Blog Archives
Bike Summit coming to downtown Phoenix on March 18
[Source: City of Phoenix]
The city’s Street Transportation Department will host a free Bicycle Summit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Burton Barr Library, 1221 N. Central Ave.
The summit will include discussions on:
- Possible projects: Bicycle Boulevard, City of Phoenix Bicycle Plan 2011
Meetings and events: Bicycle Initiatives Subcommittee, Bicycle to Work 2011, San Tan Wheelie Jam (bicycle festival) - Opportunities to improve conditions for bicyclists: 2011 street overlay, tunnels, bridges, paths, bike lanes, etc.
- Resources: Bicycle Collision Summary, Bicycle Graphic Novel for Children, Maps
- Possible long-term projects: Connections between Parks and Recreation Department trails and on-street bicycle facilities, road diets to add bike lanes, bicycle corrals and racks.
Residents who ride a bicycle for commuting, athletic training or recreation are invited to attend.
For more information about bicycling in Phoenix, visit phoenix.gov/bicycling.
To reserve a seat at the free event, please contact Joseph Perez, Phoenix bicycle coordinator, at 602-534-9529 or joseph.perez@phoenix.gov.
Bike Force Couriers now in downtown Phoenix
[Source: DowntownPhoenix.com]
Bike Force Couriers has opened a Downtown office in the ground floor of the Heard Building at 112 N. Central Avenue. Bringing a new approach to urban messenger options, Bike Force offers speedy, affordable & eco-friendly bicycle courier service to Phoenix’s business corridor.
Bike Force, which has another location at 342 E. Thomas Rd., provides service to locations inside the “Green Zone,” an area bounded by Camelback Road on the north, Jackson Street on the south, from 7th Avenue on the west to 44th Street on the east. Arrangements can also be made for deliveries outside the Green Zone.
For more information on Bike Force Bicycle Couriers please visit their website: www.bikeforceus.com
Bicycle Boulevard Neighborhood Meeting THURSDAY!
Sorry for the extremely short notice, but the DVC has caught wind that there will be a City of Phoenix hosted ‘bicycle boulevard’ neighborhood meeting tomorrow (THURSDAY) at City Hall in downtown Phoenix.
Come out and participate in this neighborhood meeting with the City to work on a new bicycle lane and path project in Phoenix that will connect the Phoenix Public Market with Gateway Community College and the 15th Avenue bike lane.
Please help spread the word to others who’d like to attend!
Details:
Date: September 16, 2010
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: 200 W. Washington St. 1st Floor, Assembly Room A (map)
There is a Facebook invite HERE.
(Thanks to Taz Loomans at Blooming Rock for the heads up!)
Barrio Bikes coming to downtown Phoenix
[Source: Emily Gersema, azcentral.com]
Mayor Gordon Visitis the shop (via Facebook)
A new set of wheels is hitting the pavement in downtown Phoenix.
The Barrio Bike Shop, a business that is part of the Neighborhood Ministries campus at 19th Avenue and Van Buren Street, has launched its own beach cruiser, the Barrio Bike, to sell.
Mayor Phil Gordon is one of the first people in line for a Barrio Bike.
Proceeds support the ministries, a Christian charity that offers services including health care, after-school programs and job training.
The charity has been largely dependent on individual donations. The ministries’ executive director, Kit Danley, said she hopes that Barrio Bike Shop and other businesses at the main campus, including a T-shirt silk screener, can enable its programs to become more self-sustaining.
Barrio Bike Shop is one of two parts of the Barrio Bikes program that work in tandem.
The shop sells used and refurbished bicycles for children and adults, while the other arm, Barrio Works, teaches repair and refurbishing skills to children, teens and adults.
Chris Williams, the Barrio Bikes coordinator who leads the bike-repair classes, said he is working with a New York bicycle manufacturer, Worksman Cycles, to get the Barrio beach cruiser business off the ground.
He has a particular group of customers that he’d like to reach this fall.
“It’d kind of be a beach-cruiser bike for the downtown college kids,” Williams, 29, said.
The beach cruiser is a heavy-duty bicycle that is recognized for its fat balloon tires and thick frame.
