Beginning this Sunday, Phoenix will provide free loaner bicycles to South Mountain Park visitors during the city's monthly "Silent Sunday" event.
The event, which occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month through March, calls for closing off the park's main Central Avenue access roadways to motor vehicles from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The city's Parks and Recreation Department will have cycles available for loan, including traditional two-wheel mountain bikes, hand cycles and recumbent cycles for those with mobility limitations, and tandem bikes for people with visual limitations.
The bikes will be available at the South Mountain Environmental Education Center located just inside the entrance to the park.
Volunteers and staff will provide maps of the roads and trails and assist those in need of help.
Those able to pay are asked to provide a voluntary $5 per hour donation for each bike borrowed from River of Dreams, a non-profit foundation that supports the Daring Adventures and River Rampage programs.
