Organizing your own group ride or bicycling event is a great way to make an immediate, positive impact on your community. It provides an opportunity for people newer to bicycling and old friends to explore our cities in a new way, socialize and increase awareness of bicycling on our roads.
It may seem like a lot of work, but promoting your next ride is easy with help from dedicated blogs like TheMiamiBikeScene.com, facebook event listings and pages like ours, meetup groups (EMERGE and South Florida Bike Club), twitter pages like @BikeMIA and newer social media outlets like What Miami and What Lauderdale or Yelp.
If your ride or event is expecting hundreds of people, one group that is equally important and too often overlooked is the police. Let the police know what you are doing. You have a right to use the road and should not be asked for a permit unless you actually plan to physically block the entire public space or deny anyone else’s access to it. (Yes, in this case, going to the police has its drawbacks. Please, call us and we’ll help you through it) Anytime you have that many people in one place, the law of averages suggests someone may call out to Police or Fire/Rescue at some point. It is a simple courtesy to give them a heads up. That way, if some irate motorist calls claiming cyclists are taking over, the po-po can simply say, ‘Yes, we know. Thanks for your call and have a nice day.” Think about it- if your responsibility was to know what was going on in an area, wouldn’t you appreciate a heads-up? A little civic engagement goes a long way.
More to come soon….
South Florida Bike Coalition 
I am running an illegal alleycat race here in WPB on March 26th, 2011, benefiting the Ft. Lauderdale chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. ALL of the money coming in, like the last 7 races I’ve done here, will be going to the NMSS. ALL of it.
Please reply for my flyer and answers to any of your questions.
As for the police being informed, I remember Cyclefest.
I have not had any problem with my races. I break no laws, and I ask my racers to do the same. The Police, I believe, look the other way, as this is a grass roots charity benefit with no prior problems.
Thanks for all you do for the local riders!
TIII