Join the WWBPA for the last of our 2012 bike rides. Our goal is to help you feel comfortable getting around by bike and showing you some new routes. The next one is Sept. 15 (rain date Sept. 16th): a five-mile loop down the Trolley Line Trail and along Penn-Lyle past High School South and back to the park. Meet at the tennis courts at Community Park (North Mill Road entrance) at 2:15 p.m.; ride leaves at 2:30 p.m.
Our last ride will be Oct. 6 (rain date Oct. 7). Our sixth annual Community Bike Ride (plus walk) is an 8-mile round trip down the D&R Canal to Brearley House and the new Lawrence Hopewell Trail, and back. Come learn about this new 20-mile route! Meet at 2:15 p.m. at Turning Basin Park parking lot (Alexander Road and the towpath); the ride leaves at 2:30 p.m. Walkers, meet at Port Mercer parking lot, 4278 Quakerbridge Road, for a 2.5-mile loop, also at 2:15 p.m.
No preregistration is necessary for either ride; just bring a bike in good working order and a helmet. The ride itself is free. Children under 13 should be accompanied by an adult. We will adjust routes as needed because of road construction. Check back on our website or Facebook page for final details.
Our August ride was to Plainsboro Preserve. Nearly 20 people took part. The kids loved the bugs; the adults discovered the point jutting into the lake. Some of us rode from Community Park, and others met the group at Town Center Elementary School.
Paul Ligeti and Alice Eltvedt are this year’s winners of the WWBPA’s scholarship to graduating high school seniors.
Paul, who graduated from North and is headed to the University of Michigan, impressed us with his Eagle Scout project: an 11-mile bike route of historic West Windsor sites, with a well-researched website that describes the story of each site and red markings at each spot. Paul has led two rides of his route for the WWBPA, and all have been impressed with his work.
Paul Ligeti
Alice, who is going to Princeton after graduating from South, led by example as she rode her bicycle to the West Windsor pool. The racks have been overflowing!
Alice Eltvedt
The scholarships are one of two sets of annual awards from the WWBPA to honor those who share our vision of a bicycle and pedestrian-friendy community. We also selected three winners of our community service awards and presented them at our annual meeting in March.
Mike Viscardi, a project development? planner, has been a fantastic contact for the WWBPA at New Jersey Transit. It has only been with Mike’s help that we have been able to add bike racks and lockers on two occasions.
Michael Ogg, a former trustee, has raised our awareness of the needs of the disabled when making improvements to our sidewalk network. We thank Michael for all his contributions.
And West Windsor Township, beginning with Francis Guzik, the township’s engineer, has added so many bike lanes, filled in many gaps in the sidewalk network and added safe pedestrian crossings in the past few years. Thank you!
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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of the completion of the trail, which runs almost 2200 miles from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME.
According to the AT Conservancy’s web site:
The A.T. was completed 75 years ago on August 14, 1937. This task took over 15 years to complete and involved thousands of volunteers, agency partners, local Trail maintaining clubs and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The A.T. is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world, measuring roughly 2,180 miles in length. The Trail goes through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian mountain range from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the Trail?s northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine.
It has been estimated that 2-3 million people visit the Trail every year and about 1,800?2,000 people attempt to ?thru-hike? the Trail. People from across the globe are drawn to the A.T. for a variety of reasons: to reconnect with nature, to escape the stress of city life, to meet new people or deepen old friendships, or to experience a simpler life.
The A.T. is a unit of the National Park System and is managed under a unique partnership between the public and private sectors that includes, among others, the National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, an array of state agencies, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and 31 local Trail-maintaining clubs.
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The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance invites cyclists of all ages to join us on the third in our series of casual family-friendly rides, on Saturday, Aug. 18. The destination of our ?bugs and bikes? ride is the Plainsboro Preserve, 80 Scotts Corner Road, where participants can opt to take part in the family nature program ($5/per person).
Meet at West Windsor Community Park tennis courts (off the North Mill Road entrance) for a 12-mile roundtrip ride at 2:15 p.m. or at Town Center School in Plainsboro for 5-mile roundtrip ride at 2:45 p.m. Walkers are also welcome and should arrive at the preserve by 3:15 p.m. We will use quiet streets and bike paths as much as possible. Those on the 12-mile ride should be comfortable riding on slightly busier streets.
The preserve?s nature program begins at 3:30 p.m., and pre-registration for that program is recommended (609-897-9400). Those who choose not to take part can join us for a casual walk around the preserve before heading home. (No biking in the preserve itself!)
There is no charge for the WWBPA ride, nor is pre-registration necessary. Just bring a bike in good working order and a helmet. Children under 13 should be accompanied by an adult. Check our website (wwbpa.org) or Facebook page for any changes. The rain date for this ride is Sunday, Aug. 19.
Additional rides are planned for September and October. Thanks to all who took part in our July ride–an 11-mile tour of historic West Windsor sites–and our short ride for ice cream in June.
The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance and Friends of West Windsor Open Space invite you to join us for some maintenance on the Rogers Arboretum and Rogers Preserve trails. We will beat the heat by meeting at 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 12 in the Rogers Arboretum parking lot on Clarksville Road. We will be clearing trails of brush, weeds and downed trees. If there are enough people, we will tackle Rogers Preserve as well. Otherwise we will do that next.
Bring clippers/loppers, rakes and weed-whackers or something else to take out the weeds. You may want to wear gloves and carry a bottle of water. Children are welcome with their parents. We?ll be done by noon.
Email [email protected] with any questions, and feel free to bring some friends.
Monthly meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month via Zoom. We will eventually resume meeting in the West Windsor Municipal Building. Email us at [email protected] if you would like the Zoom code.
Find us at the West Windsor Farmers Market (Vaughn Drive parking lot) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every other Saturday from May through Halloween.
Join the WWBPA for the last of our 2012 bike rides. Our goal is to help you feel comfortable getting around by bike and showing you some new routes. The next one is Sept. 15 (rain date Sept. 16th): a five-mile loop down the Trolley Line Trail and along Penn-Lyle past High School South and back to the park. Meet at the tennis courts at Community Park (North Mill Road entrance) at 2:15 p.m.; ride leaves at 2:30 p.m.
The 
