Dream Ride Projects recently became the county’s first “Bike Friendly” organization, and one of only four in the state. Dream Ride founder and executive director Mike Ridgeway hopes to use the designation, from the national League of American Bicyclists, as a springboard to eventually having the whole county listed as “Bike Friendly.”
Here is the article that appeared in Friday’s Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era:
Local bike group nets national honor
BY BERNARD HARRIS
Staff Writer
Lancaster’s Dream Ride Projects last week became the first organization in the county — and one of the first in the state — to be recognized as “bike friendly” by the national League of American Bicyclists.
Maybe that designation shouldn’t be so surprising. Dream Ride Projects is a non-profit organization that promotes cycling, teaches riding skills to children and adults and holds charity bicycle rides.
Maybe more surprising is Dream Ride Projects founder and executive director Mike Ridgeway’s ambitious plan for the recognition.
“I’m hoping to use this as a launching pad to get the whole county recognized as bike friendly,” Ridgeway said.
The challenge, he said, is a countywide recognition requires at least a majority of the Lancaster’s 60 separate municipalities to be “bike friendly.”
He plans to start with those municipalities which already promote cycling. East Donegal, Manheim and Warwick townships and Lititz Borough are at the top of his list.
The League of American Bicyclists is reporting that 14.3 percent more people commuted by bicycle in 2008 then the year before. And, a whopping 43.3 percent more people commuted by bicycle last year then in 2000.
According to a report in the Biking Bis blog, Pennsylvania was 29th in a ranking of states by percentage of bike commuters. Of the commuters in the Commonwealth, .412 percent regularly went to work on a bicycle. The national average was .545, or just over one-half of one percent. The District of Columbia led the nation with 2.33 percent of its commuters using bikes.
The Biking Bis report fails to mention the $4-per-gallon price of gas that got many commuters pedaling last year.
Lancaster County native Andy Baldwin, the U.S. Navy doctor and triathlete of “The Bachelor” reality show fame begins a cross-state Health Ride in Pittsburgh Friday. The 420-mile tour includes stops at elementary schools where Baldwin and other participants will promote exercise and a health diet. The tour comes to Lancaster County next Thursday, with presentations at Park Elementary in Columbia. Accompanying Baldwin will the U.S. surgeon general, the state Health secretary and Baldwin’s father, former state Rep. Roy Baldwin.
Below is the article from Thursday’s Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era:
‘Bachelor’ and triathlete bikes across state
to raise awareness regarding childhood obesity
BY CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
Staff Writer
Some people will do almost anything to get others to pay attention to their cause. U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andy Baldwin, of 2007 “The Bachelor” fame, is one of those people.
Tomorrow he’ll kick off a 420-mile bike ride across Pennsylvania to raise awareness of the health risks associated with childhood obesity.
Baldwin, a physician, is hoping to inspire the children across the state to get moving and start exercising because, according to the state’s department of health, at least 20 percent of Pennsylvania children are overweight.
Baldwin, a 1995 Manheim Township High School graduate and son of Roy and Cindy Baldwin of Lancaster, is a triathlete. He’s taking part in The Pennsylvania Health Ride and Kids Fitness Days because “children are the untapped potential in today’s world,” he said.
“It gives me energy,” 32-year-old Baldwin said. “When I see them smile and respond to what I am trying to teach them, it makes it all worth it.
“With the right spark and the right mentorship, you can see these children grow,” Baldwin said. “So many can putt, putt through life and they don’t have that spark anymore. With the right connection, they can have such better lives.”
Baldwin believes role models will make it happen. “There needs to be more action and less finger-pointing,” Baldwin said, during a recent phone interview from his now-home Washington, D.C. “We need people to walk the walk or, in this case, bike the bike.”
What began as Baldwin’s dream to ride bike across the country has transformed into a statewide ride in which others can participate, en route or at various stops.
The ride starts in Pittsburgh and will include events at various schools along the way. These schools will host health fairs featuring the ride participants. It will end in Philadelphia Saturday, Oct. 10.
Baldwin’s local stop will be at Park Elementary School in Columbia on Thursday, Oct. 8. Working closely with the Lighten Up Lancaster initiative and the NRG group, Baldwin is looking forward to sharing the road with fellow riders, including acting Rear Admiral and U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, and Everette James, the state’s secretary of health. Also riding with his father, Roy, who last year underwent several heart surgeries.
Baldwin is excited to return home and travel the roads where he grew up. “My dad is who taught me to ride,” Baldwin said. “I can remember buying my first 10-speed at Sears at Park City when I was 10 or 11.”
“He was my mentor growing up, setting the example of stewardship and giving back,” Baldwin said.
One-hundred cyclists were expected to ride into Lancaster County today as the five-day Brita Climate Ride makes its way from New York City to Washington, D.C.
The group is spending the night at Camp Andrews, 1226 Silver Springs Road, Holtwood. There, the group will hear from guest speakers about global warming and how individuals can minimize their impact on the environment. The public is invited.
Speakers for the evening are: Roz Savage, the first woman to row across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, an environmental activist, and a United Nations Environmental Program Climate Hero; Wood Turner, the executive director of Climate Counts; and Colin Beavan, aka NO IMPACT MAN, the man who lived one year with zero carbon impact. A movie about his experiences will be previewed. You can watch the trailer here.
On Tuesday morning, the riders will depart Reisterstown, Md. On Wednesday afternoon, they will rally at the U.S. Capitol for bicycle transportation, clean energy and legislative action to reduce climate change. This is the second year the Climate Ride has been held and stopped in Holtwood.
