DEP Chief Dan Esty, State Sen. Beth Bye Participate in National Bike Day Rally

There were two clear messages delivered at Friday morning’s National Bike Day rally in Blue Back Square: bicycling is a great way of getting around – either as a means of commuting to work or for doing errands around town – and some changes are needed so that bicycling can be easier and safer. Those changes will encourage more people to ride, and that is a win-win situation for the health, environment, and welfare of people in our area.

“My message is that biking is fun. It’s a great way to get around. We have a lot of cyclists in town who don’t always connect with each other,” said Mary Ellen Thibodeau, chairperson of the West Hartford Bicycle Advisory Committee. Thibodeau helped organize the rally, which was sponsored by Bike Walk Connecticut, to bring all of West Hartford's cycling enthusiasts together in support of the view that it’s a great means of transportation.

Tracey Wilson, who teaches history at Conard High School, said she bikes to work almost every day, and thinks others should do the same. “I encouraged 8-10 Conard teachers to all bike to work today,” Wilson said.

State Senator Beth Bye, an avid cyclist, was also at the rally. “I have this dream of a boulevard connecting the Center to Bishop’s Corner, where people could bike, run, walk and feel safe doing it,” she said. Resident Ethan Frankel agreed, “North Main Street is frightening. Why can’t it have turn lanes?”

Commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection, Dan Esty, arrived around 7 a.m. The ride from Cheshire took Esty “just under two hours,” he said. “It was beautiful. We rode through industrial areas and the rural rolling hills of Connecticut. Any day that starts with a bike ride is a great day,” said Esty, who praised the skills of Pete Salomone who mapped out the route from Cheshire and served as his guide.

David Honyotski bikes to his job as Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator at Central Connecticut State University every day. He’s lost 95 pounds since the day in 2007 when he started biking to work and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a Boston crème éclair along the way. “Bicycling has become a way of life, and I think I’ve saved $25,000 over the years,” Honyotski said.

Central Connecticut State University English Professor Mary Collins doesn’t ride her bike to work (“But I should!” she said.) yet the author of “American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture” said, “I bike all around town; that’s how I do my errands.” Collins thinks one helpful change would be adding more bike racks in West Hartford Center.

West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka told the crowd, “We aspire to be a bike friendly community, but we’re not there yet. We have a lot of work to do.”

Town Council member Shari Cantor, who sponsored the recently passed resolution to establish the West Hartford Bicycle Advisory Committee, praised the fitness benefits of bicycling and other exercise. “The statistics are remarkable; a little bit of movement makes such a difference in quality of life.”

Following the presentation, a sizeabe group set off on their bicycles, led by Esty, for a meeting with Gov. Dan Molloy at the State Capitol.

Slifka, who was not riding his bike because he had to leave directly to attend a ceremony, said, “This shouldn’t seem exotic to people. It’s not radical stuff; it should be in our everyday thought.”