For bicyclists just burning to spend their tax refund on bike swag, I’ve got bad news: next month’s Harrisburg Bicycle Expo is off.
The Expo, planned for Friday and Saturday, March 7 & 8, at the Farmshow complex, has been canceled, promoter David Butterworth wrote recently. The event, which would have been held for the first time, failed to attract enough exhibitors, although Butterworth believes that attendance at the show would have been very strong.
Lancaster’s Butterworth hasn’t given up the idea. He is tentively planning to hold the show in March 2009.
Riders will have to wait until Saturday, May 3, for the Valley Preferred Cycling 
Center’s (formerly Lehigh Valley velodrome’s) Spring VeloSwap. That flea market attracts about 150 vendors. The sellers are usually a mix of bike shops clearing out inventory and individuals clearing out their basements and garages. The buyers usually number in the thousands.
The good news about the wait is that in May our friends in the federal government are expected to mail most taxpayers $600 each to stimulate the bicycle economy. Coincidence? I think not.
Riders will have the opportunity to try out their new gear the next day. On Sunday, May 4, the Great Green America Fest will hold its second annual metric century ride. Along with participation in either the 62-mile and 30-mile rides, the $30-registration fee gets you admission to the environmental festival on the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire grounds, at the Mount Hope Estate near Manheim, a lunch voucher and a water bottle. You can register in advance on BikeReg or pay the same amount as a walk up that day. Pre-register riders, however, receive a T-shirt.
Last year’s ride was held in July. It attracted 177 riders and raised about $2,000 for Ducks Unlimited.
