Bike Walk Connecticut’s ‘Discover West Hartford Bicycle Tour’ will be held on June 6, 2015, in conjunction with Celebrate West Hartford.

Photo credit: Ronni Newton (file photo)

By Katie Cavanaugh

The first ever Discover West Hartford Bicycle Tour will take place on June 6, 2015, during the Celebrate West Hartford weekend, and will give participants a chance to discover some of West Hartford’s unique neighborhoods before enjoying the town’s signature festival.

Participants can choose between riding a 10, 25, or 50 mile route, all of which are designed for riders of all levels of biking experience. All of the routes start at Kingswood Oxford School and finish at the Celebrate West Hartford festival in West Hartford Center where there will be valet bicycle parking available.

The rides starts are staggered, beginning with the 50-mile at 8:30 a.m., the 25-mile ride at 10:00 a.m., and the 10-mile ride at 11 a.m. Scott Franklin, president of Bike West Hartford Inc. and chairman of the West Hartford Bicycle Advisory Committee, hopes that all of the rides are spread out with the intent of getting everyone back to West Hartford Center by noon to enjoy the festivities of Celebrate West Hartford.

There are currently 150 people signed up for the bike tour, but organizers at Bike Walk Connecticut are hoping to reach a goal of 300 participants.

According to Christine Skelly, chairwoman of the Discover Connecticut Bicycle Tours Committee of Bike Walk Connecticut, there is still plenty of time for people to sign up. “You can register online until June 3, or you can just show up to the ride,” said Skelly. “However, for our planning purposes it would be great if more people could sign up in advance.”

The price for members of Bike Walk Connecticut and non members is $60. Youth 15 years old and under pay $10 and the limit for a family is $120. “It’s an event that’s designed for anyone who can ride a bike,” said Skelly.

According to a statement made by Franklin, all of the money made will go towards making West Hartford a even more bike-friendly community. “Proceeds will fund work being performed by Bike West Hartford, Inc. and Bike Walk Connecticut, Inc. to make West Hartford and the state of Connecticut a better place to bike and walk, including educating the public about Connecticut’s Complete Streets Law, promoting the share the road campaign, teaching bicycle education to adults and children, and more,” stated Franklin.

The event is not set up to see who can ride a bike the fastest. In fact, it is set up to be a good way for people to slow down and take in all of the sights of West Hartford that they may miss when driving their cars.

“The bike tour is meant to give people a chance to be outside and see things from a different angle,” said Skelly.

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