Westlake Bay Village Observer: Bay Village Bicycle Fair on May 2 will help residents get ready to ride

Get your bicycle ready to roll at the Bay Village Bicycle Fair on May 2 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Bay Middle School, 27725 Wolf Rd. Residents are invited to bring their bicycles for a free safety inspection and have the chance to win a free bicycle helmet, get a free bike license and learn about the benefits of bicycling as well as the Bay Bike To School Challenge. It is free and open to the public.

The Bay Village Bicycle Fair is part of the Bay Bike To School Challenge sponsored by Century Cycles on May 7-25, which strives to inspire over 1,600 middle and high school students in Bay Village to ride their bikes to school as much as possible during three weeks each spring, to help the environment and improve their health.

At the Bay Village Bicycle Safety Fair:

Professional bicycle mechanics from Century Cycles bicycle store in Rocky River will provide free bicycle safety inspections and display essential bicycle commuting accessories.

Century Cycles and Raleigh Bicycles are teaming up to give away 20 bicycle helmets to the first 20 families who attend (limit one helmet per family).

Bay Bike to School Challenge organizers will be available to answer questions about the program.

The Bay Village Police Department is providing free bike licenses.

Other information booths include Bike Cleveland, Earth Day Coalition, Bay Village Green Team, Project Earth Environmental Club and Bay Skate and Bike Park Foundation.

Bay Bike to School Challenge shows students, their parents and the community as a whole that going by bike is a great way to go, especially for short trips around town. Now in its fifth year, the program has had a big impact. Bay students have biked 102,803 miles since 2008, saving an estimated 113,083 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

New for the 2012 challenge is the addition of Westerly School -- the fourth grade class will be doing a one-week Bike To School Challenge on May 21-25, joining their older counterparts in the school system for the two-wheeled fun.

"1,000 Bikes in Bay" is scheduled for the challenge's final day, May 25, in which everyone in Bay Village is invited to join the students and ride their bikes to work or school in the city that day.

"Everyone looks forward to Bike To School Challenge in May. As educators, we know physical activity positively impacts academic performance," said Jason Martin, principal at Bay High School and one of the program's organizers. "The kids have fun biking to school with their friends, but they are also learning the benefits of lifelong fitness and the effect their choice of transportation has on the environment."

Century Cycles teams up with Bay Middle School and Bay High School to organize the program, with the support of other sponsors including Raleigh Bicycles, Subway of Bay Village, Honey Hut, Bay Village Kiwanis, Bay Schools Parent Teacher Student Association, Project Earth Environmental Club and the Bay Skate and Bike Park Foundation.

For regular updates about Bay Bike to School Challenge, go to www.centurycycles.com/to/bts or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BikeToSchoolChallenge.