Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Cold vs. Green
We don’t have to tell you this, but in case you’ve been stuck inside: IT’S BEEN REALLY COLD OUT THERE for the past few days.
Uncharacteristically cold even.
Are you as burly as Rich Rotunno? Photo by Jeremy Papasso.
So I’m curious (no, not nosy, curious) about whether the harsh bite of the frigid air has superseded your dedication to being green.
Are you still biking to work?
Did you take a longer than normal shower this morning after your run?
Other thoughts?
Hit us back!
Want more info on winter weather? Stay up to date at the Daily Camera.
Bike to work day 2010 in Boulder is June 23
Bikes on a Boulder bike rack| flickr user niehoff
It’s not too late to get into Boulder Walk and Bike to work Month: Bike to Work Day is June 23.
For those who have already pulled their bikes out of winter storage, or never put them away (or maybe you’re even a practitioner of Winter Bike to Work Day), June 23 is just another Wednesday. For everyone else it marks the day the excuses run out. Leave the car in the garage, pump up your tires and get out onto the many bike paths Boulder has to offer.
Bike to Work Day veterans, remember how great last year was?
Just past 6 a.m. on Wednesday, more than 40 Boulder businesses broke out bagels, fruit, organic breakfast bars and hot meals to serve the thousands of people who were participating in this year’s Bike to Work Day.
The annual event was expected to draw more than 35,000 across the state, with more than 6,300 registered to participate in Boulder.
Not a Bike to Work Day veteran? No worries. Whether or not you’re an experienced cyclist on Boulder’s bike paths and main roads, here’s everything needed to help make Boulder’s 34th annual Bike to Work Day the biggest one yet–and how to get as many perks as possible for your hard-earned sweat.
Get started
If you’ve never biked to work mapping the best route can seem a daunting task. Even for experienced riders there is always a need to find the best way to get where you are going. To help with the task GO Boulder has a MapQuest-style Boulder bike route mapping website specifically designed to get you where you need to go, by bike — and Google Maps now has bike path information and streetview for some bike paths in Boulder.
With your route in hand, hit Boulder’s Bike to Work Day 2010 registration.
Why bother registering for Bike to Work Day? Well, GO Boulder is counting on you. Last year 7,132 people registered for Bike to Work Day, according to the Go Boulder Boulder Bike to Work Day 2009 Wrap Up. If you are not registered, you are not being counted–although you are still reducing the number of cars on the road.
No excuses
The bad weather seems to have finally passed–hopefully there won’t be any June snowstorms. A more likely weather deterrent in June is 90 degree heat. Allay your qualms about arriving with a smell by checking out Jenn Fields’ tips on how to bike to work and not stink, including:
Don’t just keep deodorant in your desk drawer — add a washcloth for warmer rides that require the bathroom-sink mini sponge bath. Also, witch hazel sprizted on the washcloth is a helpful de-funkifier. Ladies, do your make up once you get to work. This could apply to men, too. We don’t judge.
To help you make sure your bike is in working order there will be bike repair stations set up around Boulder. A few are listed below.
Boulder Cycle Sport, 4580 Broadway
Great Harvest Bread Company, 2525 Arapahoe, service provided by Performance Bikes
Whole Foods Market, 2905 Pearl, service provided by Bicycle Village
Don’t forget breakfast
June 23 many restaurants and businesses will be offering breakfast stations for participants. Whichever area of town you are coming from, or headed toward, there is an official breakfast station near you. Below are a few places around town that will be participating. For a complete list of participating businesses check the Community Cycles Website.
Half Fast Subs, 1215 13th Street
Moe’s Bagel on Arapahoe, 3075 Arapahoe
Moe’s Broadway Bagel, 2650 Broadway
Ozo Coffee, 5340 Arapahoe
Celestial Seasonings, 4600 Sleepytime Drive
Boulder Chamber of Commerce, 2440 Pearl
Get involved
Events on Bike to Work Day don’t end when you arrive at work. The CU Environmental Center, along with Community Cycles, is hosting the 4th annual Bike Shorts Film Festival at Old Main on CU’s Boulder campus.
Community Cycles and GO Boulder work year round to help more people find ways to make bicycling more convenient and possible for more people in Boulder and Colorado. To help keep Boulder moving check out volunteer opportunities and how to donate an old bike.
Show your Bike to Work Day pride with the official Walk and Bike to Work Month T-shirt.
Now that you’re in the know, see you on the streets!
-Mikaila Altenbern
Happy Winter Bike to Work Day 2010!
It’s Winter Bike to Work Day! Remember to send in your photos and videos and whatever else if you go (I’m dave at biggreenboulder).
