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November 30, 2012
December Momentum Newsletter
Greetings!

Well, the holiday season is upon us.  I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving and are gearing up, no pun intended, for upcoming holidays.  One benefit to our atypical weather is that it has been great for riding!  We have a few great events coming up to celebrate winter cycling so check out what's listed below and keep on riding!
Local Bike Events  

Winter Cycling Skills 101

Sunday, December 2, 2-5pm @ 215 N Mason St, Community Room

Clinic includes information on traffic safety, how to ride on snow and ice, and proper clothing and equipment.  Please RSVP to Becky at 970.416.2471 or at [email protected].

 

Brown Bag Bike Lunch Talk

Wednesday, December 5, Noon-1pm @ Home State Bank, downstairs: 303 E Mountain Ave

Join us for a conversation on Striving for League of American Bicyclists Platinum Designation. Drinks and dessert to be provided by FC Bikes.  Please RSVP to Becky at 970.416.2471 or at [email protected]. 

 

Light up the Night

Friday, December 7, 6-8pm @ Art Gallery at 237 Linden St.

Bring your old knog lights for battery replacements and get new lights if you don't have them already!

 

Winter Bike to Work Day Breakfast Stations

Wednesday, December 12, 7-9:30am wbtwd logo

Bundle up and ride to work, because its the one day this winter you'll really reep some benefits!  The 6th Annual Winter Bike to Work boasts breakfast stations across the city to treat all our fabulous bike riders who ride to work.  And this year we are partnering with Bike Fort Collins to help pull off this grand event.  Check out the FC Bikes website for more information. 

 

Showcase of Music and Comedy to benefit Francisco Joaquin Martinez

Friday, December 14, 8pm @ 320 S. Link Lane

Join us in raising awareness about bike helmet safety and to benefit a local student.  Francisco Joaquin Martinez was in a bicycle accident and fractured his skull.  He is a Mechanical Engineering student at Colorado State University in his last semester before completion of his degree.  With his injury, he has had to postpone work on his senior design project.  THis event is going to help raise money for Francisco and raise awareness of how important it is to wear a helmet! For more information, please contact Rosa Martinez at [email protected].

 

Traffic Skills 101 Course

Saturday, January 12, 8am-4pm

 

This FREE course, based on the League of American Bicyclists curriculum, covers sharing the road, rules of the road, bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques, PLUS lunch and materials. It's recommended for students above the age of 14 years. For more information and to RSVP, contact Nancy Nichols at [email protected] or 970.224.6112.

 

  

  

Bike News You Might Have Missed

11.7.12: Salvation Army's Angles Among Us Program Needs Children's Bicycles.

 Since 2004, Recycled Cycles has assisted the Salvation Army's Angels Among Us Program by delivering up to 75 bikes per year to less fortunate children for Christmas.  Recycled Cycles hopes to deliver 100 bikes this year, but we are woefully short of kids bikes.  The community has been instrumental in donating bikes to the cause in previous years, and we ask the same this year.  Recycled Cycles is asking for immediate donations of children's bicycles.  Bikes can be dropped off at Recycled Cycles, 4031 South Mason Street, Fort Collins, CO 80525.  Donors are eligible for a discount card at Recycled Cycles, as our thanks for their continued support.  Upon receiving the bicycles, Recycled Cycles' trained mechanics tune-up and add parts and accessories to the bicycle, as needed, to make the bicycle safe and fun.  All labor and parts are donated by Recycled Cycles to this cause.  Recycled Cycles will deliver the bicycles to the Salvation Army in early December 2012.

 

11.12.12: City Installs More Shared Lane Markings, Improves Safety for Bicyclists

The City of Fort Collins recently installed "Shared Lane Markings" on streets that are not wide enough to install bike lanes yet experience high bicycle volume, just like the first Shared Lane Markings that were installed on Mountain Avenue through the downtown area in spring 2011.

Motorists and cyclists will notice new markings along the following routes:

  • East Elizabeth Street between Stover Street and Lemay Avenue
  • City Park Avenue between Mulberry Street and Springfield Drive
  • Springfield Drive between City Park Avenue and Lynwood Drive
  • Lynwood Drive between Springfield Drive and Prospect Avenue

"Shared lane markings indicate to motorists and cyclists that both types of vehicles are allowed to share the travel lane and that bicyclists are encouraged to travel in the lanes as a car would - right in the center," said Molly North, the City's Interim Bicycle Coordinator.

She also said Shared Lane Markings discourage cyclists from riding on sidewalks and the wrong way - against the flow of traffic.

This project is a cooperative effort between the City's Traffic Operations and Transportation Planning Departments to provide a safe bicycling infrastructure throughout Fort Collins. This project also achieves the recommendations from the 2011 Transportation Master Plan and 2008 Bicycle Plan.

