How to Bike PorchFest 2022
At BikeAthens, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a bike ride through some of Athens’ historic neighborhoods to catch some shows during this year’s PorchFest (Sunday, October 2nd). This annual outdoor event, organized by Historic Athens, is a community-wide concert with over 155 events on 150+ porches in some of Athens’ oldest neighborhoods: Boulevard, Buena Vista, Cobbham, Newtown, Normaltown, and Pulaski Heights.
This event is a rare, bikable opportunity in our car-centric state, so we challenge you to break out your bike and join us. Below is a calendar of free events to support folks of all experience levels get ready to bike PorchFest 2022!
While at PorchFest this year, we urge you to check out the new protected bike lanes on Prince Avenue.
9/28
How to Bike Athens
6:00 – 7:00 pm Wednesday, September 28
VirtualJoin BikeAthens’ executive director for a primer on how to bike Athens safely. This free class will teach you about bike laws and best practices to prepare for biking PorchFest! To join, email shop@bikeathens.org for the zoom link.
9/29
Fix Your Own Bike Night
6:00 – 8:30 pm Thursday, September 29th
@ BikeAthens (1075 W Broad St.)Get your bike ready for PorchFest. Fix Your Own Bike Night (FYOB) is a weekly event open to all experience levels. Bring your bike and use all the handy tools at BikeAthens for a tune-up. Staff and volunteers will be available to assist you. We have music and snacks too. The suggested donation is $10 per hour.
9/30
Joy Ride + Athentic Brewing Celebration
6:00 – 8:30 pm Friday, September 30th
Start @ BikeAthens (1075 W Broad St.)
Finish @ Athentic Brewing (108 Park Ave.)
Join us for our monthly Joy Ride! This month we’ll be testing out the new, protected Prince Ave bike lanes and end our easy ride at Athentic Brewing to sample their latest brew in celebration of Historic Athens.
Joy Rides are casual, 6 to 8 mile rides that last about 90 minutes. We like to finish with an optional social gathering downtown or at our shop—this time we’re going to enjoy a beer or non-alcoholic lemonade slushie at Athentic. We ride on the last Friday of each month, starting at 6:00 pm at our shop at 1075 West Broad Street.
We recommend that you bring water, a helmet, and bike lights. Having a spare inner tube that fits your bike is also helpful. Please visit the shop before the event if you need any of these items.
10/2
Historic Athens Porchfest 2022
1:00 – 8:00 pm Sunday, October 2nd
@ multiple locations across Athens
FREE LIVE MUSIC!
BikeAthens mechanics @ The Old Fire Hall No. 2 (489 Prince Avenue)
Grab your bike and let’s enjoy some of the 150+ concerts held at over 150 porches across the Boulevard, Buena Vista, Cobbham, Normaltown, Newtorn and Pulaski Heights neighborhoods.
BikeAthens staff will be available from 1p to 5p for assistance with bike issues. We’ll be posted up at the historic Old Fire Hall No. 2 and on call if you need help with your bike – just text or call (706) 249-9550, and someone will be in touch shortly.
Below is a map of all concert locations. The number indicates the hour the concert starts, and you can see band details by clicking or tapping on the icon. Plan your route or pedal around and see what grabs your attention!
Prince Avenue Pilot Project
Prince Avenue is scheduled for a pilot project in September so Athens-Clarke county officials can test changes aimed at slowing down traffic on the fast-moving corridor, making it safer for cyclists and pedestrians as well as drivers.
Any opportunity for better bike infrastructure is a huge win for Athens, but this project in particular is worth celebrating! The Prince Avenue corridor is an important roadway to many popular services and businesses, and it is surrounded by neighborhoods that support biking — a 2012 ACC study found that 10.5% of workers in the Boulevard area use bicycles as their main mode of transportation. That’s a huge number, especially compared to the nation as a whole: 0.38%.
Unfortunately, Prince Avenue had grown more and more congested over the past decade, and it has become less safe for cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike. This road diet will slow down traffic without increasing commuting time, all while protecting and encouraging cyclists. It’s a win-win for everyone.
To learn more about the project, check out the ACC’s Prince Avenue Project Story Map. There you’ll learn details of the planned changes and the history of the project. Once the study period begins, and the protected bike lanes are ready to ride, there will be a form for you to send your thoughts on the project to the ACC commissioners and transportation teams.
“Hopefully, this will get us to a point where more people will readily and happily hop on their bikes and not get into a car and spew more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere […] On another note, this will improve safety and very likely save lives.”
– Commissioner Melissa Link in “Commission Approves Road Diet Pilot Project for Prince Avenue,” published in Flagpole
“Without protection, we won’t see children, we won’t see commuters using bicycle lanes. The bike is the answer and we need to be putting down these [protections] on every single bike lane that we possibly can, because a stripe of paint on a road is not a bike lane.”
– Commissioner Russell Edwards in “Commissioners pass marijuana ordinance, abortion rights resolution,” published on WUGA
