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May 13, 1999
Oberlin to Get in Gear as Bicycle Friendly Community with Bike Festival May 22
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
For more information and to register for the events, contact Sadhu Johnston or the Oberlin Bike Co-op 440/775-5351
email:
bike.co-op@oberlin.edu
Events are free and open to the public.
OBERLIN--A kids' bike rodeo, a fundraising ride, live jazz and an outdoor film screening are among the events to be held during Oberlin's first Bicycle Festival Saturday, May 22. May is National Bicycle Month.
The festival is being held to celebrate Oberlin's designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency (NOACA).
The Bike Co-op, in partnership with the Lorain Wheelmen, the City of Oberlin Police Department, the City of Oberlin, Silver Wheels and Oberlin College, will launch the Festival at 11 a.m. on Tappan Square.
In the afternoon, the Oberlin Police Department will conduct a kids' bike rodeo, and a five-mile bike ride will raise research funds for St. Jude's Children's Hospitals.
NOACA officials will present signs announcing Oberlin as a Bicycle Friendly Community during a 4 p.m. program on Tappan Square that will include food from local restaurants and live jazz on the Clark Bandstand.
The bike classic Breaking Away will be screened outdoors in the evening; on Sunday, a century-bike ride from Oberlin to Wooster will depart from the Oberlin Inn.
Volunteers are needed for the festival and upcoming summer classes, says Sadhu Johnston, one of the event organizers and a Bike Co-op board member. To help, contact him at the Bike Co-op, Keep Cottage, 154 North Main Street.
The Oberlin Bike Co-op is currently organizing bike repair and maintenance classes for local youth to be held this summer. The classes will focus on repair, maintenance, and safety. "If participants don't have bikes, they need not worry," says Johnston. "They will be given bicycles in need of work and will be taught how to restore and repair them during the classes. Upon completion of the course, helmets, locks and the repaired bikes will be theirs to keep."
The Bike Co-op also will be teaching several weekend workshops for adults focusing on general maintenance and practical cycling skills. Funds for both programs have been provided by a grant from the Stocker Foundation.
Saturday, May 22
11:00 a.m.
Festival Opens 11:15 a.m.
Registration Begins
1-3 p.m.
Bike Rodeo
1:30-3:45 p.m.
St. Jude's Fun Raiser 5-mile circuit ride
3:15-4 p.m.
Police-escorted young people's ride
4-4:30 p.m.
NOACA Sign presentation ceremony
4-45-6 p.m.
Jazz at the Clark Bandstand; food vendors
TBA
Movie Breaking Away Outdoor location TBA
Sunday, May 23
8 a.m.
All-day century (100 mile) ride--Oberlin to
Wooster--departs from rear of Oberlin Inn
Bike Co-op Service and Police Safety Registration