Boulder in the winter | flickr user zachd1_618
We’re better off than some for this type of holiday, according to the forecast for a few Winter Bike to Work Day spots:
Chicago: Low 31, high 32. Cloudy.
Wichita: Low 34, high 52. Cloudy.
Boulder: Low 28, high 43. Partly cloudy.
Some of you have been biking all winter — kudos! For me, this is a good reminder that it’s actually not that cold right now. I stopped biking to work when my bike was buried under a foot and a half of snow months ago, and have been taking the bus since. But hey — 43 in the sun isn’t so bad, especially since we’re lucky enough that a lot of the nasty stuff melts off for us between big storms.
Here’s where you can stop for food, if you like:
Applebee’s – 1906 28th St.–eggs, pancakes, bacon & juice
City Municipal Building – 1777 Broadway, sponsored by The Cup, Sprouts and evol burritos
Moe’s Broadway Bagel – 3705 Arapahoe Ave.–bagels
Moe’s Broadway Bagel – 2650 Broadway–bagels
Pedal to Properties – 1949 Pearl St.–Hot coco stop
University of Colorado – 18th Street and Colorado Avenue–bagels, fruit, coffee & water
Need last-second winter biking tips?
How about a Winter Bike to Work Day T-shirt that says you were there?
See you out there!
Winter Bike to Work Day is next Wednesday
The date for Winter Bike to Work Day 2010 is Jan. 20.
Somehow it crept up on me, but I have to get a quick post out — Winter Bike to Work Day is coming right up, and there are Community Cycles winter biking workshops today to help you get prepared.
We’ve also got a small repository of winter biking tips here on the site.
Are you participating? Let us know. We’d love to run your photos.
Winter biking is something that Boulder can really take pride in. Check this out, from the city’s Winter Bike to Work Day site:
One thing you can be sure of, your commute will be safe and convenient because even if it has snowed the City of Boulder keeps its 60 miles of paved multi-use pathways and 76 underpasses plowed so that cyclists can easily use them even during severe snowstorms. The city begins plowing as soon as an inch of snow accumulates and at exactly the same time that crews are plowing the streets! In fact many cyclists report that biking is faster than driving, especially in slow winter traffic!
Bicycle Film Fest organizer on bicycle stereotypes
We’re thinking about bikes this week because it’s sunny again, so here are some quick and sometimes slightly inflammatory* thoughts on bike stereotypes from Bicycle Film Fest organizer Jen Nordhem (cool trailer, Jen!):
Stereotype: Critical Mass is for anarchists
JN: Critical Mass has anarchist roots, as far as it being a take-back-the-streets kind of mentality, but I don’t think it’s necessarily just for anarchists. Politically, I think it’s a great idea, as long as people don’t take it too far and it stays as like, “We’re here. We ride the same streets as you. We are traffic as well.” But it doesn’t go into like, “Now I’m going to U-lock your window.” That’s a bit extreme. I remember when I lived in Chicago, one of my friends told me this story about this father with a little tagalong bike with his daughter on it who rode [Critical Mass] every month, and that was his way of introducing bicycles to his daughter. It’s really just a celebration of bicycles.
via Stereotyping cyclists: A Bicycle Film Fest organizer responds | Features | | A.V. Denver/Boulder.
*Bikes blowing through stop signs is quite inflammatory, and it’s mentioned elsewhere in the A.V. Club post. If you don’t believe me, check out comments on the Camera!
So many bikes, so few parking spaces. Biking numbers blow up in Boulder.
Jason and Shelby Magen lock their bicycles up outside the Boulder Bookstore | Mark Leffingwell
Bike use is up in Boulder — again.
The number of bikes being ridden downtown has grown 14 percent in the last year and 47 percent since 2007. This has environmentalists, lovers of public transportation and city officials all excited. But there’s just one problem: Where to park all those bikes?
Along with the increase in riders, comes a shortage of legal parking, and the number of bikes locked to things other than designated racks has risen 76 percent since 2007.
“In many areas, the demand for bicycle parking exceeds the supply,” according to a city memo on the findings of the annual bicycle count.
The count found that of the 4,088 bicycles that were tallied during a four-day period in August, the number of bikes left unattended downtown ranged from a low of 825 on a Thursday morning to a high of 1,315 on a Friday evening.
About three-quarters were parked on permanent bicycle racks, while the rest were tied to parking meters, trees, railings or fences. About 6 percent of the bikes were left standing without locks.
Read the full story at DailyCamera.com, or learn about local bike paths at BigGreenBoulder.com.
