Mayoral Bike Ride showcases bike friendliness of Holyoke

May 31, 2023 | Trent Levakis
tlevakis@thereminder.com

Mayor Joshua Garcia shows excitement in the lead up to the bike ride.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis

HOLYOKE — On May 23 Mayor Joshua Garcia, along with members of the Holyoke Bike and Pedestrian Committee, led the city’s first Mayoral Bike Ride to celebrate Bay State Bike Month. The ride started at Rohan Park and ended at Fame Lounge/Eatery for an after party.

Before taking off Garcia spoke to the group of almost 15 bikers and expressed appreciation for the Bike and Pedestrian Committee for their advocacy and work in changing the biking culture in the city.

“We want more biking obviously. We need to do more, more efforts to keep our bicyclists safe on our roads. There’s some work happening but obviously not enough,” Garcia said. “There’s a lot of work to do to change the culture in our community to embrace more bicycling, and a lot starts with community and that’s why we do things like this, and that’s why I give a lot of credit to the members on the bike-ped committee that are helping with pushing that agenda.”

Bike and Pedestrian Committee member Kristen Sykes was one of the leaders of the bike ride and expressed gratitude for Garcia being involved in the event.

“Part of the goal of this ride is to show more people riding in Holyoke so we can support the mayor, Aaron Vega and others in their agenda to create more safe spaces for people to bike throughout the city,” Skyes said.

The ride went all the way down Sargeant Street before crossing the canal onto Race Street before coming back over the bridge on to Dwight Street to arrive at Fame Lounge. Garcia noted after the ride that being able to ride through the city always gives a fresh perspective not picked up when driving.

“You really don’t get to enjoy the beauty [when driving]. I always notice a house I’ve never noticed before,” Garcia added.

Garcia added the ride was “awesome” and hoped more community rides were in the city’s future. He also added that as the city continues to improve its infrastructure, he would be sure to keep bicycle lanes and accessibility a priority.

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