach the Capitol around 11:40a.

For all the details, click here.