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Premier Sponsor
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Thank you to Skirack for sponsoring our Secure Bike Parking again in 2013!
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ALERT: Temporary Weekday Causeway Closure |  |
The Island Line Causeway will be closed for repairs from Monday, September 9 through Friday, September 13, and from Monday, September 16 through Wednesday, September 18. Both the causeway and the bike ferry will be open over the weekend. Get out there and ride!
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BTV Lakeshore Path Rehab in High Gear
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The long-awaited rebuild of the Lakeshore Path is just around the corner!
Burlington Parks & Rec is working hard on engineering designs for the entire path, with plans to reconstruct the section from ECHO to North Beach in Spring, 2014. Learn more at the Burlington Bike Path website.
Want to help shape the design for the Lakeshore Path's next 25 years?
Come on a bike ride with project staff and engineers on October 5. More info and RSVP on Facebook.
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Want Sustainable Transportation?
Take Our Survey!
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Bike Recycle Designs @ BTV Farmers Mkt
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Belts from tires. Earrings from innertubes. Bracelets from spokes. Find unique wearable art and great gifts at our BTV Art Market booth -- next to the Farmer's Market.
Want to be a crafter? You can make cool items from bike parts! Join us at Make Stuff Nights -- Wednesdays @ 6-9pm at Bike Recycle!
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Bike to BTV Festivals & Farmers Markets!
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Trailside Center Open
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Partners
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Thank you for working with us to promote people-powered recreation and transportation!
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You're Invited! Local Motion Annual Party 9/22
As you've probably heard, Local Motion's founder and executive director
Chapin Spencer has moved on. He is now the Director of Public Works for the City of Burlington -- a fantastic next step for him and for the community.
It's hard to believe, but Chapin founded Local Motion fourteen years ago.Together with an amazing staff, dedicated board, and fabulous members, he has led a movement to make our part of the world safe and welcoming for people on foot and on bike.
So we're dedicating this year's Local Motion Annual Party to thanking Chapin for his leadership. Together, we'll launch Local Motion into its next fourteen years (and more!!) of advocating for people-powered transportation and recreation!
Please join us for Local Motion's Second Annual Party... Sunday, September 22 from 3 to 6ish @ Intervale Center in Burlington Featuring music from Brett Hughes and his band,
food from American Flatbread and others,
Zero Gravity beer, and much more!
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Route 2 in Islands: Better Shoulders, No Rumble
 We've heard from a number of folks expressing concern about the Route 2 repaving project from Colchester out into the Islands. People asked whether the shoulders would become narrower or get rumble strips as part of the project. We did some investigating, and are happy to report that the Route 2 project is being designed specifically to improve conditions for bicycling!
Here's what we learned from our contact at VTrans:
- The road will have 11 foot lanes and 4 foot shoulders throughout
- A portion will be paved this fall, with the remainder to be paved in the spring
- Temporary striping will go down this fall, with the same lane widths (4'-11'-11'-4') as the permanent striping
- Rumble strips will be installed ONLY in the centerline, NOT on the shoulders
- Even then, rumble strips will go in primarily where there is a history of crashes, and will specifically NOT be installed at intersections, in densely developed village/commercial areas, in areas where the speed limit is below 45 mph, or in places where there is a lot of turning traffic
Thank you, VTrans, for using bicycle-friendly design on the repaving of this key route! If you like to bike in the Islands, send a quick note of thanks to Erik Filkorn, VTrans' public outreach manager, at Erik.Filkorn@state.vt.us.
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Vermont Trails Texas (!!?!?!) in Bike Friendliness
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The 2010 walk-bike summit in action
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Survey: Your Input Needed
Oh, the shame of it all! According to the League of American Bicyclists, Vermont now ranks as the 23rd most bicycle friendly state in the nation -- lower than Texas (as well as most of New England).
While Vermont got kudos for having bike friendly policies and programs, the state scored poorly in infrastructure and funding, evaluation and planning, and legislation and enforcement. Improvements of the last few years just haven't been enough to keep us from losing ground.
Local Motion is partnering with VTrans, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, and others to organize a statewide walk-bike summit in spring 2014. Our shared goal is to galvanize the walk-bike community and plan together for how we can put Vermont back where we belong: on top!
Help us map out a high-powered, hard-hitting agenda for the 2014 statewide walk-bike summit! Click here to take a short survey on what conference topics you'd like to see.
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Bikes + Cider Donuts = Heaven
It's apple season! Local Motion's Bike Ferry makes it easy to combine some of the best things about fall in Vermont: biking, apples, and a visit to a vinyard. And when you add in cider donuts... it just doesn't get any better than that!
It's just a few miles from the Ferry to Hackett's Orchard or Allenholm Farm for cider, apple pie, cider donuts, and Allenholm's Petting Paddock on South Street. You'll find Snowfarm Vineyard on beautiful West Shore Road. Take a ride and explore the Lake Champlain Islands!
