By Owen Woods | owen@alamosacitizen.com
LOCAL cycler and cycling advocate Don Thompson stopped by the Alamosa Citizen studio to talk about Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 19. All of May is Bike to Work, but Friday is the day.
Free breakfast burritos, fruit, coffee and juice will be served Friday morning at the Zapata Historical Park on Ross Avenue from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Thompson invited all cyclists to stop by and grab some food before work.
“It’s designed hopefully to encourage people to try bicycling to work,” Thompson said. “It worked for me back in 1970. Hopefully it’ll work for some other people to become bicyclists to get to their employment. It sure saved me a ton of money and I’m enjoying it now.”
He said that he hopes the event will be easy for people to get to. The park sits just off the Ross Avenue bike lanes. “Go out of your way a bit and get a breakfast,” said Thompson.
Grantley Showalter, executive director for the Alamosa Bicycle Coalition stopped by, too, to talk about an exciting new feature at Zapata Historical Park: a bike repair station. This new bike repair station will be one of two installed this month. The second will be put in at the Alamosa Rec Center. These repair stations are equipped with a full kit of tools needed to quickly repair a bike in the field. These two stations will be the first for Alamosa’s south side and add to the growing inventory that can be found around town.
Showalter encouraged anyone who can to stick around after breakfast to help install the new stations. Either way, “it’s gonna be really fun.”
Thompson also talked about a first-time event for Alamosa happening the following Sunday, May 21. Because May is also Historic Preservation Month, Alamosa’s Historical Preservation Advisory Committee wanted to do something a little different this year. They’re calling it “Peddle to Preservation.”
The ride starts at the old Alamosa County Courthouse on 4th and San Juan at 4 p.m. The ride will meander through Alamosa and head toward the Adams State University campus, which has a few historic structures: Rex Gym, the Marvel House and Richardson Hall. There will be a short history lesson on top of this that is sure to be riveting.
“Alamosa is fortunate in that we have over 20 structures that are on the historic register. We look at historic buildings as both being something for citizens to be proud of – something to tell about our history. But also an attraction for tourists,” Thompson said.
He said these designations have some economic advantages, but he’s excited for citizens to have a feeling that our town is special in part through our rich history.
And to wrap up bike month, on Monday May 22, at 6:20 p.m., the Alamosa Bicycle Coalition has partnered with SLV Pride to host a Pride Ride. This ride is a community event for queer folks and allies who want to get out in the evening sun. The ride will start at ABC just off San Juan Avenue.
Showalter also mentioned that the Alamosa Bicycle Coalition is passing around an online survey to learn from the Alamosa cycling community on what they would like to see added to Alamosa, what needs work, and what’s already great. The Bike Friendly Alamosa Survey can be found here.
