- New Mountain Bike Trail Dedicated at Coleman Park
On Saturday October 29 LVBC members participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the dedication of the new mountain bike trail around the perimeter of Coleman Park. The trail was constructed by the Susquehanna Area Mountain Bike Association (SAMBA). SAMBA President Nick Loftus made remarks before City of Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello cut the ribbon to open the trail. Prior to the ceremony the trail was used for a PA Interscholastic Cycling League race with four high school and middle school teams participating. Teams from Hershey, Elizabethtown, Susquenita, and the Lebanon Valley Mountain Bike team (Cedar Crest/Lebanon) raced around the two mile course. At the conclusion of the race and ceremony the Bikes N Bites event took place which offered guided tours of the new trail, pump track demos, bicycle safety information, a bike show, and food trucks.
- LVBC Supports Bikes for the World
On Sunday October 23, volunteers from LVBC, Lebanon Bicycle Recycle, and students from the Cedar Crest High School Key Club participated in the Bikes for the World event. A special thanks to LVBC members Scott and Barbara Shreve for coordinating this event. We prepared 102 bicycles for shipment to Costa Rica where they will serve as the primary means of transportation for families. LVBC provided a check for $1,000 to pay for the cost of shipping the bicycles. Thanks again to all the volunteers that assisted with this important effort.
- Bikes and Bites
LVBC, Lebanon Bicycle Recycle, Froggy Radio, and others will be sponsoring our first (hopefully an annual event) cycling and food truck event called Bikes n Bites on Saturday October 29 from 11 am to 3 pm at Coleman Park in Lebanon. We will be doing the ribbon cutting for the new mountain bike trail at Coleman park, pump track demos, repair clinics, trail rides, a bike show, safe bicycling education, and food trucks.
- Putting Used Bikes to Good Use.
The Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition is collecting repairable bikes (and sewing machines) to support www.bikesfortheworld.org. Drop off at St. James Lutheran Church, 53 Chestnut Street, Lebanon, Noon to 3pm, Oct 23rd . Tax deductable donation of $10 to assist with shipping is requested. If you need pickup, call Scott at 717-273-1571.
- Summer Fest 2022
LVBC participated in the Summerfest festival at Fairlane Park in Myerstown on Sunday June 5. This festival highlighted health and fitness. Lebanon Bicycle Recycle was also at the festival and we had a bicycle rodeo course set up in which kids and some adults tested their bicycle handling skills.
- Healthy Kids Day 2022
LVBC took its educational safe bicycling display and the always popular bicycle safety wheel game to the Lebanon YMCA on Friday June 3 for the Healthy Kids Day event. Both children and adults were tested in their knowledge of bicycle safety and how to safely share the roads with motor vehicles. Lebanon Bicycle Recycle was also at the event and brought along several refurbished bicycles to display.
- 2022 Ride of Silence Recap
by Dean Auchenbach
8 bicyclists participated in the 20th anniversary of the International Ride of Silence on Wednesday May 18. We rode from Cleona, west of route 422 to the Palmyra Walmart and returned on route 422. We were able to see the bike lanes and sparrows that were installed to make bicycling safer. This ride remembers and honors bicyclists killed or injured in collisions with motor vehicles while riding on public roadways. It also reaffirms the legal rights of bicyclists to use public roadways, and the responsibility of both bicyclists and motorists to obey traffic laws and safely share the road.
- 2022 Ride of Silence
On Wednesday May 18, 2022 at 7 pm, The Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition will be hosting the 20th anniversary of the International Ride of Silence bicycle ride. This ride is held worldwide at that date and time. The purpose of the ride is twofold. It serves as a rememberance of bicyclists who have been killed or injured in crashes with motor vehicles on the roadways. Secondly, it reminds everyone of the legal right of bicyclists to use public roadways and the responsibility of both bicyclists and motorists to obey traffic laws and share the road.
The Ride of Silence will meet at the Cleona Borough Municipal Building parking lot, 140 West Walnut Street, Cleona. Please arrive by 6:45 pm so we can assemble for the ride. The ride is about 10 miles long and will be a very slow pace. We will proceed west on Route 422 to the Palmyra Walmart and turn around and go back to the Cleona Borough Building. This ride is open to all bicyclists, you do not need to belong to the Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition to participate. Helmets are required and high visibility clothing and lights are recommended. This event will be held rain or shine.
- Recent Litter Cleanup
Submitted by Pat Krebs
LVBC members Pat and Ed Krebs, Ruth and Rich Barley, Dale Speicher, and VP Mike Sheehan did litter clean up on Lawn Road. PennDOT supplied gloves and bags and picked up the collected trash. There is so much litter in Lebanon County probably due to increase in population and no litter clean up for 2 years due to COVID. Please everyone do your part in sprucing up the road sides before Tour de Lebanon Valley.
- 2021 Tour de Lebanon Valley Report
The 2021 version of Tour de Lebanon Valley has been by far the best attended ride for this event to date. The committee is proud to announce that 500 riders participated in the ride which included a metric century, mid level option of 26 or 33 mile ride and a family ride on the Leb. Valley Rail Trail. Riders have come from several surrounding counties as well as New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. It is our honor to showcase the fine history and scenic background that the Lebanon Valley has to offer.
Financially we were able to obtain a main event sponsor (Jonestown Bank & Trust) and along with all the other sponsors and riders Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition received $ 11,000.00 as our share of the proceeds. This money was used in the following manner:
$ 4,000.00 – The Lebanon Valley Conservancy – This organization preserves open air spaces in Lebanon County to maintain our natural beauty.
$ 3,000.00 – NICA Program – National Interscholastic Cycling Association – This organization provides a sporting activity for mountain biking competition for high school students which is an activity that is not sanctioned by the schools. So far in Lebanon County Lebanon High and Cedar Crest have combined to form a team.
$ 2,850.00 – Lebanon Bicycle Recycle – A new start up non-profit group which is a spin off of Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition to refurbish bicycles and get them into the hands of younger riders along with safety instructions. The money was specifically used to purchase a wrap for our trailer mobile unit showing the logo on the sides. This is a joint effort with the (REACH) program from Penn State College of Medicine.
Ron Birch
TdLV committee
