Road Cycling, the lack of olympic coverage, and you.

The problem?

1. I grew up riding and reading about BMX bikes.
2. I work at CommunityCycles, and regularly work with city employees.
3. I know several people who regularly go on the Cruiser Ride.
4. I have a tallbike, and have ridden it a>down Boulder Canyon, twice and b>on the Boulder 360. Twice.
5. I commute by bike to work from Lafayette 4 or 5 times a week.
6. While I don't regularly ride a mountain bike, I'm on several email lists of/about/by mountain bike enthusiasts, and keep up with their doings and happenings.

These aren't so much problems as they are strange qualifications for something I'm not quite sure of, but with these, I feel like I've got an ear to the ground with regards to most of the bicycle related things happening in and around Boulder. Except one. This one is the problem:

I know next to nothing about recreational road cycling.

And, I do ride a road bike now. I mostly use it to commute to work, go to the grocery store, and just my general transportation. I have ridden on a 2 day century, and several longer daytime rides with my roadie friends. This is about the extent of my recreational road riding. Most of the time, nowadays, when I'm on a bike, it's because I'm going somewhere, above and beyond "on a bike ride".

The person whose flats I'll happily fix on a Monday morning on our commute to work has a professional road and track cyclist as a parent. She's explained more to me in the year I've known here about professional and recreational road cycling than I've learned in all my 32 years.

I wanted to post something about Taylor Phinney, a kid from Boulder who makes it to the Olympics on a bicycle. What more could BoulderBikes be looking for in blogfodder than that? The Slipstream team made waves with their biweekly dope tests, and they're based in Boulder and rode in the Tour. Better writers than I have written more about these two subjects than I could in weeks of hacking at the keyboard, so I'll leave these media lovelies to the mainstream media. At least until I have something useful to add.

I'd love to include more happenings and things of interest to road cyclists in and around Boulder, but I have no idea where to start. I'm not up on rides, races, events, or issues surrounding riding a road bike in Boulder County.

This is where you come in. If you consider yourself a road rider-- that's the only qualification I'm looking for is that you consider yourself to be one-- and there's something you think belongs here on BoulderBikes, please let me know. Feel free to comment here, or email me at veganboyjosh@gmail.com.

Thanks.

Survey: How bike friendly is Boulder?

The League of American Bicyclists does a lot of work to make cities in the US more bike friendly. Among other things, they award cities a designation of "Bicycle Friendly City" to deserving cities every year.
Boulder has been awarded a gold medal in the past, (platinum is the highest level) and it's time to vote again. It's more than voting, though. It's your chance to voice your opinion about what Boulder does well, and where we're lacking as far as a bike friendly place to live goes.
Boulder has more bike facilities, infrastructure, and general bike awesomeness than any city I've ever lived in (I've lived in 16...so far) aside from up in the Pacific Northwest. The City That Works has won the Platinum designation more than once from the League.

Let them know what you think. They have a survey posted on their website, here, which is open to the public. The more people who fill it out, the more accurate a depiction of Boulder's bike family they'll have.
They would like to have the surveys filled out by September 10th. I just filled mine out, and it took all of about 5 minutes, and I can be verbose when it comes to bikes.

Picture Rock Trail Grand Opening

Come join the Boulder County Commissioners & BCPOS Staff for a ribbon cutting ceremony, and a ride immediately after.

The details right now:

*
Park at Planet Bluegrass
*
Ride to the NO PARKING access point along Red Gulch Road.
*
After the ceremony and ride, return to Planet Bluegrass for a catered party provided by Oskar Blues... BCPOS is going to to this right!


The Boulder Mountainbike Alliance are all about Better Trails for Boulder County! Join the BMA and be part of the solution. Send a $25 check to BMA, PO Box 4954, Boulder, CO 80306, or join by using our online Paypal webpage by clicking here.

Boulder Indoor Cycling

Speaking of "The" velodrome, someone forwarded me a link to Boulder Indoor Cycling's website, according to which;

"Boulder Indoor Cycling is pleased to announce the recent signing of our lease at 3550 Frontier Ave. in Boulder! The building's prior interior configuration is currently in the demolition phase. We are slated to begin the buildout of the cycling center starting in June, with our...Grand Opening projected for early September!"

I've never been to a real velodrome, never even seen an actual track race, aside from some crazy crash videos on youtube. I'm excited if this thing happens. I do wonder if there's market enough in Boulder for them to keep at it.

