Cross-country trek promotes safe routes for walking, bicycling to school

• Reprints

Stephanie Palmer, 26, of Naperville has joined a group of bike riders who are participating in Ride America for Safe Routes, an organization taking part in a 5,500-mile bike ride from Florida to San Francisco to raise money and awareness for safe walking and bicycling to and from schools. | Submitted

Updated: March 16, 2012 8:06AM

In 1969, about 50 percent of children walked or bicycled to school. According to Safe Routes to School National Partnership, today that number is less than 15 percent. Many believe this has led, in part, to less active children.

One Naperville resident wants change those statistics. Stephanie Palmer, 26, has joined a group of bike riders who are participating in Ride America for Safe Routes. The organization is taking part in a 5,500-mile bike ride from Florida to San Francisco to raise money and awareness for safe walking and bicycling to and from schools.

Palmer’s friend, Jeanie Ward-Waller, designed the route, which will travel through the southern United States. It will specifically hit the least-friendly bike cities, defined by the group as those cities that do not have much infrastructure for bike paths, or statistically have few bikers because of unsafe or no paths. They are also traveling through cities that have been doing an exceptional job and highlighting their progress.

“I think it’s important for a healthy lifestyle to be active, and make biking or walking part of your lifestyle,” Palmer said, “I also think ... having kids incorporate that as part of their day and not having as much traffic congestion around schools as a by-product is good for the environment.”

Palmer, a Neuqua Valley High School graduate, says she got into biking in college at the University of Wisconsin — Stevens Point. But she did not bike ride to the extent that she will be on this trip. The group, which also includes Ward-Waller’s sister and mother, began their trek last week. They will ride between 50 and 100 miles each day, five to six hours a day, and plan to finish in late April.

“Jeannie has inspired me to bike more,” Palmer said. “Her family has always done ... a lot of bike races, and they use it in their everyday lives. Her parents don’t have cars. They bike everywhere.”

Palmer met Ward-Waller in West Virginia where they both worked as instructors for the Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization that empowers communities in the world’s mountain systems. When they completed their seasonal work there at Thanksgiving, it seemed a good time to plan the three-month bike trip. During the following months, they designed their route and started their website and blog.

They also contacted people to secure places to stay along the route. And while they will rely on friends and family for housing, they also plan do a lot of camping. Local bike groups in the cities they are passing through also have offered assistance, and many people they never met, but who have read their blog, have offered assistance. They also encourage anyone who wants to ride with them, whether it is for a day or a week, to meet up with them.

“It’s pretty amazing how people want to help as much as they can,” Palmer said. “And they’ve been really generous so far, and we haven’t even met them.”

This aspect of the trip has made Stephanie’s mom, Marti Palmer, more than a little nervous,

“I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, but I’m so excited that they’re going to do this,” said Marti, who visited the group in Florida. “She’s always been everything green. She wants to walk everywhere, ride everywhere. She’s always promoted that. She loves the outdoors.”

In addition to bike riding, the group has planned advocacy stops along the way. They will speak at schools, hold workshops and events, all to get out the word about the importance of biking. They also will be fundraising and volunteering for the Bikes Belong Foundation, recruiting 5,000 signatures for their People for Bikes campaign. The funds raised will support the League of American Bicyclists and Safe Routes to School National Partnership, two nonprofit organizations that advocate for bike-friendly communities nationally.

“I’m hoping to reach as many people as we can, to raise as much awareness and money as we can,” Palmer said. “And get more people excited about biking and making it a part of their lifestyle.”