Thu 19 Mar 2009
Join a social ride with the Bike Friday Club of Denver on Sunday at 1:00!
Ride begins and ends at Campus Cycles, corner of Washington & Evans.
Bike Friday’s Customer Evangelist the Galfromdownunder is in Colorado this week for some ‘fun Friday’ events with our dealers High Gear Cyclery (Longmont) and Campus Cycles (Denver).
Visit the link below for more details:
http://www.bikefriday.com/images/email/2009-03-colorado/
Wed 18 Mar 2009
You’ve probably heard about the bill that puts 3 feet between you and a passing automobile. We call it the Colorado Bicycle Safety Bill. In the state house, it’s called Senate Bill 148. But, it’s not going to pass without your help.
The bill narrowly passed the House Transportation Committee late Tuesday night after drawn-out testimony from opponents.
Call or email the State Representative from your district and ask them to support Senate Bill 148 for bicycle safety. Briefly tell them why bicycle safety is important to you and ask them to include 3 feet to pass and safe lane positioning.
State Representatives serving Denver:
District 1 - Jeanne Labuda
District 2 - Mark Ferrandino
District 3 - Anne McGihon
District 4 - K. Jerry Frangas
District 5 - Joel Judd
District 6 - Lois Court
District 7 - Terrance Carroll (Speaker of the House)
District 8 - Beth McCann
District 9 - Joe Miklosi
To find your representative and their contact information, please visit: The Colorado General Assembly
For more information on this and other bills pending in the State of Colorado related to bicycling please visit: Bicycle Colorado
Tue 17 Mar 2009
We got a grant! BikeDenver has been awarded a REI/Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) Grant.
Read more about it here: Bikes Belong Awards Five REI/BFC Grants
Tue 17 Mar 2009
I was lucky enough to hear secretary of transportation Ray LaHood give a keynote speech at the annual BikeSummit last week, and was pleasantly surprised. Sec. LaHood told us all that he would be our ally, and that he considers cyclists to be important users of our transportation systems. If you are interested in hearing it from the secretary himself, he blogs, and you can find the summary here.
It’s really quite unfamiliar for all of us advocates to have an executive branch that takes cycling seriously, and is prepared to work to make conditions for cyclists safer, better, and more comprehensive.
Mon 16 Mar 2009
Congratulations are in order! Bicycle Colorado has been awarded with a 2009 Advocacy Award from the Thunderhead Alliance.
From their press release…
Washington, DC - The Alliance for Biking & Walking, formerly the Thunderhead Alliance, will honor six organizations and individuals with its 2009 Advocacy Awards at a special reception and awards presentation Tuesday, March 10th in Washington, DC. The following award recipients not only show dedication and success in advancing biking and walking, but also demonstrate exceptional work ethic to their peers and communities.
Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) is being honored with the 2009 Advocacy Organization of the Year Award for its progress advancing cycling in the DC area. Some of WABA’s most successful efforts included the debut of DC Smart Bikes (first bike sharing system of its kind in the U.S.), 7,000 participants in its Bike To Work Day, organizing thousands more with “America Bikes to the Inauguration,” and reaching 10,650 students through their Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education program.
Lloyd J. “Bud” Vye, Vice President of the Virginia Bicycling Federation and Advocacy Chair for the Richmond Area Bicycling Association, is being honored with the 2009 Advocate of the Year Award. Lloyd is a true role model to other advocates demonstrating a tireless commitment to biking and walking advocacy. Bud recently led successful efforts to ban text messaging while driving in Virginia and to install bike racks on all local buses. Bud has also advocated for pro-bike legislation including overturning laws requiring bicyclists to ride on a sidepath, where there was one, and requiring lights while riding after dark.
Planet Bike is being honored with the 2009 Business Advocate of the Year Award for its commitment to biking advocacy. Planet Bike has proven its dedication by committing time, money, and energy to biking and walking issues. Planet Bike gives 25% of its profits to bicycle advocacy and so far has given $660,000 to various biking organizations.
Transportation Alternatives is being honored with the 2009 Innovation Award for their Youth For Car Free Parks project in Brooklyn, New York. This campaign not only promoted bicycling and walking in Prospect Park, but also found a creative and innovative way to directly involve community youth by choosing four Brooklyn high school students to lead the effort through a competitive internship.
Bicycle Colorado is being honored with the 2009 Best Practice Award for its outstanding results in day-to-day operations and program growth. After surpassing their goal to double their staff and budget, they secured funding to promote biking on Colorado’s 25 scenic byways, created a Bicycle Education Fund, and now have the largest membership base of a state-wide bicycle advocacy organization in the U.S.
Livable City is being honored with the 2009 Winning Campaign Award for its work on the campaign to bring Sunday Streets to San Francisco. Livable City worked to help convince Mayor Newson to champion the two pilot events which each drew roughly 10,000 residents to the 8-mile car-free route.
Randy Neufeld, Chief Strategy Officer of the Active Transportation Alliance, President of America Bikes, and the founding chair of the Alliance for Biking and Walking, is being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. His leadership has taken the Active Transportation Alliance from its roots as a small group of volunteers to its present state of organizational strength: a staff of 26, a budget of more than $1.5 million, 6,000 plus members, and a reputation as a leading bicycle advocacy organization. As a national leader, Randy plays a critical role in shaping national advocacy strategy, messaging, and tactics. Randy’s contributions to Chicagoland and the national movement for biking and walking are an inspiration for any advocate who knows him.
“These organizations and advocates are role models for the movement and we are proud to honor them with these awards,” says Jeffrey Miller, President of the Alliance. “Their tireless commitment and dedication to biking and walking are truly an inspiration for us all.”