There's also a survey on the website for visitors to fill out, to help Boulder Indoor Cycling get a handle on what cyclists in Boulder are interested in.

Good luck, Boulder Indoor Cycling.

Valmont Bike Park makes VeloNews

Thanks, Sue, for sending this VeloNews article our way.

I've been hearing rumblings of what's going to go in at Valmont City Park's bike park for a while now, but nothing concrete, so to speak. The last few weeks have brought more solid information from more solid sources.

Now, if only that velodrome would materialize...

Volunteers Needed: Community Cycles bike pickup

Community Cycles needs voluteers for a massive bicycle pickup tomorrow. Wednesday, August 20th, from about 9:45 until about noon or so.

From Rich Points, CC's director:

"Meet at Community Cycles at 9:30. We'll leave at 9:45a.m. We'll drive over to the Boulder Police Station around 10a.m. to load up about 50 bikes into the van.

Once we've processed those back we'll head over to the Boulder Housing Partners storage area for another 100 bikes."

Volunteers should meet either at Community Cycles, at Boulder Police Station, or at Boulder Housing Partners. Volunteers on bikes are welcome and encouraged, as most of the help we'll be needing will be loading and unloading of bikes. We'll have our regular van, as well as a rental van to help move the bikes to their new home. Driving volunteers are also welcome.

For those of you not familiar with them, Community Cycles does a ton of awesome work with these donated/recycled bikes, including Earn-A-Bike programs for kids and adults, Mechanic's classes for volunteers, and lots of other amazing programs.
Check out their website (very first link above) for more information.


Full disclosure: I volunteer at Community Cycles myself. I help run the Youth Earn-a-bike program, as well as sit on the board of CC.

More bike shops than grocery stores?

Boulder has a lot of bike shops. The list at right has 20, including both Full Cycle locations. 20 bike shops. A quick google search for "grocery store, boulder" listed about 10 actual grocery stores before it got to 7-11 and Target.
I'm not sure what my point here is, (aside from a sneaky way to introduce the links at right, muwahaha...) but I've tried to include as many bike shops as possible in the list(s). I'll be adding links as I come across them. I'm pretty sure I've left off some awesome bicycle shops and stores, (I'm still trying to decide whether to include shops in Denver...any input, dear readers?) so please let me know if I have, and I'll add those.
Boulder is also rich with bike industry folks, companies, and manufacturers. I'll be compiling a list of those as well, just to include all of us bike folks together in one happy place. If you know of, work for, or own a company that does things for people on bikes, please get in touch. From manufacturers based in Boulder, to DIY messenger bag makers, I want it all.


View Larger Map

Burnworks party Saturday

Sorry for the late notice, I just learned of this party this morning, and didn't get to post until just now.

Boulder's resident freakbike builders, fire worshippers, and guerilla gardeners, the Boulder Burnworks, are putting on a "Recompression party" tomorrow night, Saturday. Looks like it's a pre-Burning Man shindig, so bring your ideas, and suggestions about the Playa.
They're also selling some costumes and other stuff to benefit B.L.A.S.T.^

What is "B.L.A.S.T^", you ask?

Well, it's local group doing things right here in Boulder: 'To enhance the community by example, using art, beneficial civic activities and celebration as tools.' is our mission statement, and our doors are open to all who would like to participate. Some past B.L.A.S.T^ projects include the Cottonwood Creek clean up last May, screening of environmental films, discussion groups, and the Boulder Creek clean up in May 07. Future projects and ideas include public and recycled art, mobile gardens, elderly and low income home improvements, disaster relief and recovery... and we are always looking for new and exciting projects, the sky is the limit!^

For more information, visit Burnworks.org.

Volunteers needed: Get bikes to DNC visitors in Denver

The Bikes Belong Coalition, in partnership with Humana, Inc. and the Democratic National Convention Host Committee, will bring 1,000 bikes to Denver for the Democratic National Convention August 25 – 28. The bikes will be free for use by delegates, media and the general public. Volunteers are needed to staff 8 bike-sharing stations in the city center.



