Huge Thanks to our newest sponsor CustomFit360!  

www.customfit360de.com/ 

CF360 is a "haven for fitness enthusiasts” with two locations in both Lewes and Millville. They provide state of the art open gym equipment, small group training classes and personal trainers, as well as comprehensive Nutrition and LifeStyle Coaching AND the nicest, knowledgeable and fun team of trainers to work with! 

Please stop in to either location to check them out AND while you are there, please THANK them for donating to our club which help us achieve our 2026 goals! 

Thanks you CF360!  

Sussex Cyclists will host a Ride of Silence on Wednesday May 20, 2026 at 7 PM. The ride will start at Cape Henlopen High School . The ride will be a slow pace 10 mile ride through Lewes with police assistance. This ride is to honor those who have been killed or seriously injured in bicycle accidents. It is open to all and helmets are a must with lights strongly recommended. Please register for the ride so we have an idea of how many we will have. To go with the name of the ride, this ride is in total silence.

Hope to see you on May 20.

Thank you,
Denny Shook

Info & Registration

From the Cape Gazette May 1, 2026:

The Delaware Department of Transportation has completed a website that allows bicyclists, particularly J-1 students, in beach communities to find their location on trails and identify bathrooms, bicycle shops and other services.

A promotional campaign to officially launch Bike at the Beach is being planned to coincide with Bicycle Month, which is May. It was outlined at an April 1 Delaware Bicycle Council meeting by John Fiori, a DelDOT bicycle coordinator who assists the council.

Read more... 

Volunteers Needed
2026 Bicycle Safety Checkpoints

Every year, Sussex Cyclists teams up with DelDOT and State Police to host bicycle safety checkpoints offering repairs, lights, helmets, and safety info to the public.

No special skills needed—just a willingness to help! Tasks may include handing out materials, making minor bike adjustments, and installing lights or reflective tape.

These events are also a great way for members to connect, socialize, and bring guests along to get involved. It's a fun, rewarding experience for all!

Please register only for dates you plan to attend. All dates are on our calendar. Registration opens at least one month in advance as the season progresses. You can register on the Sussex Cyclists calendar, or click here to see dates currently open for registration, with links to each.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you!

Jim Prettyman, Sussex Cyclists Safety Director
302-752-6430
prettymanj@gmail.com

Chilly but great!

Posted by Denny Shook on our Sussex Cyclists Facebook Group:

By Nick Roth, Cape Gazette

April 17, 2026

After years of construction, both Route 1 bridges over Route 16 near Milton are open to traffic. 

The northbound span opened April 15, almost exactly a year after the southbound bridge opened April 21, 2025.

Work began on the project in 2022, with planning occurring over many years before that. The completion of the bridges means there are no longer any traffic signals between I-95 in New Castle County and Five Points outside Lewes. 

Altogether, 36 signalized intersections between I-95 and Five Points near Lewes have been removed since work began on the first section of the Route 13 Relief Route from Tybouts Corner to Churchmans Road in Christiana in July 1987.

The more than $40 million project is expected to be fully completed this summer.

Minos Conaway Road update

The work north of Five Points to build new roads, including a vehicular path under the Nassau Bridge, is making significant progress. According to DelDOT Director of Community Relations Charles “CR” McLeod, the intersection of Route 1 and Minos Conaway Road will close in May to allow for construction of a new roundabout just west of Route 1. 

Once Minos Conaway closes, it will remain closed through the end of the year. However, once the roundabout is completed this summer, southbound Route 1 traffic will be able to access Minos Conaway Road via the new connector road that will run parallel to Route 1 south to Janice Road at the foot of the Nassau Bridge. 

Traffic from Minos Conaway will not have access to Route 1, whether to go south or to cross over and travel north. The detour will take drivers west to Route 9.

