"Tour de Milton" - Fun, Informational & Exercise All at the Same Time

On September 2nd I enjoyed an opportunity to hold a bike tour of various projects that are happening around Milton. Some thought to call it "Tour de Milton". The eight or so folks that joined me biked to every corner of the City, viewing projects that included the STH 59 relocation project, dog park development, downtown redevelopment in the Merchant Row Area, and various street improvement projects. Most importantly, we got to enjoy a lovely late-summer afternoon in beautiful Milton.

My plan is to do this again every spring and fall, so if you were not able to join us this year you've got time to tune up your bike for next year. Also, after the ride, I received an e-mail from a citizen who asked if something like this could be done for people who are unable to ride bikes. Great idea! I'm already working on the possibility of a bus tour in conjunction with senior programming at The Gathering Place (senior center). Stay tuned for more information on that.

Some of the riders asked where I got the idea to do this ride... Well, a couple years ago I read an article about a City Manager in Florida who regularly rides his bike around various City projects to get a first-hand look at the "stuff" he's talking about. Here's a link to the article: http://icma.org/pm/8805/public/profile.cfm?author=&title=Profile. Since then, I make it a priority on my bike rides to visit City projects to get a feel for what's happening "at ground zero". One time, while on one of my rides, the idea occurred to me that others might enjoy getting the same perspective of City projects. And, as they say, the rest is history.

I'd like to thank all of those who joined me on the ride. Specifically, thanks go out to Chief Jerry Schuetz for providing our escort and even stopping traffic on STH 26 (with his own bare hands!) to provide us safe crossing. Thanks to Rick Miller of The Milton Courier for providing the photos.