Bikes Belong is a Boulder-based national non-profit dedicated to "putting more people on bikes more often" and working with the bike industry to promote cycling, personal health and environmental sustainability. Fortune 100 health benefits company Humana Inc. launched the Freewheelin bike-sharing program in their headquarter city of Louisville, Kentucky. The US bicycle industry is loaning all of the bicycles, helmets and related equipment for the project. The sponsors will host bike-sharing projects in both Denver and the Twin Cities at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

For more information please visit www.freewheelinwaytogo.com or www.bikesbelong.org.

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Fill out and return the attached volunteer commitment form to piep@bikesbelong.org. DO NOT CALL, EMAIL OR FAX Bikes Belong or Humana, Inc. Preference will be given to volunteers who can commit to at least two shifts. Shifts are approximately 7 hours long.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?

Volunteers are asked to wear khaki shorts or pants, shoes or sneakers, and provided attire (T-shirts and ballcaps). Volunteers will attend a 1 ½ hour mandatory training in Denver on August 22, 23 or 24 (several sessions will be offered). Lunch, volunteer gear and gifts will be provided, plus, you'll get an unforgettable experience sharing your passion for cycling and Denver at a high-profile DNC sanctioned event! For more information contact Volunteer Coordinator Piep van Heuven at: piep@bikesbelong.org.

WHEN IS IT?

8/4 - Volunteer Leaders Confirmed
8/6-7 - Volunteer Leadership Trainings (Denver 8/6 @8pm, Boulder 8/7 @TBD)
8/15 - Volunteers selected & roles assigned
8/18 - Email update to volunteers & master schedule finalized
8/22-23 - Mandatory volunteer training sessions
8/25-28 - Democratic National Convention

Note to self:

Don't run red lights in Denver without a mouthguard.

Where I won't be on Sunday...

Venus De Miles.

A pair of Women's only rides that starts in Longmont. One is 35 miles, the other 65. Besides being a great way to get out on your bike and ride with other active women, the ride is in support of Greenhouse Scholars. "Greenhouse Scholars provides mentorship and scholarship support to high-performing, under-resourced students – cultivating the next generation of community leaders with an environment that allows them to fully thrive."--from their website.

Why won't I be there? Well, I've got this Y chromosome issue...

Have fun out there, ladies! Hope you stay dry!

For more information on Venus De Miles or Greenhouse Scholars, please e-mail info@venusdemiles.com, or call Teresa, the Priestess of Venus de Miles, at 303-460-1745.

Riding a bike cures depression?

I know when I'm feeling down, some time riding around can help get me out of a slump. I count myself lucky to never have had to deal with real depression personally.

Here's a great story about a friend of mine, Peter Allen.

At the end of the article is information about a ride that he's putting together to benefit the Center for People with Disabilities, a great organization that helps folks with disabilities. The money raised from registration fees and donations on the ride will go towards the purchase of a van for the Center.

The ride, which is from Boulder to Fort Collins, begins on Friday, September 5th, includes camping overnight in Fort Collins, and joining up with the Tour De Fat the following day, with a bus ride back home Saturday night.

For more information about the ride, or volunteer opportunities, please contact petetomato80303@yahoo.com.

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

Ok, so maybe we do need roads for an alleycat, but we don't need plutonium or a flux capacitor.

I'm excited to check out some hot fixie freestyle action. As a spectator, of course. Those fixed gear crazies don't ride brakes!

Valmont Bike Park

THE VALMONT BIKEPARK PROJECT
A World-Class Cycling Facility
Planned by the Community
Built by the Best in the World

Buy a Brick by August 21 and Make That Money Multiply

The meetings are done. The approval from City Council was unanimous. It's
time to create a place like no other. And we will all help make it happen.

Actually, work has already begun. A design team of Parks and Rec Staff,
BMA reps, and local landscape architects to select a Dream Team of trail
building specialists to build the bike specific features of the park.

What are we talking about?
* A UCI World Championship Cyclocross Race Course
* A BMX Jump Course
* A Pump Track
* Mountain Bike Skills Course
* Four Cross Track
* Singletrack Trails
* Progressive Challenge - For the Entire Family!
We need the cycling community to step up and show their support via a
"Buy a Brick" campaign that will help build the special features of this
park.
Buy a Brick and Help Build It!

Today we kick off a fundraising campaign that will help us generate even
more money through a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado. Grant applications
that have strong community support score higher in the selection process.
We are applying for a $200,000 grant! Your donation helps us win that
grant!

