The Ride Stuff
SLIPPERY ROCK — More than 50 cyclists pedaled through the streets of Slippery Rock Friday delivering a message that rang clearer than a bicycle bell.
Get out of the car and onto a bike.
"I love the look of that," said Allie Bernstein, 21, of Fishkill, N.Y., looking back at the crowd behind her as the group rounded the first bend.
As bikers made their way down Main Street, they shouted, "Get on a bike!" to passers-by and patrons sitting on the North Country Brewing Company's front patio.
Rachel DeWolf, another student taking part in the ride, waited for a moment at the parking lot entrance at Main Street and Franklin Street as a mass of bike riders blocked traffic.
"Look at the troops," DeWolf said with a smile as she made the turn onto the road.
The monthly Critical Mass bike ride event in Slippery Rock is part of an international initiative to promote the use of bicycles instead of cars or other vehicles, said Steve Roberts, the event organizer.
Friday's ride not only promoted green awareness last week, but also was a celebration of a $5,000 Green and Growing grant recently awarded to Slippery Rock University. The rides are held on the last Friday of every month and begin at the Aebersold Recreation Center. After riding across the campus, the bikers make their way down Kiester Road to meet a Slippery Rock police escort and onto Main Street. The group then circles back after reaching Franklin Street, and goes back to the recreation center.
The state grant came from the Pittsburgh 250 Commission and was used by SRU to buy new bikes for students to check out at Bailey Library, Roberts said.
Half of the grant was used to plant trees on campus. After the ride, a dedication ceremony was held in which trees were planted in memory of SRU professors David Dixon and Claudia Balach.
Roberts said the Critical Mass rides originated in San Francisco, when a man got tired of cars having the right of way and of cyclists having secondary road rights. Roberts said some of the events around the world have seen 50,000 people participating in one city.
"We want to get people away from cars and gas and promote green living. If everyone rode a bike to work, it would do so much to bring our dependency on foreign oil down," he said.The Cycling Club and the Green Bike Initiative hosted Friday's event, which ended with the dedication at the center pavilion on campus.SRU President Robert Smith opened the ceremony and congratulated the Student Government Association and the Green and Growing grant representatives with Pittsburgh 250."To have us affiliated with everything going on in the region is an honor, and the trees look great," Smith said.Roberts said events like these will help people understand the importance of building a more environmentally friendly world for generations to come."I have a daughter and expect grandkids someday, and I want them to enjoy outdoors, breathing clean air, bicycling and riding in canoes," Roberts said."The amount of emissions this country pumps into the air is something we need to take note of because it's not going to be a great world for our grandkids otherwise."Dan Wilson, an SRU student and president of the Cycling Club, said the event was important in building a new consciousness of looking at the environment."I like the program we are putting together. You make bikes available to people who want to use them for commuting purposes, and I think it's important to have trees and green living on campus to further the learning environment," he said."I live in Grove City and ride my bike to school to cut back on the number of emissions I am putting out there, and I would like the campus to have more trees instead of concrete fixtures."The event ended with a moment of silence for the professors along with memorial bricks being placed at the base of the two oak trees.
