Handlebar Happy Hour is one of our favorite events of the year, as it gives cyclists and bicycling supporters the opportunity to celebrate Bike Month together. Once again this year, we'll be meeting at Upland's Columbus Pump House, in the lower level banquet hall, to enjoy a fun evening of socializing and a short presentation about the recent changes to the ColumBike bike share program and how you can get involved. Upland has generously donated both the banquet space and some

May is Bike Month and as always, we'll be celebrating National Bike to Work Day here in Columbus! We will have groups riding to work from four different locations, so if you'd like some company on your ride to work, join us! If you've never ridden to work before, this is a great opportunity to give it a try. Our Bike to Work Day will coincide with Cummins Bike to Work Day once again this year, on Friday, May 17th. Please meet at 7:10am and community leaders will leave the fol

Getting motivated to exercise can be difficult. For many Columbus runners and walkers, the Columbus Running Club (CRC) helps to make it a lot easier to get out and exercise each week. The Running Club meets every Saturday to run or walk a 6 mile route. The Running Club not only provides camaraderie during runs, but they also take all the guess work out of it, with routes mapped out and water stops provided. The Running Club meets outside the CRH Dialysis Center on Saturdays a

We all know that hiking can benefit your heart, mind and body. Being in nature brings some of these benefits, while the cardiovascular workout provides the rest. One nice thing about hiking is that almost everyone can find some level of hike that works for them, anywhere from a gentle walk to mountain climbing. In Bartholomew County, we are spoiled to have so many great hikes in the county - some of which are detailed on the Visit Columbus Indiana recreation page - including

Bicycle themed drink coasters are being distributed around Columbus in order to promote cycling to a wider audience. These brightly colored coasters, designed by Brooke Hawkins as part of a partnership between Healthy Communities and Columbus Bike Co-op, present cycling as a fun and healthy activity. This project seeks to inspire people to get on their bikes, rather than focusing on the safety aspects of cycling or being prescriptive about what to do (or not to do). Distribut

Foundation for Youth (FFY) seeks to "inspire and enable our youth (and) our community". A recent addition to their aquatics schedule has enabled some women with an opportunity to swim that previously did not exist in our community: they recently introduced a ladies-only swimming session. On Saturdays from 1:30-3:30pm, the pool is staffed by a female lifeguard, and only women, girls and little boys (6 and under) are allowed into the pool area. For some women, this is a very im

Students at Parkside Elementary have had a unique opportunity this year - they've been able to work with professionals to make a nearby intersection safer. A fifth grade class at this North Columbus school has been working with Healthy Communities and leaders from the City's Planning and Engineering Departments on a traffic calming project. Traffic calming describes a range of methods, including physical design, that slow cars and improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and

Handlebar Happy Hour, the Bike Month kick-off event, will take place at Upland's Columbus Pump House at 148 Lindsey St on Tuesday, May 1st from 6-8pm. Join us to celebrate bike month, socialize with other cyclists, and enjoy a short presentation about the City's bicycle and pedestrian projects. Co-hosted by Healthy Communities and Energy Matters Community Coalition, we're looking forward to a fun event that promotes cycling and being active in Columbus. Columbus Bicycle Co-op

Sometimes having a walking partner is just the motivation you need to allow you to be more active. Ellen Spivey (pictured with her son Ethan), a stay-at-home mother, is the lead for a walking group called Stroll Patrol. While Ellen enjoys walking on her own to get exercise, fresh air and catch up on podcasts, she joined Stroll Patrol to get out of the house and socialize with other moms. She later took over as the group lead. Stroll Patrol (pictured below, with Ellen on the r

Mark Fenton, a nationally recognized walking advocate and Public Health, Planning and Transportation Consultant, will once again visit Columbus in March 2018. Mark's tagline is "engineering physical activity back into American communities and lives" because he helps communities like ours to design our built environment to encourage more active forms of transportation, like walking and biking. Fenton has visited Columbus on numerous occasions and in 2016 was involved in commun

The Newbern Bridge pedestrian crossing over Haw Creek near 25th Street, an important connection for our People Trail network, is now open! While new to its current location, the bridge is not new itself but the newly refurbished Newbern Bridge, a 107-year old structure which was removed from its original location over Clifty Creek at North Newbern Road in 2015. It was completely disassembled and reconstructed, painted red and placed over Haw Creek a short distance south of 25

If your New Year's resolution was to promote wellness or start leading a more healthy lifestyle, then Healthy Communities' Wellness Challenge Toolkit could be a great resource. This challenge will help you develop and maintain healthy habits and overall well-being. The emphasis on purpose, nutrition, activity and mindfulness will engage you and inspire you to become happier, healthier and more energetic. The Wellness Challenge Toolkit was developed in 2016/2017 and debuted wi

Crossing the street in Columbus can often seem dangerous. Even at a marked crosswalk, vehicles often don’t stop for pedestrians, particularly on multiple lane roads. This creates a vicious cycle: some vehicles don’t stop at crosswalks, so drivers are afraid to stop out of fear of a rear-end collision. The end result is fewer vehicles stopping, which causes pedestrians to feel unsafe crossing.The more vehicles that don’t stop/yield at crosswalks, the more people start to belie

If you've been looking for a way to become (or stay) physically active and/or make a difference in our community, then this is the perfect opportunity to accomplish both. SideKicks is a program of the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center (LCNFC) that pairs special needs individuals with walking and running buddies to help motivate and support them during walks or runs. SideKicks meets on Mondays at 6:30pm at White River Running Company (WRRC, located at 325 5th St) and

For the Staebler family, riding to school and work is one of the benefits of their recent move into the city. Having previously lived outside of city limits, they are now enjoying this new aspect of living in a walkable part of the city. While they now enjoy walking and riding their bikes more for transportation, this is not the start of a healthy lifestyle for Debbie, Bryon and their two children, who enjoy the outdoors and being active as part of their daily routine. Debbie

Bike Month is back and it's better than ever! We're excited to begin a month full of activities to celebrate the bicycle and get our community moving! We kick off with the Columbike Demo Ride (May 2nd) and finish with the Wednesday Night Road Bikers group ride (May 31st), and there's a lot of fun for everyone in between! Some key dates to remember: Bike to School Day is May 10th, Handlebar Happy Hour is May 11th and Bike to Work with the Mayor Day and Cummins Bike to Work Day

What is a bike rodeo? A bike rodeo is a fun, engaging way to introduce kids to bicycle safety skills. They learn the importance of seeing, being seen, and remaining in control of their bicycles at all times. To accomplish this, the kids participate in bicycle handling drills and games. The data proves that these are important skills for our kids to have. The three big causes of car/bike crashes for kids are… • Riding out of a driveway without stopping • Failing to stop for st