Bike Month events are scheduled throughout our region in May! Scroll below for more details.

Bike Month Kickoff: Saturday, May 11

Glass City Metropark

Join TMACOG and our partners for fun activities. Learn important safety information from Safe Routes to School staff, and how to properly maintain your bike. Get help from TMACOG and Toledo Bikes with fixing issues it may have with tires or brakes. Food and drinks will be available for purchase at The Garden by Poco Piatti.

The Ride of Silence: Wednesday, May 15, 2024

The Ride of Silence is an international movement to remember people who have been injured or killed while riding a bicycle. Cyclists participate in slow-paced public rides to honor those who have been hurt, and to bring awareness to the critical importance of safety and bicyclists’ right to use public roadways.

Local rides in Toledo and Bowling Green will begin promptly at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, so please arrive by 6:30-6:45 p.m. These events are free and open to the public. No registration is necessary, but helmets are required.

Toledo

Meet in Parking Area 2 near the Bancroft Street entrance of the University of Toledo. For more information, contact Raj Nagisetty: nagisetty@tmacog.org or 419.241.9155 ext. 1144.

Bowling Green

Meet at the Veterans Memorial Building at City Park (520 Conneaut Ave.). For more information, contact Keith Webb: keith@wearetraffic.org or 567-703-6378.

Bike Day at the Farmers' Market

Visit with TMACOG transportation planner Raj Nagisetty, who focuses on bicycle and pedestrian planning and promotion across the region. Raj will hand out T-shirts, stickers, water bottles, and other giveaways along with information and maps of our region’s bike trails.

Toledo Farmers' Market: 8 a.m. Saturday, May 18

Bowling Green Farmers' Market: 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22

Perrysburg Farmers Market: 4-8 p.m. Thursday, May 23

Partner events

Metroparks Toledo Outdoor Expo : Saturday, May 18

Metroparks Toledo hosts the biggest annual event of the year at Side Cut Metropark. Metroparks is for everyone, and Outdoor Expo invites the community to try tree climbing, kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, Kids Zone, and much more. Metroparks outdoor skills experts will be on hand to guide you as you discover your next outdoor passion, regardless of ability.

This is an inclusive event, and staff are trained and ready to make accommodations. A low sensory zone will be available at the Lamb Center. Adaptive equipment will be readily available.

Food trucks and music will be on site, so plan to make it a day in the outdoors at the Expo!

#GetOutsideYourself

Wood County Park District offers a Mountain Bike Skills Camp from 10 a.m. to noon on the first Sunday of each month (May 5, June 2, July 7, and August 4). Register at www.wcparks.org or call 419-353-1897.

The park district offers a wide range of outdoor programming, including Backpacking Basics, Paddle the Pond, and much more. Click here (https://www.wcparks.org/recreation/programs/) for a full schedule.

Click here (https://www.wcparks.org/parks/) to learn more about Wood County Park District facilities, including Rudolph Bike Park (14045 Mermill Road, Rudolph, OH 43462), open for free daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset.

Bicycles are soaring in popularity, and families are eager to learn where and how they can ride safely.

Each May (and throughout the year), TMACOG supports recreational bicycle riders and works to encourage the use of bikes for commuting and errands.

• TMACOG coordinates Bike Month as a way of promoting the benefits of riding a bike both recreationally and as a mode of transportation. Not only does riding a bike provide healthy exercise, it has environmental and economic benefits, too.

• Although up to 40 percent of all trips people make are less than 2 miles, 82 percent of these short trips are taken in a car.
• Most people in our region live within 10 miles of their job, and more roads now accommodate bikes with marked lanes or sidepaths.
• Riding a bike either directly to work or to a bus stop to make that connection with public transit saves you money and reduces air pollution and congestion in our region.
• The next time the weather is right and you have some time, try leaving your car keys at home and hopping on your bike instead. You can download a bike map on TMACOG’s website to learn how to get where you want to go.

*We have a ton of biking related resources at our Biking and Walking page. Check it out!