The Bike Ferry runs weekends 10 to 6 through (and including) Columbus Day. Learn more about the Bike Ferry here.
Have some time on the weekend? Consider volunteering for the Bike Ferry. We need volunteers for our September and October weekend shifts (9:30-2:00 and 1:30-6:00) Volunteers who help out at the Bike Ferry win an entry into a raffle for $100 at SkiRack every time they volunteer for a Bike Ferry shift. To sign up for a shift go to our VolunteerSpot sign up page
 | | Apples, wine, and making the cider donuts |
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There's Nothing Better than Summer on a Bike
 | Bike For Life Club practices safety skills at Roosevelt Park
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You've heard about some of the great things we've done with our Bike For Life initiative--partnering with the Sustainability Academy, providing 30 kids bikes, helmets and bike programming to the school. Well, the initiative didn't stop during the summer. Local Motion launched a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington to provide bikes to income-eligible youth who committed to attending at least five sessions of our summer Bike For Life Club. We're pleased to report that thirteen young people joined us every Friday throughout July and August for a healthy mix of bike riding and skills building.
In the first two sessions, the Club focused on bike safety checks, the rules of the road, proper hand signals and basic bike anatomy. With their new skills, club members dove right in at the shop and spent time volunteering as bike mechanics.
When the rubber hit the road, the club went on excursions to Ethan Allen Homestead, Oakledge Park, Waterfront Park and a capstone cruise through the Intervale. To top it all off, the club finished the summer out in style with an ice cream social at Battery Park.
Many thanks to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and the Vermont Community Foundation for making the Bike For Life Club possible!
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Afraid You're Too Out of Shape to Ride?
Or Worried Your Shape Won't Fit on a Bike?
Try this ride out!
The last ride in our Women's Ride Series:
Saturday, September 14
9:15 am
Joan Denizot of ZizeBikes.com -- their motto is "a bike for everyBODY" -- would like to re-introduce you to riding a bike. Join her for a ride on the Missisqoui Valley Rail Trail, aka the St. Albans Bike Path, where it's flat and car-free. Click here for directions to the meeting spot.
You're welcome to bring your own bike, but if you don't have one, Joan may be able to lend you one. Email her at Joan@ZizeBikes.com. She'll need your height & inseam to determine if she has a bike that will fit you. Her bikes safely hold riders up to 550 pounds. Joan has a vision for getting more women on bikes -- no matter what your size! Check out this video.
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Local Motion Welcomes New Staff 
Katelin Brewer-Colie has joined Local Motion as our new Complete Streets Project Manager. She'll be working with towns and other partners across the region to improve options for walking and biking. Welcome, Katelin!
Katelin grew up in Underhill, but has lived in several of the world's most walk/bike-friendly cities, including Gent, Belgium and Portland, Oregon. She brings nearly a decade of experience in planning and project management, most recently with the Northwest Regional Planning Commission in St. Albans, where she led projects focused on active lifestyles and economic development. Before that, she worked for the City of Portland, Oregon and for a private consulting firm in the same community on long-range planning and transportation policy.
Katelin has a masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University as well as a B.A. from the University of Vermont. She enjoys singing, backcountry skiing, taking long walks through cities, and spending time with her husband and two young children.
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Do You Have a Great Bike Adventure Story?
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Photo: George Makrinos, Alexandria, VA
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For many of our members, Local Motion's Travel Talks are a highlight of winter. They remind us of the joy of riding at a time when most of us have put away our wheels for the season. Do you have an adventure you'd like to share? We are looking for people with a story to tell about where you've been and what you've done on a bike. SPECIAL TOPIC: Have you ridden a section of the Route Verte system in Quebec? Among other topics, we'd love to put together an evening where a few people share experiences on different portions of this trail system.
Interested? Email Paul Demers, volunteer Travel Talks Coordinator, or call 802-793-0888 for more information. |
Small Business Opportunity, Part-Time
We are seeking a responsible, dependable, organized, outgoing and fun-loving person who is passionate about bicycles and loves crafting to take over operation and management of Bike Recycle Designs. You will work part-time leading a crew of volunteers who make jewelry out of upcycled bicycle parts, as well as lead the sale of jewelry at farmers markets and craft fairs.
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The Last Word... 
At least you can still get a great (and safe) bike for $695... |
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Happy Trails!
From the LM Crew:
Brian, Charlene, Dan, Don, Jason, Katelin, Kevin, Leslye, Lou, Marion, Mary Catherine, Phil, Stu and Thomas, plus Alyson, Daniel, Holidae, Lauren, Margaret, and Sequoia, in the Trailside Center and Bob, Ed, Gary, and Kenney out at the ferry. |
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