Gearing up for Sandpoint Bike Week 2008
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Sandpoint Mayor Gretchen Hellar, center, rides on the Dover bike path this week with Chris Bier (President of Pend Oreille Pedalers), right, and Stephen Snedden (city councilman) and Lindsey Larson (POP member) on the tandem bike. The bright yellow T-shirts commemorate the first-ever Sandpoint Bike Week 2008.
SANDPOINT - Whether it's your jaw hitting the ground when you reach for your wallet at the fuel pump, or an attempt at helping the environment, or merely an excuse to get more exercise, the reasons are many and varied to get on your bikes and ride in this day and age.
With that in mind, the Pend Oreille Pedalers Bike Club and North Idaho Bikeways have teamed up for Sandpoint Bike Week 2008, hoping that as many people as possible hop on two wheels and celebrate the bicycle.
The event, which expanded from a bike to work day last year, continues to gain momentum as more and more people are cycling in Sandpoint. As co-architects of the event, Sandpoint cyclists Chris Bier and Andy Chapman have both logged countless behind the scenes hours to make it happen, and both say the event has sort of snowballed of late.
“Last year six businesses contributed and we have more than 30 this year,” says Bier, President of Pend Oreille Pedalers, a group or riders that has grown from four people to more than 100 in its four-year existence. “We don't want Sandpoint to become Moab (a biking destination in Utah) but we want to promote bicycling in Sandpoint.”
Chapman says the event has taken on a life of its own, and he's hoping it becomes an annual happening.
“We're hoping to raise awareness locally in cycling,” says Chapman. “Hopefully it gets people into the summer riding thing.”
Even the mayor of Sandpoint is a staunch believer in cycling as a mode of transportation. Living downtown, Gretchen Hellar tries to ride her bike whenever possible, often enjoying the peace and freedom it provides.
“I enjoy it. I rode my bike to work and the whole town smelled like lilacs,” she explained, adding that you don't get that in a car. “Someone always flags me down to talk, which builds community.
“Besides that, it's just fun.”
Sandpoint Bike Week kicks off today with the Bike Swap, and continues through next Saturday. The Daily Bee will run a series of articles next week in conjunction with Bike Week.
For more information on the week's events, visit “www.sandpointbikeweek.com.”