The awards will be presented at the Elephant & Castle on 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC on Tuesday, March 10th at 9pm. The reception is open to current and prospective members and supporters of the Alliance.
The Alliance for Biking and Walking is the coalition of grassroots advocacy organizations working together to promote bicycling and walking in North American communities. To learn more about the Alliance’s Advocacy Awards and 2009 award winners visit http://www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org.
Fri 13 Mar 2009
The 2009 Bicycle Safety Bill (Senate Bill 148) will come up for a vote in the House early next week. If you haven’t yet been in touch with your state representative, please take a minute today to indicate your support for this important legislation.
The bill specifies drivers must allow 3 feet of clearing when passing and creates a limited exception to the prohibition on driving left of center to allow drivers to give bicyclists extra room. It also prohibits harassment of bicyclists with penalties for driving a vehicle in a threatening manner or throwing an object from a moving vehicle.
Call or email the State Representative from your district and ask them to support Senate Bill 148 for bicycle safety. Briefly tell them why bicycle safety is important to you and ask them to include 3 feet to pass and safe lane positioning.
State Representatives serving Denver:
District 1 - Jeanne Labuda
District 2 - Mark Ferrandino
District 3 - Anne McGihon
District 4 - K. Jerry Frangas
District 5 - Joel Judd
District 6 - Lois Court
District 7 - Terrance Carroll (Speaker of the House)
District 8 - Beth McCann
District 9 - Joe Miklosi
To find your representative and their contact information, please visit: The Colorado General Assembly
For more information on this and other bills pending in the State of Colorado related to bicycling please visit: Bicycle Colorado
Fri 13 Mar 2009
Join us for a ride to celebrate the beginning of spring. We’ll be starting in City Park and cruising down to the Wash Park area. Afterwards, we’ll hang out at Handlebar & Grill for a little something called “Awesome Sprints!”
Here’s a map of the Vernal Equinox Ride
Download the flyer for the Vernal Equinox Ride
Helmets and lights are required.
No one gets dropped.
Helmets are required.
Clothing is required. This is a casual ride and there is no penalty for wearing sneakers or riding with flat pedals. Wear lycra at your own risk.
We’ll follow the law. If you think you don’t know about the legal responsibilities of bicyclists you can review Colorado Cycling Laws. In particular we’ll stop for stop signs and red lights; ride no more than two abreast; and, signal for turns and slowing down. If the group is divided by a traffic signal, front riders will wait for the rear group to join them after the next green light. We’ll ride with the traffic flow, which sometimes means in the traffic flow.
Ride any bike you want as long as it’s safe. As in: make sure your brakes work. If we might be out after dark have lights. No bike snobbery will be allowed. We want all bicyclists to feel welcome.
Notes For All BikeDenver Rides
Riders will be asked to sign a waiver and wear a helmet to participate.
Check out our comprehensive Ride Guide for some more rules of the road and trail…
Contact Gary Rossmiller at bikerossmiller@earthlink.net with questions.
Thu 12 Mar 2009
Portland, Portland, Portland. I apologize for using the bad P-word. But one has to admit that that city is light years ahead of most other major U.S. metro areas when it comes to all things bicycle. Organizations like Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Bike Portland have become legendary for their innovative programs to encourage active transportation. The city itself has become the quintessential leader among U.S. cities by creating a very impressive network of bicycle infrastructure and launching a plethora of encouragement programs.
But a program in Portland now seeks to address the necessity to share the roads with cyclists. By providing an educational option for traffic violators (cars, bikes, jaywalkers, rickshaws, etc.) to have their charges dismissed, a course provides crucial information to improve multi-modal harmony. Created in 2006 the Share the Road Safety Class is a collaboration between Multnomah County Courts, Portland Department of Transportation, Portland Police Bureau and Legacy Emanuel Trauma Nurses Talk Tough.
According to Stephanie Noll of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, in a March/April Momentum article, by last year’s end the program had graduated more than 4500 students.
The course covers commonly misinterpreted traffic laws and focuses on the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and children. Students pay $30 and commit two hours of their lives to learning responsible driving, bicycling and pedestrian practices. It is a win-win.
In the fall of 2008, Columbia, MO began a program called Operation Share the Road. League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors provided seminars to the Columbia Police Department in an effort to bring attention to misunderstood laws, cyclist harassment and unpunished offenses habitually committed by bicyclists.
Operation Share the Road didn’t stop with the education of CPD, however. PedNet Education Coordinator Robert Johnson, in cooperation with CPD and city officials, began drafting a bicycle harassment law that would allow for charges specific to aggressive behavior toward cyclists. According to Johnson in cases of cyclist harassment, “The only charges that could arise would be 3rd degree assault [which often] fits the description but the police and prosecutor would be VERY hesitant to place those charges on someone.”
CPD also committed to dolling out more traffic violations to law-breaking cyclists in order to place more emphasis on bicycle safety and to improve bike-car relations. “Both inexperienced and experienced cyclists running red lights or riding on downtown district sidewalks can make for a frustrating situation for motorists and law abiding cyclists alike,” Johnson said in a PedNet news release. “My hope is that this campaign will help educate cyclists and motorists that sharing the road is everyone’s responsibility.”
A Marin County, CA program focused instead on passing out literature at Share the Road Checkpoints during a May 2008 campaign. An effort spearheaded by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition provided educational materials to approximately 2200 motorists and 600 cyclists.
Denver has not yet adopted an exhaustive program to educate the public about safely sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians. With the introduction of Bicycle Colorado’s Share the Road license plate, BikeDenver’s expanding SmartCycling program and the Denver Bike Initiative, a widespread Share the Road campaign could be on the horizon.
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