FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Charlene Lee wants to make it easier and safer for people to get around without their cars. Her reasons are practical and personal.

“My mother has macular degeneration,” the Fairhope resident said. Lee explained that her mother moved to town after a house fire.

“She can’t drive, but she can walk around Fairhope,” Lee said, noting that where her mother lived before, it would not be possible for her to get to a food store or other places without a car.

“People are left to be hermits,” Lee said. She added that with more baby boomers becoming senior citizens, there will be a need for “aging in place,” enabling people to remain in their homes and neighborhoods.

The experience with her mother, as well as seeing a friend struggling with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) tip over her wheelchair while attempted to maneuver down a cracked sidewalk, led Lee and Wendy Allen in 2000 to found Smart Coast. The nonprofit organization focuses on how the economy, people and the environment can thrive together.

One area the group focuses on is alternative methods of transportation, such as walking or bike riding. With gasoline prices rising, Lee points out that more and more people will be looking for ways to leave their cars at home, and will be looking for safe ways to commute to work and go shopping.

The idea is to provide people with streets that have “all users in mind — including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and pedestrians of all ages and abilities,” according to Smart Ride literature.

To raise money for the group’s projects, Smart Coast is sponsoring a “Smart Ride to LuLu’s” May 1. The ride of about 37 miles will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Page and Palette on South Section Street in Fairhope and continue through the back roads of Baldwin County to Gulf Shores. According to a ride brochure, “The ride is mostly rural and flat through Fairhope, Magnolia Springs, Foley and Gulf Shores.” A “Half Ride” will depart from Jesse’s Restaurant in Magnolia Springs at 9:30 a.m. Both rides end with a with a party at LuLu’s at Homeport Marina.

Ride registration is $30. If the money is received by April 25, a T-shirt will be guaranteed to the rider.

Also, there will be a raffle for a Trek 7100 bicycle from Fairhope Bicycle Co. to be drawn at the post-ride party. Raffle tickets may be purchased at Fairhope Bicycle Co., Page and Palette and LuLu’s before the ride. The cost is $2 each or three chances for $5. Winners need not be present.

Organizers stress that this is not a race, but is a one-way ride, and riders will need to provide their own transportation home. Lee says that local Parrotheads (Jimmy Buffett fans) will provide security at intersections and there will be a police escort for the ride on Highway 59. Sweepers will make sure that everyone is accounted for on the course, and those who find themselves in trouble will have a cell number to call for help.

Those who do not wish to ride may also register, get a T-shirt and join the party at Lulu’s.

Karin Wilson of Page and Palette is also working on the ride, partly to honor the memory of Ann and Larry McDuff, who died in separate bicycling accidents about two years apart.

“He was a conservationist before it was cool,” said Wilson.

Wilson participated in the first Smart Ride event.

“Michelle Smith, a trainer, has a team now called Teamworks,” said Wilson. “We were training to do our first triathlon and she said we would be riding to Lulu’s.”

Wilson smiled when she said the response from the team was, “Oh my God, no way.”

Wilson said she and other team members alerted friends and family members to meet them at the restaurant. Lucy Buffett, the restaurant owner, was a member of the swimming portion of the team and rode ahead of the pack in a truck, casting a martini glass attached to a fishing pole to the bike riders to encourage them. While it’s not certain if Buffett will do that again, Wilson is hoping she will.

Cycling has caught on in the Wilson household, with daughter, Tyler, 14, and son, Tanner, 12, involved with bike-riding teams.

Lee shared an email she received recently from one of the Smart Ride supporters:

“We were in Belgium last week for a cycling race (Tour of Flanders), and you absolutely cannot believe the number of people riding bikes. We have been in Europe numerous times but Belgium beats every one of them as far as the sheer numbers of people on bikes. There are bike paths everywhere — even along major highways — and drivers are very respectful of them. There are signs everywhere telling motorists to be aware of cyclists. Don’t know how long it took for everyone to accept the presence of cyclists on a wide scale, but we can only hope we live long enough to see something similar at home,” emailed Carmelita Hartley.

That’s great as far as Lee is concerned.

“We want to encourage everybody to look at the bike as a wonderful way to get around,” she said.