Alternative transportation focus of annual event

By Jenna Youngs
May 6, 2008

Water Quality Community Development Extension Specialist John Tharp participates in the Bike, Walk and Wheel Week on Saturday at Flat Branch Park. The seventh annual event encouraged people to use alternate forms of transportation for a whole week.

Although they were told the event was not a competition, contestants participating in a race during the kick off to Bike, Walk and Wheel Week ignored the statement.

Some contestants said they prepared by “carbo-loading” Shakespeare’s wheat-crust pizza or Booches burgers.

The race was one of many activities planned Saturday to celebrate the start of the seventh annual Mayor’s Challenge — Bike, Walk and Wheel Week.

The annual event is held to encourage Columbians to utilize modes of transportation other than cars.

In the race, wives battled husbands, co-workers battled bosses and pedicab drivers battled airport shuttle van drivers.

In all, dozens of residents watched 10 Columbia “celebrities” race in the event emcee

Darren Hellwege called the event, “not a competition, but a comparison” to show community members that people could get around just as efficiently by walking or biking downtown as they would by driving.

Citizens were decked out in bright orange shirts, which Mayor Darwin Hindman called a “sight for sore eyes,” and participated in activities including building boats out of sticks to race in Flat Branch Creek and viewed “ArtCycles,” bikes decorated to promote the Art in the Park program.

Ten bicycles were on display at Flat Branch Park on Saturday, including a bike decorated by local artist Dennis Murphy.

Murphy said his bike represented his love of cats, and he said he hoped to bring light to Columbia’s feral cat problem.

He said his wife and daughter, who have rescued feral cats, inspired the bike, which is painted bright orange with a cat face on the handlebars and light-up whiskers made out of springs.

Murphy said he bikes to work every day and said Columbians are lucky to have a community that encourages using alternatives to motorized vehicles.

Hindman, who raced on a bike around town against City Manager Bill Watkins, said the purpose of Bike, Walk and Wheel Week is to help Columbians see that riding bikes or walking around not only saves money, but also is fun.

“I’ve become kind of addicted to bicycling,” Hindman said. “I realized how much fun it is, and I don’t want to give it up.”

During the race around town, participants either rode a bike or drove a vehicle and had to stop at five downtown businesses to collect tokens.

Watkins, who drove a vehicle, beat Hindman by one minute, and said he trained for the event by practicing parallel parking all week.

Blue Note owner Richard King raced his wife Patty during the event. Richard and Patty King were also honorary co-chairpersons of this year’s week.

Richard King defeated his wife by 10 minutes on his bike. At 19 minutes, he also had the quickest time of all the riders.

Patty King said the King family uses biking and walking as bonding time, and encouraged the crowd to do so as well.

“We have the privilege of living close to our children’s school and we’re lucky to be able to walk them to school,” she said. “It’s great to have one-on-one time with the kids to learn about their lives.”

Other Bike, Walk and Wheel Week events, which will be held until Friday, can be found by visiting getaboutcolumbia.com.

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Alternative transportation focus of annual event

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