As Savannah braces for the coming of thousands of marathoners this weekend, we announce the return of the Jerry Jaycox Fort Pulaski Wheelie NEXT weekend, after all the foot-racing hubbub dies down. The Wheelie will begin around 2pm on Sunday, November 13.

The ride, now in its fourth year, is named for founding SBC board member Jerry Jaycox who passed away riding his bicycle. The ride will again take riders of all abilities through the trails and dikes of Fort Pulaski and include a spin out to the McQueen’s Island Rail Trail which parallels the south channel of the Savannah River (The trail runs along the old Savannah-Tybee Railway corridor). The ride will be about an hour (and you’re free to wander around longer, if you’d like), much of it on non-paved surfaces, and so fat-tire bikes are recommended, though it can be successfully negotiated with a hybrid or road bike. Entrance to Fort Pulaski and all national parks that weekend is free in honor of Veterans Day!

As always, after the ride, we host a cookout at the picnic area at Fort Pulaski that serves as our launch and finish point (go left at the fork when you come into Fort Pulaski). It’s a fun event, and we’ll provide burgers, dogs and beverages — please bring a dish to share!

The Midnight Garden Ride has made a splash in its first 2 years as hundreds hit the streets in a blinking wave of human power. Music, costumes, and giveaways will again take over Savannah in a rolling party. There are some significant improvements to this year’s ride, not the least of which is a new start/finish and party location in Forsyth Park. We’ll be rolling out announcements about entertainment, route, and prizes in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.

Register now for a night you won’t forget!

April (like just about every month) is a great time to ride in Savannah. More folks seem to get out on their bikes in April, though, so this is when we have partnered in the past with the City of Savannah to coordinate volunteers for the bike census. The last couple showed a huge increase from 2009 to 2010, and looking around, we expect that trend will continue! Please help us measure that trend so we can inform our discussions with city planners and elected officials next week — we have shifts available Monday April 25, Wednesday April 27, or Saturday April 30. Use this link to fill out your available times.

We can’t leave out the fun, either, can we? We need volunteers to help with our Earth Day display at the festival leading up to our triumphant Earth Day Wheelie this coming Saturday April 23! Shifts are listed here, and we have just a few open spots left, so get in on the action now…

Many of you campaigners will remember that it was early in 2008 that this group of bike-minded folks began to organize, and the first major project we organized was the Earth Day Wheelie. Well, here we are in 2011 preparing to celebrate the 4th Annual Earth Day Wheelie!

We are bringing back all the fun, music, and street empowerment that goes with a free police escorted ride through downtown Savannah. Ride starts at Park and Bull at the south end of Forsyth Park at 4pm. We will finish with the Post Wheelie Dealie at Blowin’ Smoke where we invite you to partake of some refreshments and to join or renew as a donor-member of this movement! With your help, we’ll keep pedaling toward our goal of bike enlightenment as we usher in the Age of Bicycles in Chatham County. Don’t miss it!

Tonight 4/4, 7:30pm Band of Horses at Johnny Mercer Theater – East entrance to the Civic Center
Tomorrow 4/5, 8pm Citizen Cope solo at Trustees Theater
Saturday 4/9, 8:30pm AND 10:30pm Maceo Parker shows: Funky dance party at Charles Morris Center

Valet opens 30 minutes before showtime and closes 30 minutes after the end.

Plus, along with the Saturday show, we’ll host the Closing Night Funky Sunset Social Ride, starting at 7pm from the Morris Center. We’ll bring the funk — you bring your bike and your friends and shake your moneymaker with us!

Details will be up very soon on the 4th Annual Earth Day Savannah Wheelie set for Saturday, 4/23 at 4pm. It’s hard to believe this will be the fourth time around, but there it is. The free pedal party through downtown starts at the close of the Earth Day Festival in Forsyth Park and finishes with the Post Wheelie Dealie party, our annual membership drive. Mark your calendar!

As we’ve been saying, tomorrow (Thursday, March 24) is opening night for the Savannah Music Festival.  Join us at Ellis Square for a cruise around downtown finishing at the opening night show, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at Trustees Theater.  The ride leaves Ellis Square at 7:30 pm.You might even get a chance to do it on the Savannah Slow Ride if you call for a reservation…

And, if you can’t make the ride, at least ride to the show and we’ll park it for you in a jiffy at our spiffy bike valet!  We’ll be hosting bike valet at this show and 5 others, so check out the schedule and bike to the Savannah Music Festival with us!

It’s a great season for music in the hostess city. The curtain has now closed on the remarkable Savannah Stopover Festival, and on the horizon in just over a week is the always impressive Savannah Music Festival. We are thrilled to announce a partnership with the SMF that we hope will increase bicycling to the shows, just as SMF Executive Director (and Savannah Bicycle Campaign board member) Rob Gibson does as he makes his way about the festival during its 17 day, 100 show run.

