Merced cyclists mark Bike to Work and School Day

A handful of kids showed up at an energizer station in front of the Golden Valley Health Center on Thursday afternoon to claim free treats and information about safe bicycling in Merced as part of the city’s Bike to Work and School Day.

Holly Beitch, an asthma outreach and education assistant for Golden Valley, gave helmets and bike lights to a brother and sister before they set off.

Eleven-year-old Gabriel Martinez said he likes to ride his bike after school with his 9-year-old sister, Isabel Cardenas.

“It’s a fun activity and I get to ride my bike instead of walking,” Isabel said.

May is National Bike Month, and as part of Merced’s event on Thursday, members of the Merced Bicycling Coalition set up five “energizer” stations for cyclists to stop by for snacks, beverages and bike gear, said Lisa Grant, the group’s treasurer.

“I think it kind of brings awareness that biking to work is an option,” Grant said.

The vice chairman for the coalition, Dwight Ewing, said he is comfortable riding his bike around Merced but suggested that people just trying it out should ease into it slowly. He suggested rookie cyclists first walk or drive their planned route and map it out for traffic.

Beitch said she carpools to work because she doesn’t feel road conditions in Merced are safe for cycling.

To become more bike-friendly, Beitch said, the infrastructure would need to change and there would need to be a cultural shift. Right now, she said, nothing seems to outweigh the convenience of driving in Merced. Having a reliable bus service or safer bike lanes would make a huge improvement, Beitch said.

“Right now, it’s too easy to drive,” Beitch said. “There needs to be a rival of convenience for people to change.”

The Merced Bicycling Coalition has been working with the city, Ewing said, to improve the infrastructure to cater to bike riders. That includes developing more bike lanes.

Grant said the goal is to promote bike-riding as a safe commute and hopes the event will show car commuters how to safely share roads with cyclists.

“We’re really just trying to give people the idea that it’s quite easy to ride your bike to work,” Ewing said.

Elevating the awareness of biking, Grant said, would make biking a regular part of commuting and make the community feel safer and more comfortable on the roads. Biking to work or school has major benefits, she said, saving people gas money and vehicle maintenance.

Isabel said she would consider riding her bike to school now, “because when you ride your bike it’s more active and the air doesn’t get polluted.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Merced cyclists mark Bike to Work and School Day."