July’s Dream Ride Lancaster charity bicycling tour raised more than $146,000 for 17 charities.
More than 400 riders participated in the event, completing distances of 10, 20, 30, 62 or 100 miles. Those riders raised funds for non-profit organizations. Representatives from those charities participated by staffing rest stops along the routes.
Dream Ride founder and event organizer Mike Ridgeway was slated to announce the amount Monday afternoon, marking the last day of summer. Joining Ridgeway will be representatives from Friendship Community and Bridge of Hope of Lancaster and Chester Counties, who will speak to the benefit the cycling event on their organizations.
This year’s tours marked the 14th consecutive year the Dream Ride has been held. Since 1995, Dream Ride Lancaster has raised more than $1.9 million.
There are no cyclocross races schedule for Lancaster County this year, but the first in the region will be held this weekend.
The Nittany Lion Cross race, previously held at the Penn State Lehigh Campus, is being held at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, otherwise known as the Lehigh Velodrome, on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. The 2.7-kilometer course goes around the outside of the velodrome fence. Online advance registration has already closed for the race, but same-day registration is available. Detailed information is here.
The race in Trexlertown is the first of the Mid-Atlantic Cross series. The second race in the series is the Charm City Cross race in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park on Sunday. Although online registration does not close until Friday, many categories have filled.
Both races offer under-19 categories for juniors and free Lil’ Belgians races for children.
Last year, only one cross race, Wonderland Cross, was held in Lancaster County. That race, in East Lampeter Community Park on Hobson Road, is not being held this year.
The Univest Grand Prix race returns this weekend, beginning with a team time trial in downtown Allentown Friday, a circuit race beginning and ending in Souderton on Saturday and a criterium in Doylestown on Sunday.
On Saturday morning in Souderton, recreational riders have the opportunity to ride the same course that the pros will ride later in the day. The timed, 62-mile and 37-mile Univest Cyclosportif rides begin at 8 a.m.
Online pre-registration for the Cyclosportif closed Wednesday, but same day registration, at a cost of $55 each, will be held from 5:45-7:30 a.m. in Souderton, near the start.
Pre-registered riders receive a commemorative T-shirt, lunch in a hospitality tent and raffle tickets for cycling-related prizes. Event organizers make no guarantee that riders registering on Saturday will receive that swag. All riders will receive a time, based on a timing chip, and a ranking for their finish in the ride.
Bobby Julich, the 1998 third-place Tour de France finisher, will lead this year’s sportif ride.
And, everyone will have the opportunity to see the professionals complete their race. The domestic and international racers will do the 62-mile loop before returning to Souderton for several circuits around the town.
Weather for Saturday promises to be better than last year, when the pros competed in an afternoon-long torrential downpour.
The Paradise Rotary Club will hold is second annual Amish Country Classic Bike Tour on Saturday. Last year’s inaugural tour drew 180 riders, some from as far as New York. Organizers hope to attract 250 this year.
There are 12, 23 and 62-mile courses. The rides begin at 8 a.m. at the Intercourse Community Park. Riders may register, for $30 each, at the park from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m.
More information is available on the ride website. Proceeds will benefit scholarships, leadership training and other programs supported by the Rotary.
Many of the cyclists were clothed, at least in swimsuits or underwear. Some opted for body paint. Others, however, did the full monty to demonstrate the vulnerability of bicycling in traffic. Others were simply there for the thrill. How often do you get a chance to ride naked through Philadelphia, one asked.
Check out this video coverage of the event from the Philadelphia Daily News:
Lancaster cycling advocate Mike Ridgeway is asking his neighbors to donate food while he racks up the miles.
Ridgeway is in the midst of his “Dream Ride Bike-A-Thon Food Drive” to benefit Mom’s House, a Lancaster non-profit organization that cares for children while needy parents go to school.
Ridgeway is asking residents of his Lancaster City neighborhood to place food donations on his porch that will be taken to Mom’s House. Meanwhile, beginning Friday, he rode the perimeter of Lancaster County through the weekend. Beginning Tuesday, he will ride a 36-mile route known as “The Loop.” He will do that daily through Thursday, for a Saturday-Thursday total of 400 miles. That leads up to his riding “The Loop” consecutively for a 12-hour period on Friday, Sept. 11, following a 9-11 memorial ceremony at the Lancaster County Emergency Training Center in Salunga.
Anyone interested in making a food donation to Mom’s House who does not live in Ridgeway’s neighborhood may call Ridgeway, at 397-2503, or Mom’s House Executive Director Diedre Foley Citro, 396-9130, to make drop-off arrangements.
Lancaster County native Andy Baldwin, the U.S. Navy doctor and triathlete of “The Bachelor” reality show fame begins a cross-state Health Ride in Pittsburgh Friday. The 420-mile tour includes stops at elementary schools where Baldwin and other participants will promote exercise and a health diet. The tour comes to Lancaster County next Thursday, with presentations at Park Elementary in Columbia. Accompanying Baldwin will the U.S. surgeon general, the state Health secretary and Baldwin’s father, former state Rep. Roy Baldwin.
One-hundred cyclists were expected to ride into Lancaster County today as the five-day Brita Climate Ride makes its way from New York City to Washington, D.C.
July’s 
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Lancaster cycling advocate Mike Ridgeway is asking his neighbors to donate food while he racks up the miles.