Opening night, 7:30pm Thu March 24: Sunset Social Ride.
We’ll gather at Ellis Square and launch a Wheelie-style conversationally paced 4-5 mile ride through downtown to finish at Trustees Theater in time for riders to take their seats at the much anticipated Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings show. A white front light is required. A helmet and a rear red light are strongly recommended.

Bike valet (multiple shows, below)
FREE (though your donation is much appreciated) parking for your bicycle immediately outside the venue at selected shows — don’t fret about where you can park, ride your bike and leave the parking and watching to us!  Valet is available starting 30 minutes before showtime and will close 30 minutes after the show ends.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS at Trustees Theater, March 24, 8:30 PM (opening night)

THE AVETT BROTHERS at Johnny Mercer Theater, March 30, 9 PM

ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND at Trustees Theater, April 1, 9 PM

BAND OF HORSES at Johnny Mercer Theater, April 4, 7:30 PM

CITIZEN COPE SOLO at Trustees Theater, April 5, 8 PM

MACEO PARKER at Charles H. Morris Center, April 9, 8:30 PM & 10:30 PM (closing night)

Closing night, 7:00pm Sat April 9: Sunset Social Ride.
We’ll gather at the Charles Morris Center and launch another triumphant Wheelie-style 4-5 mile ride through downtown to finish at back at the Morris Center for the first of two Maceo Parker Funky Dance Party shows. Park your bike at the valet and get your funk on! For the ride, a white front light is required; a helmet and a rear red light are again vigorously recommended.

Don’t have tickets for the festival shows yet? No problem — call the Savannah Music Festival Box Office at 912-525-5050 or savannahmusicfestival.org. OR… if you want a chance to see some of these shows for free, VOLUNTEER with us to work the bike valets! Fill out this SMF web form to indicate your availability and MAKE SURE YOU PUT “Bicycle Campaign” in the final field marked “How did you learn about this volunteer opportunity?” There are two brief orientations.

Not sure about you, but this Canadian air in Savannah is getting a little old…

We do, however, have the cure: bike caroling next Tuesday. It is the third Tuesday, our usual meeting time, and for the December social we’ve planned a treat: we’ll ride and sing the songs of the season starting at around 5:45pm. Ride and caroling will begin from Tiedelman Park (Atlantic and Washington Ave, across from Savannah Arts Academy). Please remember lights (holiday displays are appropriate, too!) as it will be dark.

Join us after carols to warm up at the home of Exec Dir Frank McIntosh and Board member Patty McIntosh to celebrate the season and another great year for the Campaign, our first holiday member appreciation party! Wassail, Yule viands (i.e., good food) and other cheer provided for carolers and other congregants.

We look forward to seeing you for another chance to appreciate what a fine group of people we have building a better world through bicycling. Automobile parking is a little limited on E 50th St, so please bike if possible. Back yard bike racks will be available for two wheelers.

Happy Yule, Y’all.
Tues., Dec 21, 2010
Tiedelmann Park (Atlantic and Washington Ave) 5:45-7pm – Neighborhood caroling by bike: come one and all!
The McIntoshes, 205 E. 50th St. – Holiday Member Appreciation Party 7-9pm: RSVP to frank[at]bicyclecampaign[dot]org or 912-228-3096.

Please excuse this non-commercial interruption to your CyberMonday for an announcement on one of our most popular rides, less than a week away!

Coming this Sunday December 5 is the Jerry Jaycox Fort Pulaski Wheelie.  We’ll start at 2pm at the Fort Pulaski picnic pavilions, ride around the trails both on Cockspur Island (including the dikes around the fort) and the McQueen’s Island Rail Trail that runs along the south channel of the Savannah River.  The ride itself is free, but adults 16 and older will owe $3 each for entry to to Fort Pulaski. Kids are welcome and get free entry to the Fort. Lots of the ride is off-road, so fat tires are recommended.  You’ll have options for around 10, 6 or 2 miles.

Then, if the ride wasn’t enough, we’ll wrap it all up with a cookout — we’ll supply burgers and dogs and just ask you to bring a dish to share and BYOB.

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Jerry Jaycox moved to Savannah in 2005. He was an active and accomplished cyclist who rode with both the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club and the Savannah Wheelman. He was a very enthusiastic cyclist who shared and promoted his love of cycling with all he came in contact with. He was a founding member and very active in the Savannah Bicycle Campaign back in 2008 and helped put together the original Fort Pulaski Wheelie in November of 2008. It was one of his favorite rides.

Jerry passed away unexpectedly in January 2009 while doing what he loved most, riding a bike.