New Bike Coalition Meets Wednesday Night

The coalition will hold its first meeting this Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Baird.

The mission is to "help improve cycling conditions and promote cycling for recreation and utility (commuting to train, errands, etc.) in our communities."

The meeting will cover topics and goals, including:

• Mapping Bike Friendly Routes
• Adding Markings and Signage
• Planning Community Rides

Moments after receiving the press release through the Seth Boyden PTA, I ran into Tom Reingold on his bike. Tom encouraged me to talk to Ellen Kahaner who had a transformative experience regarding bicycling in Portland, Ore., this past summer.

Said Kahaner, "Portland, Oregon was one of those cities I was afraid to visit because I knew I would fall in love with it—it's hard to leave a place like that." Kahaner explained, "I knew that it's a big city with the infrastructure to support people riding their bikes to work, and a huge cycling culture. There's even a book store devoted to cycling. It was voted The Most Bike Friendly City in the country. I guess in the back of my mind, I knew I needed a big push to be inspired to ride again."

Kahaner said that biking was an integral part of her life before starting a family and moving to South Orange. Growing up in Queens, she walked and biked everywhere. In her 20s, she got involved with American Youth Hosteling, which relied heavily on bike touring. She and her husband took bike tours or Ireland and Vermont, and they both participated in bike-a-thons, with Kahaner cycling up to 75 miles in one day. "That just about did me in," she reported.

But said Kahaner, "My favorite-ever bike got stolen from our driveway shortly after moving to South Orange." After that, she got "sucked into the car culture of having to drive everywhere."

"About two years ago, I got a new bike, an inexpensive one, but it stayed in the garage. The thing that started to shift me, slowly, back into riding, was when my daughter learned how to ride a two-wheeler. I remembered so vividly the freedom I felt at her age, the adventure of exploring a place at my own pace. I started riding with her, and it became a way we could talk to each other and have fun together."

In Portland, Kahaner and her daughter rode for miles along the Willamette River. "It was just so lovely. Lots of time to chat, and also be in nature. So, when we got back, I had the image of Portlanders of every size, shape and age riding over the extension bridges to get to downtown."

Kahaner now bikes to her job in South Orange, stopping on the way home to shop at Eden Gourmet. Kahaner has written articles for Patch about cycling conditions in town, and she discovered that a study had already been done on making South Orange more pedestrian and bike friendly. Unfortunately, no funding is currently available to implement those recommendations.

When Kahaner profiled Reingold for a Patch article, "the two of us had the idea of trying to start something in our communities that would help grow cycling into a more viable transportation alternative."

Kahaner encourages those interested to ride their bikes to the meeting on Wednesday night.

For more information, contact Tom Reingold: noglider@pobox.com, 973-821-3662, or Ellen Kahaner: ekahaner@gmail.com.