WESTFIELD-Mayor Brian P. Sullivan will be among those biking around town on May 12 to celebrate the start of Bike Week.
Billed as the Mayor’s Bike Ride, the family friendly event kicks off at 10 a.m. in the parking lot at City Hall – led by the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. The Friends mission is to create pathways to a bicycle and pedestrian friendly Westfield.
Westfield Mayor Brian P. Sullivan and Don Podolski, a member of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, will once again be leading the group during the Mayor’s Bike Ride on May 12. (Submitted photo)
“The Mayor’s Bike Ride is an opportunity to see the city from two wheels,” said Sullivan, noting he has been a “casual bike rider” his entire life.
Sullivan noted that some of his “best childhood memories” are playing bike tag with his neighborhood friends through Stanley Park.
“The ride gives you a new perspective about traveling through our city, from a different mode of transportation than you may be used to,” said Sullivan.
The 60-minute ride starts at City Hall and continues onto Court Street and then makes a right onto Broad Street. The route then turns left at Hedges Avenue and then up the ramp onto the rail trail. Riders will proceed north on the trail to Main Street, then proceed on the street west to Elm Street and turn north. A new stop will be at the Great River Bridge on Elm Street (by the whip factory) for a “sneak peek” of the refurbished rail bridge, as well as the Memorial Brick Plaza. The ride will then head south on Elm Street and back to City Hall.
“The bike trail is such a beautiful part of our city,” said Sullivan. “It is a great way to see it and appreciate it.”
Alice Flyte, director of membership and a member of the board of directors of the Friends group, echoed those sentiments.
“People should come out to help us kick off the bicycle-riding season and to experience riding downtown and commuting on the trail as an option to driving,” said Flyte, who helps plan events and membership events for the trail. “New this year, riders from the south will meet at the Shaker Farms trailhead, leaving at 9:45 a.m. and joining the mayor on the trail.”
Flyte said that rain will cancel the ride, however, gathering at the esplanade will be conducted rain or shine.
“The Mayor’s Ride has been a tradition to the official start of Bike Week,” said Flyte. “Our ‘Glow Walk on the Trail’ in October has become another annual event that folks enjoy.”
For more information on the bike ride, call the Mayor’s office at (413) 572-6201.
