Cyclists pedal around park to promote campaign

DAVIE — Four-year-old Caleb Heywood was at Vista View Park on Saturday learning how to ride his bicycle for the first time. And organizers of the Let’s Go Biking campaign hope that by the time he’s old enough to get a job he’ll be riding his bike to work.

“These children are going to grow up here, get jobs here, and stay here,” said Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization executive director Greg Stuart. “We want to build an environment that makes it safer for them.”

An estimated 200 people pedaled in and around the Davie park to promote bicycling as a healthy family activity and future transportation alternative.

“In Davie, you can ride your bike on trails and paths,” said resident Calun Weaver. “It’s brilliant, but in most places it’s very difficult and it’s not biker-friendly.”

The next step is building and connecting bicycling lanes on streets around South Florida.

“We’re looking at creating a complete network,” said James Cromar, with the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization.

“There are some places where you’ll be in a bicycle lane and then all of a sudden it just ends and doesn’t tell you where to go,” he said. “That’s what we want to look at, those little gaps, and not lead people into unsafe situations.”

Hallandale Beach Mayor Keith London was among the bikers; he said people need to be informed about the benefits of biking.

“You can probably get from Point A to Point B to Point C quicker on your bicycle than in your car [and] you don’t have to pay for parking, so it’s got multiple advantages to it,” he said. “Yes, education would be key.”

Bicycle enthusiasts also need to PN learn to stay in the bike lanes and obey the same traffic laws that drivers do.

Mark and Sarah Jacobson were riding their bicycles with 1-year-old daughter Sadie in tow. Mark wants to see some kind of buffer between cars and bicycles to keep each in their own lanes.

“I get annoyed with the bikers on the road,” he said. “The bike path needs to be completely separate.”

Hundreds more attended similar Let’s Go Biking events in Pompano Beach, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines and Coconut Creek during the past month.

They also offered bike safety education, helmet fittings, activities for the kids, giveaways, music, free food, bike raffles and more.

Valerie Heywood would like to see more bike lanes for her son Caleb to use when he’s a little more steady on two wheels.

“I think it’s a great idea,” she said. “It would definitely give our family more of a chance to explore our community.”