Williams wants to find a retail space near the downtown Phoenix campuses of Arizona State University and the University of Arizona medical school to sell Barrio Bikes, but he acknowledges resources for the charity-hosted bike shop are limited.
Orders can be placed with Williams at 602-889-1378 or chris.williams@nmaz.net.
eBikes: A new way of getting around Downtown Phoenix
[From azcentral.com]
When it’s too hot to walk and too boring to ride in a car, take in a new view of downtown Phoenix through Copper Square Adventures’ eBikes. The idea for the electric bikes came when owners Silverio and Susan Ontiveros visited Vancouver, British Columbia, last summer and saw the bike rental shops around the city.
The couple who runs Copper Square Adventures hiking and tour company wanted to bring the idea to the Valley so visitors and residents could get a new perspective on the city. Last fall, they began renting seven eBikes with baskets and helmets in downtown Phoenix, including maps of hotspots to visit, local parks and coffee shops.
This fall, the Ontiveroses will initiate guided city tours on the bikes, which can go as fast as 20 mph and travel 60 miles when fully charged. The hybrid between a bike and a scooter has pedals in case it runs out of juice, a hand accelerator and hand brakes.
“We are hoping to make Phoenix more approachable and more exciting with these bicycles so people get to see parts of Phoenix you don’t normally see, the unique neighborhoods and businesses and shops in the arts district,” Silverio Ontiveros said.
The bikes can be brought aboard Metro Light Rail to ride around Tempe and other areas near the rail line.
But don’t expect to drop by the rental and touring agency for a peek. The Ontiveroses rent the bikes from the building where they live on Lincoln and Second streets in Phoenix. They will deliver the bikes to customers and to hotels.
Silverio, who was a Phoenix police officer for 33 years, says as long as riders are familiar with bike lanes and traffic laws, they will be OK riding in downtown traffic. However, there are steps the city could take following other large cities’ examples to promote safe bicycling, he said.
“In Mexico City, the municipal government is encouraging people to ride bikes,” he said.
Several European cities have bike-rental programs with stations outside of tourist areas and subway stops.
“I still have a positive feeling that this will take off (in the U.S.),” Silverio said. “In China, there are over 100 million of these electric bikes. I think in the U.S. there are 100,000.”
So far, about half of the customers who’ve rented the bikes have been Valley residents. The couple ride the bikes to church and on errands about town.
“People see it, write down (our) number and ride with their friends,” Silverio said.
Details: EBIKE RENTAL
Cost: 2-hour ride, $29; 2-4 hours, $39; all day until 6 p.m., $49; each additional hour, $15. Discounts available on rental of three bikes or more.
Reservations: coppersquareadventures.com, 602-330-3620.
Touring downtown Phoenix… by bike
Visiting the murals in the alley behind 5th St. near Roosevelt (photo source: Tony Arranaga)
[Source: LightRailBlogger.com] — I took my neighbors on a hour long bike tour of downtown Phoenix. Mike and Jane were not too familiar with the backstory to some of the historic sights in our urban core, so it was fun to give them some background on the landmarks in the heart of the city.
We started in the Evans Churchill neighborhood near 4th Street and Fillmore. We visited the community garden near Conspire Coffee and the murals in the alley behind 5th Street near Roosevelt in the arts district. Mike, Jane and I then went to the Phoenix Public Market, the Westward Ho and Civic Space Park. Our tour then continued south on 1st Avenue to see the Orpheum Lofts, 44 Monroe and the old City Hall.
Next. we made our way over to Hanny’s Restaurant, which used to be home to a high end department store back in the day. We then stopped by St. Mary’s Basilica where Pope John Paul II visited several years ago. Our trip ended at Heritage Square and then we stoppped for a bite to eat at Front Row – TGIFriday’s restaurant inside Chase Field where the Arizona Diamondbacks play ball.
How did I do? Where would you take friends or out of town guests to explore the heart of Phoenix? [Note: Read the full blog entry at Touring downtown Phoenix… by bike.]
