Bicycling Better in West Orange
Help Make Bicycling Better in West Orange County… Just by (Logging Your) Bicycle
By Kelly Morphy, Winter Garden resident and Community Engagement Manager for Love to Ride Florida
Those of us who bicycle in Central Florida already know that the benefits of people being able to hop on bikes for recreation or transportation include improving physical and mental health, reducing environmental impacts, supporting transportation equity, combating the effects of pandemic-induced isolation and creating healthy connections with others.
The Love to Ride Florida Challenge is free, helps kick off Mobility Week on Oct. 30 and runs through Nov. 30. Sign up by Oct. 29 at www.LoveToRide.net/Florida and be entered to win a new bike.
We also know what the Smart Growth America report “Dangerous by Design” tells us every year: that despite our great weather and commitment to active lifestyles, Florida can be one of the toughest places to get around by bicycle.
Starting this month, we have a new opportunity to make bicycling in the Sunshine State even better. Love to Ride Florida is a bicycling encouragement and reward program that aims to increase bicycling while also collecting data to demonstrate that there is interest in bikeability throughout the state. The program engages veteran riders to capture their miles, encourages new riders to try out bicycling, and provides employers with a wellness tool to help employees stay active, healthy and connected.
The Love to Ride Florida “challenge” is free to users and is funded by the Florida Dept. of Transportation to celebrate Mobility Week. The goal of the challenge, which runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 30, is to get as many cyclists, bike clubs, advocates, employees, organizations and businesses signed up as possible, to demonstrate that yes, we do ride bicycles in Florida and yes, we do support making places bikeable.
Please take five minutes to register online at www.LoveToRide.net/Florida. Also, add your company to the list of organizations participating, invite your colleagues and friends to take part, and consider creating or joining a group. Then, log your rides, get others cycling and have fun with it.
Thanks in part to organizations like Healthy West Orange and its partners, we now have more safe and comfortable places to ride bikes in western Orange County than ever before. Let’s get out there and ride, not only for our own health and to win prizes, but most importantly to contribute to a more bikeable future.
Blog author Kelly Morphy is an advocate based in Winter Garden who has helped redesign streets to be more people-friendly, including the newly built modern roundabout at Roberson Rd. and Windermere Rd. where her kids and other schoolchildren ride. Kelly is serving as community-engagement manager for the Love to Ride Florida Challenge.
