South Windsor to Celebrate Bicycle Friendly Designation in October

South Windsor will be awarded the bronze on Oct. 20.

Indeed, the town will celebrate receiving its bronze level national designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists next month as part of the Celebrate Fall in South Windsor event.

The town is just one of 22 towns to receive the designation this year and is just the second community in the state to ever be recognized as a BFC; Simsbury received the honor in 2011 and riders from that town will join the celebration with a Torch Ride to South Windsor beginning at the Bissell Bridget Trail by the boat launch in Windsor.

The Torch Ride will include a toy torch that has a mock flame to symbolize the passing of the designation from Simsbury to South Windsor.

The ride will finish at Jacob’s View Pavillion at 1 p.m. for the celebration.

South Windsor actually received the bike friendly designation in May, but put off the ceremony to tie in the celebration with some other larger event, like Celebrate Fall, according to South Windsor Walk & Wheel Ways President Ginny Hole.

“Our plan is to encourage other towns to apply to be bicycle friendly,” Hole said. Ultimately, Hole said that she would like to see Connecticut achieve the status as a bicycle friendly state. “Our goal is to pass the torch to other towns.”

Hole said that she is aware that West Hartford and Glastonbury may be pursing BFC status.

According to the League of Bicyclists website, a Bicycle Friendly Community “welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.”

South Windsor earned its BFC designation through the efforts of the SWWWW, which, according to its website, seeks to promote cycling and walking in the town “by connecting the community with trails, sidewalks and bike lanes.”