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Bicycle-Friendly Sumter County Initiative Through our Bike-Walk Committee, SCAL is conducting an education
and awareness initiative to create a bicycle-friendly Sumter County that promotes
and advocates for safe and enjoyable bicycling for leisure, exercise and transportation.
The initiative contains several components:
National Bike Month May is recognized as National Bike Month. Sumter County Active Lifestyles celebrates National Bike Month in our local area each year with a variety of activities, like proclamations, newspaper articles, bike ride with the mayor, bike-friendly route mapping assistance for bike commuters, and advice to organizations about proper selection and installation of bicycle racks.
Our 2011 Bike Month activity was a community-wide public survey about what residents would like to see happen in the county to help make it a more "bicycle-friendly community." Click here for the survey results summary. SCAL’s bicycling survey project was featured as a news story on WLTX-TV News 19 on June 15, 2011.
Or read the article and watch the video here: http://www.wltx.com/news/article/140449/2/Sumter-Group-Wants-to-Know-What-Gets-Your-Pedals-Turning SCAL is working closely with bicyclists, transportation agencies, bicycling advocacy groups and others to make Sumter County a bicycle-friendly community. If this is your goal also, we'd like to hear from you. Contact Linda Pekuri at (803) 774-3861 or lpekuri@sumtercountysc.org Cycling Clubs and Community Bike Rides
SCAL provides some support for Sumter County's cycling clubs. Club members assist SCAL with community bicycling events and advocating for a bicycle-friendly community. The cycling groups welcome all who want to ride—novice and experienced cyclists alike. Visit the Sumter Cycling, Hiking & Adventure Club website to learn more about the bike rides and other outdoor adventures in and outside of Sumter County. SCAL's Bike Sumter County map identifies various bicycle routes of different lengths throughout the county to guide both the novice and more experienced road rider. In addition to identifying routes, the map provides basic bicycle maintenance information, safety tips and rules of the road for bicyclists and motorists. These maps are free, and printed copies are available at the SCAL office at the Sumter County Recreation and Parks Department, 155 Haynsworth Street in Sumter. Adopt-A-Park If you are looking for ways to contribute to your community, then consider "adopting" a city park. SCAL and the City of Sumter Parks & Gardens Department sponsor an Adopt a Park Program for selected parks within the city as a way to get community members involved in providing attractive places people can go to for recreation, leisure exercise, and physical activity. Businesses, school groups, civic clubs, churches and faith groups, and other organizations are invited to join Adopt A Park to assist with basic maintenance and beautification of local parks and green spaces. Adoptive groups are required to conduct clean-ups at least four times a year and are encouraged to recruit neighborhood participation from residents near their particular park. SCAL will provide a small amount of money for clean-up supplies, and the Parks Department will place a sign in the park to acknowledge the adoptive group. If you would like to adopt a city park, contact Sumter County Active Lifestyles at (803) 774-3860 or cblumberg@sumtercountysc.org.
Heart and Soles One of Sumter's popular places to walk has its own walking program. The Sumter Mall sponsors Heart & Soles in partnership with SCAL.
Registration for the program is ongoing. Forms can be obtained from the podium next to the Sumter Police Department substation inside the main mall entrance or the mall office during regular business hours. For more information, please call the Sumter Mall at (803) 775-6387. Publicity, Outreach, and Education SCAL’s publicity and outreach efforts to inform and educate the community about the availability of exercise and recreation opportunities throughout the county include newspaper feature stories, columns, articles and advertisements; quarterly newsletter; radio spots; and cable television infomercials. To date, our infomercials have highlighted city parks, our Adopt-a-Park Program, our walk and bicycle maps, the Step Up. Step Out! program, cycling/Sumter Easy Riders, crosswalk laws, our Wednesday Walkers program, the Cypress Trail and sharing the road.
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The
mall opens its doors to walkers at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and on Sundays at noon. Two times around the mall's interior equals one mile, and this information is displayed on the Heart & Soles "shoes" placed
throughout the mall.