SCCC Summer Races

The Beneficiary

The Alabama Bicycle Coalition (AlaBike) is a statewide, grassroots not-for-profit (501c3) cycling advocacy organization whose mission is to promote cycling safety, education and access. AlaBike works with state and local officials and politicians to preserve, improve, create and institutionalize bicycle-friendly roads and policies throughout Alabama. Bicycle-friendly cities, towns, counties and regions provide a healthy environment for its citizens and project an attractive image to visitors and prospective residents. The investment in a high-quality, user-friendly road network is returned many times in improved quality of life and property values. AlaBike seeks support to develop programs to promote this vision.

Safe Routes to Schools - Back on the Bike

Picture Courtesy of Washington State DOT

Do you remember when we as children were free to walk and bike to school? Or when childhood obesity was a rare condition? Well, there is a Federally funded project that local school systems can administer to bring back the good old days when streets and sidewalks were plentiful enough and designed well for children to walk and bike to school. Too many school zones are now built into areas that are unsafe for non-motorized transportation. Safe Routes to School is a program to help reestablish the independence we enjoyed in our youth, but so few children experience now.

The Four Hill Century benefits AlaBike and its program to establish Safe Routes to School projects in Alabama. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a soon-to-be federally-funded, locally administered campaign to promote cycling and walking to school. There are engineering, encouragement, education, and enforcement components to SRTS programs per the successful models in place in other states and countries. AlaBike has made it a priority to help create an effective SRTS in Alabama and hopes to develop an education, encouragement, and safety program to help ALDOT administer funds for an efficient and effective SRTS program in Alabama. AlaBike wishes to increase the mode share for bicycles in recreation and transportation. Walking and bicycling to school will produce a healthier generation with a greater respect for the safety of bicyclists and a desire for a more complete transportation system.