For more information, contact Joe Olson, Traffic Engineer, at 970-224-6062 or [email protected], or Molly North at 970-224-6112 or [email protected].

Get Involved

Trail Vision Vision Project

 Overland Mountain Bike Club wants to bring our region's leaders together around what our regional trail system could become. We want to build trails that are fun for ALL user groups and we need your feedback. We want your ideas. Your voice matters!

Overland Mountain Bike Club has a passion for great trails. The junction of the mountains and plains provides a back drop for an incredible, interconnected regional trail system. Working together, the northern Front Range could provide:

  • Phenomenal recreation for all users
  • Easy access to healthy lifestyle options
  • Expanded business and tourism opportunities

Please take a few minutes to fill out our on-line survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OverlandTrailVision. Contact Overland Mountain Bike Club for more information on the Trail Vision Project or to get involved: www.overlandmtb.org or [email protected].

 

Bicycling Book from Former Ft. Collins Resident

The Carbon Cycle by Kate Rawles

 In 2006, 'outdoor philosopher' Kate Rawles cycled 4553 miles from Texas to Alaska, following the spine of the Rocky Mountains as closely as possible. Cycling across unforgiving but starkly beautiful landscapes - New Mexican deserts, over high mountain passes, across glaciers, and down to the sea - she encountered bears, wolves, moose, cliff-swallows, aspens, and a single, astonishing lynx. Along the way, she talked to Americans about climate change - from truck drivers to the Mayor of Albuquerque - to find out what they knew about it, whether they cared, and if they did, what they thought they could do. Kate's story of the trip, in which she not only deals with the rigours of the journey (cycling for ten hours a day in temperatures often in excess of 100F, fighting punctures, endless repairs, inescapable grinding fatigue ...) but does constant battle with her own ideas and assumptions, helps us to cross the great divide between where we are on climate change, and where we need to be. Can we tackle climate change while still keeping our modern Western lifestyles intact? Should we put biofuel in the camper vans and RVs? Or do we need much deeper shifts in lifestyles, values and worldviews?  For more information, visit: http://tworavenspress.com/TRP_The_Carbon_Cycle.html.

 

Track your rides on your phone & shape the future of bicycling in Fort Collins!

Colorado State University, the City of Fort Collins, and CanDo (Coalition for Activity & Nutrition to Defeat Obesity) are partnering to record the routes bicyclists in Fort Collins take for transportation and recreation.

Whether you're an avid cyclist or an occasional fair-weather rider, the routes you choose provide valuable information to help determine the type and location of bicycle infrastructure for future projects. Just follow these easy steps:Cycle Tracks Logo

  1. Download the free CycleTracks app for your smartphone
  2. Carry your phone on your ride
  3. Improve cycling in your community
  4. Start tracking today!

The CycleTracks app, developed by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, will anonymously log the general routes you ride. As a bonus, you'll be able to review your trips right on your phone. Data collected is anonymous and participation is voluntary. No personal information is shared with the study team, only your route data.

Learn more at www.pvhs.org/cando or email [email protected].

 
Street Closures

Ongoing: Shields Street Bridge Replacement

* NOTE TO BICYLISTS: You can and should take the lane when riding through this construction zone.

 shield street bridge

Over the next several months, the City of Fort Collins will be replacing a structurally deficient bridge on Shields Street just south of Rolland Moore Park. This bridge has the second lowest sufficiency rating of all the bridges inspected within the city.

Schedule: September 2012 to June 2013

Construction will occur in phases:

Phase 1: September 2012 to January 2013

  • Northbound lanes of Shields will be closed first, and traffic will be diverted to the west side of Shields; one lane of travel will be open in each direction.

Phase 2: February 2013 to June 2013

  • Southbound lanes of Shields will be closed and traffic will be diverted to the east side of Shields; one lane in of travel will be open in each direction.

Work zone notes:

  • Lane closures will be static throughout each project phase
  • Bicycles will be required to merge with automobiles in the work zone or follow signed detour routes to avoid traffic
  • Pedestrian access will be available, but it will be restricted to designated areas
  • Business access will remain open during construction.

For more information and to sign up for the e-newsletter updates, please visit: http://www.fcgov.com/engineering/shields-bridge.php.

One last note, as the days get shorter, don't forget to stay visible.  At least have a front and rear reflector attached to your bike: it's the law!  Wear bright clothing, have side reflectors, use a headlamp: whatever helps you to be seen out there on your bike.  Stay safe, stay warm and keep on riding!
Sincerely,

Becky Moriarty

FC Bikes Intern

O: 970.416.2471

[email protected]

I Bike FC 

 

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