Massachusetts is the only state in the nation with a statewide bike week. Hundreds of events are taking place this week from the Berkshires to Cape Cod where bicycling is highlighted as an alternative form of transportation.
A free breakfast was held Wednesday morning for people who commute to work in downtown Springfield by bicycle. It consisted of granola bars, water, juice, and bike safety gear including reflective stickers and battery powered lights.
"We just want to celebrate the green modes and taking your bike out everyday," said Taylor Rock, an outreach coordinator with massRIDES, a program of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that aims to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
She said the commuter breakfasts have become a popular fixture of bike week.
"The Pioneer Valley, in general, is just a great biking community," she said.
This is the eighth annual statewide Bike Week in Massachusetts. The Pioneer Valley has observed a bike week now for 17 years.
Price Armstrong, a transportation planner by profession, said he commutes by bicycle whenever weather permits. He travels 18 miles, roundtrip, between his home in Holyoke and his office in Springfield’s North End.
" I did the math and I save about $5,000 a year by going by bike instead of driving," he said.
The infrastructure to support bicycle commuting in the Springfield area is not as extensive as in Northampton and Amherst where rail trail developments linking several communities were pioneered in the 1990’s. The Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway curves for 3.7 miles along the river in Springfield but does not extend beyond the city limits.
Springfield has few streets with designated bike paths, but Armstrong says people should not be discouraged from bicycling in the city.
"It is kind of like a chicken and the egg situation, the more people you get on bicycles out on the streets the safer it is for everybody," he said.
Mayor Domenic Sarno, who said he bikes frequently for exercise, dropped by the Bike Week breakfast in Court Square briefly to greet riders, and helped one bicyclist inflate a flat tire.
" I believe Springfield is getting more and more not only pedestrian friendly, but bicycle friendly," said Sarno.
Springfield has joined Northampton, Holyoke, Amherst and the University of Massachusetts to pursue development of a regional bike share program. The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has applied for federal funds to start the program in the next year or two.