The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Foundation and BMA (Boulder
Mountainbike Alliance) are partnering to build the Valmont Bike Park. We
like to call it 40 acres of bliss. We have big plans for the park- a place
to ride, teach, learn, race and advocate. You will be impressed with the
vision.

Your donation is tax deductible (501c3#84-0725860) and will be allocated
to the Valmont Bike Park, not the general parks fund, nor BMA. Be part of
it, or at least come out and ride when it is done. The Park will be free and
open to users of all ages and abilities. You will be greeted with the most
progressive bike park ever built and of course, lots of ear to ear grins...

Contribution Options:
* $25 Valmont Supporter- Keep me in the loop!
* $50 Fat Tire Society- Single track in Boulder? Sign me up!
* $100 SwitchBack Member- Engraved Individual Brick* (includes 1 year
BMA individual membership)
* $250 CycloCross Founder- Engraved Medium Brick* (includes 1 year BMA
individual membership)
* $500 Big Ring Society- Engraved Large Brick* (includes 1 year BMA
individual membership)
* $1,000 Top of the Podium- Engraved XL Brick* (with your company logo
or a personalized message and 1 year BMA individual membership)
* Other - Fill in a random amount you would like to contribute.
We have lofty goals for permanent structures to enhance the park
experience. If you or your company wants to be more involved, we are looking
for donations to construct the following.
* Podium $2,500
* Belgian Run-Up $5,000
* Pump Track $25,000
* Event Registration Shelter $25,000
* Tot Lot Play Ground $50,000
* Platt Farm House Restoration $200,000
Brick Details:
If you purchase a brick, you will enter your name as text to be engraved on
the brick. If you like you may keep your donation anonymous. Only the $1,000
bricks may have corporate messages and/or logos. We reserve the right to
refuse text deemed inappropriate.
Brick details are conceptual. Final park design is not yet complete. Donors
may alternatively be honored at the park with their name on an engraved
cobble, etched in a sandstone wall, or other recognition consistent with
"Bricks" and final park design.
* Individual Brick
o 2 lines per brick
o up to 16 spaces per line
* Medium Brick
o 4 lines per brick
o up to 16 spaces per line
Large Brick
o 6 lines per brick
o up to 16 spaces per line
* Corporate Brick/XL
o 8 lines per brick
o up to 16 spaces per line OR
o Let us contact you to arrange to add your company logo or
personalized message.

NOTE: Punctuation and spaces count as characters. All text will be one size
font, all capitals, and centered.
To support the Valmont Bike Park use our on-line form to make a donation or
buy a brick by clicking:

Buy a Brick

The pararie dogs will be moved this fall, full blown construction is
slated to begin in April 2009. Every aspect of this facility will be the
best it can possibly be or we will throw it back and ask for better. It's
tioem to stop the talk and get this world class cycling facility built!

Visit www.valmontbikepark.com to learn more
or
Contact Bobby Noyes bobby@rockymounts.com , BMA Valmont Project
Director

It's on (two wheels).

I saw this morning a post on bikeportland about a realtor there who shows people houses and properties in Portland. The newsworthy thing is that she takes her clients around neighborhoods on bicycles. The story reminded me of Boulder's own Pedal to Properties. The fine folks over there have supported cycling in Boulder in countless ways, from giving away some sweet cruiser bikes for charity raffles, to just getting people out on bikes to look at houses.
I sent a link over to Chris at Pedal to Properties, and mentioned the connection. He wrote back and asked,"Hmm, is there a similar website for Boulder?" I wasn't aware of one. Until now.

I have lots of lofty goals for Boulder Bikes. I'd love to be able to bridge the gap between the different families of people who ride bikes in Boulder, and cater to all of them. Boulder has so many bicycle interests--commuters, kids, the boulder cruisers, mountain bikers, roadies, 18 bike shops (EIGHTEEN!), some great city employees who are super into bikes, BVSD, all kinds of bike industry folks, the Burnworks and other freakbikers, couriers, and tons of other folks who enjoy riding two wheeled, human powered vehicles.

If you have or know someone who has something that would interest cyclists of any kind, please get in touch, and I'll post it. If you're interested in writing, please please please get in touch. Again, lots of ideas for where we can take this thing. There are plenty of bike blogs and things of interest to people who ride bikes already on the internet. My main goal is to make this the place to go for those of us in on bikes in Boulder and the Front Range.

josh.