“In anticipation of ‘Why are they doing this during the summer?’ - We don’t see a spike in traffic on this road in summer months,” said McLeod. “This being a local road, there isn’t a significant fluctuation in traffic volume numbers to warrant delaying the work until later in the year.”

In addition to the Minos Conaway Road roundabout, another roundabout is being constructed just west of the Nassau Bridge near the Lewes Senior Activity Center. 

Construction will continue on the road under the Nassau Bridge and all the work on the east side of Route 1, with opening planned for a later time. That work includes another roundabout at the intersection of Nassau Road, New Road and the new under-the-bridge connector road, as well as an access road running parallel to northbound Route 1 in front of businesses such as Meineke and Surfing Crab, among others.

Cave Neck Road roundabout

DelDOT crews have been out this week clearing the land surrounding the Cave Neck Road intersections with Hudson Road and Sweetbriar Road south of Milton. It is the first step of a project to build a five-legged roundabout. Once the clearing is complete, utility location will begin this summer. Construction of the actual roundabout is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed by the end of that year. 

Sussex County fronted $5 million to DelDOT to speed up improvements at the intersections. In 2021, current DelDOT Secretary Shanté Hastings, who was chief engineer at the time, said because of the funding, construction of this project will now occur when it was originally scheduled to begin its design phase under the previous capital transportation program.

Just a few miles east, design is underway for a grade-separated intersection at Cave Neck Road and Route 1. If the project progresses along its estimated timeline, construction is expected to begin in summer 2027 and finish in fall 2029. 

Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail update

Completion of the final phase of the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail is expected to occur near the end of 2026. When it’s finished, the 17-mile pedestrian/bike trail will offer a continuous connection between Lewes and Georgetown. The path was built on the former Delaware Coast Line Railroad bed between Lewes and Harbeson, and adjacent to the railroad tracks between Harbeson and Georgetown. 

The first phase of the trail was completed in October 2016. As of today, the trail runs uninterrupted from the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal in Lewes to Stephen P. Hudson Park in Cool Spring. A portion of the trail is also completed on the Georgetown end. The final section runs from Fisher Road in Cool Spring to Airport Road in Georgetown. However, McLeod said a section of soon-to-be-completed trail from Fisher Road to Harbeson Road is expected to open this summer.

For updates on these and other DelDOT projects, go to deldot.gov/projects.

A message from DELDOT

TRAFFIC ALERT - Sussex County - Closure of the Lewes to Georgetown Trail for Herbicide Application

Thursday, April 16th

Lewes --

Closure of the Lewes to Georgetown Trail for Herbicide Application

Lewes - The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces to the public that the trail will be closed from Herbicide Application. The closure is due to a required herbicide application for vegetation control. Starting at 12:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 16th, 2026 until 8:00 a.m. Thursday, April 16th, 2026, pending weather.

The Delaware Department of Transportation and its hired contractor only apply herbicides that are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for vegetation control purposes. The EPA has determined through its testing and review process that when these herbicides are applied according to the label instructions, their application "poses no unreasonable risks to human health, wildlife, or the environment.

We had 17 members join together to clean a 2 mile stretch of Cedar Creek Road in Milton as part of the Delaware Adopt a Highway program. 18 bags of trash were collected to help keep the roads we ride clean. Special thanks to Mike Savage for organizing this great effort and to our volunteers: Robert Burns, Fran Dance, Ray Grabiak, Mike Guida, Doug Hawkland, Louis Hepp, Gilbert Hofheimer, Heidi Lerch, Lee Lerch, George Modlin, Greg Parkinson, Mike Savage, Denny Shook, Fran Shook, Claude Sicard, Mark Snader and David Wellborn.

ICYMI!  

Just in case you didn't read the entire newsletter, we wanted to make sure that you were all aware that we will soon be offering new t-shirts logo-wear with our NEW LOGO! 

Right now we are planning for men's and women's short and long sleeve t-shirts, polo shirts and more! 

Stay tuned for more information on the design and especially when the store will open.