Cyclists of all ages, calibers and walks of life came together this weekend to celebrate one thing they all have in common — bicycles.
The second annual Velo Louisiane bicycle festival, hosted by Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets, pedaled through Baton Rouge on Saturday and Sunday.
Mark Martin, BRASS founder, said the festival raised awareness and celebrated bicycles.
“We want to show people that riding a bike can be exercise or recreation or transportation or competition,” Martin said. “Everyone can enjoy a bike ride.”
The festival kicked off Saturday with the Mayor’s Family Fun Ride led by East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden and a “blessing of the bicycles” ceremony, in which Rev. Paul Counce of St. Joseph Cathedral sprinkled bicycles with holy water.
Saturday night featured live music, an art show and other activities at Chelsea’s Cafe on Perkins Road.
On Sunday, cyclists enjoyed daylong festivities at Perkins Road Park that included velodrome activities, stationary bike races, a bike parade and a ghost bike memorial.
Andy Larson, music graduate student and head organizer of Velo Louisiane, said the festival’s purpose was to build community, celebrate bicycles as a healthy form of transportation and educate the public on bike safety.
He said the educational aspect of the festival is important because of the growing popularity of bicycles in Baton Rouge due to the city’s heavy traffic.
“People don’t know what to do when they encounter a cyclist on the road,” Larson said. “We want people to expect to see cyclists on the road and learn how to react.”
Martin said the festival also showcased the various types of bike riding and facilities Baton Rouge offers.
“We have BREC in Baton Rouge, mountain bike trails that are nationally ranked, a velodrome and a BMX race track,” Martin said. “We want to make people aware of these and show them how lucky we are to have [these facilities].”
Holden holds the family bike ride each year as a part of his Healthy BR initiative, but this year, in support of Holden’s recent proclamation of April as Bike Month, the ride was accompanied by a bike safety campaign launched by the Capital Region Planning Commission.   Snapshot: Biking  
Mike Bitton, a geography graduate student who was hit by a driver while on his bicycle in May 2010, is the campaign spokesperson and served as Honorary Chair of the Mayor’s Family Bike Ride.
Holden’s other Bike Month initiatives include the launch of the Bike BR “bikeability index” and Bike to Work Day on April 15.
“We want to encourage people to be safe whether they’re commuting on a bike or just riding for recreation,” said Rannah Gray, partner of Marmillion-Gray Media, working with CRPC.
Daren Truax, Baton Rouge resident and festival attendee, said he doesn’t think Baton Rouge is bike friendly, but said events like the festival can work to improve conditions and awareness.
“You’re not allowed to ride on the sidewalk here, and riding on the streets is dangerous,” Truax said.
Martin said BRASS has taken several measures, like paving a bike trail from Brightside Drive to downtown, to improve Baton Rouge’s bike friendliness.
The mayor’s “bikeability index” also promotes bike friendliness by using Google Maps to measure how safe, easy and desirable streets are to bike on rather than drive, according to a news release.
“The health aspects, economical aspects, ecological aspects [of cycling] — they’re all there,” Martin said.
Martin said the age of event-goers ranged from 2 years old to more than 70 years old.
Larson said he hopes Velo Louisiane will eventually become a statewide event.
 
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