Street BMXing in downtown Phoenix
Havin a good ol’ time in downtown Phoenix with John Seitz, Aaron Milhorn, John John, Jake Cohoe, Josh Bigar, Piggy, Jamey Welsh, Cody Clark, John Paul, Wolfman, and James Brooks. While riding we came across the Cult Crew in the middle of filming for their Phoenix/L.A. edit. You can see Mr. Roche in the background of a few clips along with Chase Dehart, Chase Hawk, Trey Jones, Robbie Moralis, and even Sean Sexton. What a great way to end a great session.
Building a (bicycle) critical mass in Phoenix
About 100 Phoenix cyclists rode around the downtown area in late January to raise motor-vehicle drivers’ awareness on sharing the road. As part of a worldwide event that happens the last Friday of every month known as Critical Mass, the bicyclists met at Steele Indian School Park at North Third Street and East Indian School Road illuminating the streets of Phoenix with their safety lights until reaching the Civic Space Park where they lifted their bikes in unison.
Riding the Phoenix rocket
Lloyd Alter writes for TreeHugger, is an Associate Professor at Ryerson University teaching sustainable design, and has written for Azure and Ontario Nature magazines. He traveled to Phoenix from Toronto to attend Greenbuild 2009. Click here for his (favorable) observations about Phoenix’s light rail system. In the video above, Lloyd also interviews two light rail customers who also ride bicycles in the Valley.
Idea of the Day: So where should a downtown Phoenix biking center go?
[Source: State’s first biking center finishes first week, Dianna M. Náñez, Arizona Republic] — Note operative phrase in the following article: “Romero and Perez have already scoped out locations for expanding. ‘To start with… one in downtown Phoenix… and at the end of the line in Mesa… would be perfect,’ Perez said.” Any ideas? If so, send Joe and John an e-mail.
On Wednesday, Karleen Dirmantas left her central Phoenix home at 6:45 a.m. and rode her bicycle 15 miles to the state’s first full-service biking center, in Tempe. She showered, changed into her work uniform and arrived at work by 8 a.m. The center, which opened Monday, has made it possible for Dirmantas to stop driving her car to work, save money on gasoline and help preserve the environment. Other bicyclists say their benefits include saving money on parking at Arizona State University and enjoying easier access to light rail.
The Bicycle Cellar, owned by two Valley bicycle enthusiasts, is near ASU in downtown Tempe. After hearing that the center would offer paid members secured indoor-bike parking, lockers, showers and other services, Dirmantas signed up for a one-year membership. The facility is at Tempe’s Transportation Center, a hub for light-rail, Valley Metro and Tempe commuter Orbit buses.
The Bicycle Cellar has conveniences for people who ride public transportation to work in Tempe or for ASU faculty members or students who want a safe place to park their bikes overnight. Storage lockers are available, as are tools for minor bike repairs and air for tires. During the day, help is available to work on more complicated repairs.
Mariam Cohen, who teaches at ASU, will use the center to avoid commuting by car from Paradise Valley to ASU. “This is wonderful for everyone. Even an old lady on a bike like me. I can leave my bike here at night… know it’s safe… (and) pick it up when I get off the light rail,” she said Wednesday, hopping onto her vine-green Schwinn and off to class. Students also appreciate saving on the hundreds of dollars it costs to park at ASU.
Dawn Stapley, an ASU junior, was at the shop early Monday and became the cellar’s first member. “Parking is so expensive at ASU,” she said. “I work at Priest (Drive) and Washington (Street) so I’m leaving my car at work, taking the light rail… picking my bike up and riding it to class next to (ASU) Gammage.” Bicycle Cellar co-owner and bike-riding enthusiast John Romero said his facility is moving the Valley closer to having full-fledged urban amenities. “Phoenix is maturing as a metropolis,” he said. “We’re finally bringing to the table what other cities have had for years.”
The shop’s diverse clientele and rush of customers wanting to secure one of the shop’s 300 memberships has Romero and co-owner Joseph Perez thinking about launching similar bike stores at busy spots along the rail line. “We’re up to 20 members-that’s just in four days,” he said. Romero and Perez have already scoped out locations for expanding. “To start with… one in downtown Phoenix… and at the end of the line in Mesa… would be perfect,” Perez said. [Note: Read the full article at State’s first biking center finishes first week.]
