m-bike.org

Category: General bike news

  • PEAC to address Michigan Disability Caucus on Wednesday

    John Waterman, the executive director of PEAC (Program to Educate All Cyclists) will be in Lansing this Wednesday to discuss how we can better support cyclists with disabilities in Michigan. He’s wanting to get as many people to the meeting as possible.

    Here’s more information from John:

    PEAC is excited to share with you that Senator John Gleason, the Chair of the Michigan Legislative Disability Caucus, has invited PEAC to address Michigan?s Representatives and Senators, Wednesday, June 23rd. The topic of the meeting will be cycling and persons with disabilities. From 12pm-1pm PEAC will educate the Caucus about its mission and programs, and advocate for greater state support for cycling for persons with disabilities. John Waterman, Executive Director of PEAC, as well as several children who have benefitted from PEAC?s programs, will address the Caucus.

    This is a crucial opportunity for us to share with legislatures the importance of providing opportunities for people living with disabilities. If you are planning on attending please contact me by at jwaterman@bikeprogram.org at leave a message at 734-484-2758. The meeting will be in the Capital Building, ?Speakers Library? 2nd Floor, West Wing. We already have a couple of carpools started and would like to organize more, so we can pack the house.

    One interesting note: getting more persons with disabilities on bikes can save taxpayer dollars. It’s very expensive providing paratransit options. If we can make it easier and possible for people to ride, they might be able to use the existing linehaul bus system. Reducing paratransit needs can save a significant amount of money.

  • Detroit bike shorts

    The Hub seeks a Youth Educator

    Want a green job? The Hub of Detroit is looking to hire a Youth Educator and they want to start interviewing this week.

    This summer is already here at the HUB. We are BUSY! This week is the last week for kids in Detroit Public Schools which means we are going to get even more kids around the shop than we already have. This is great! Also, we have news of a shop in Southwest that some kids are starting up and getting underway along with some schools on the north side that want to start bike clubs. With this much going on we need to hire a youth educator.

    This job will include working with youth off site at their schools to help start up shops and educating kids on how to fix up their bikes, working with our Mechanics in Training at our shop and being around on Saturdays for our Youth Earn-a-Bike sessions.

    So if you have bike mechanical knowledge, experience with youth and like doing both together then send a resume as quick as you can to jack(at)thehubofdetroit.org

    Talking about urban mountain bike parks

    A recent segment on National Public Radio talked about Cleveland’s turnaround — including Ray’s MTB indoor park.

    BOBKOFF: Dan Kildee of the national nonprofit Center for Community Progress is an expert on revitalizing vacant and abandoned properties. He says city leaders tend to ignore the little projects like a mountain bike park or an urban garden, instead focusing on huge, splashy plans.

    Mr. DAN KILDEE (Center for Community Progress): Build a great big casino complex. Build a great big convention center.

    BOBKOFF: Cleveland has advanced plans to build one of each.But Kildee says cities need lots of little projects to turn around former manufacturing capitals like Cleveland and Detroit. Some ideas will fail, others will take off.

    We made a suggestion to the Russell Industrial Center folks. They have plenty of space for an indoor mountain bike park — far more than Ray’s — and on-site food and super convenient highway access (I-75 at I-94). With a little grant money for capital investment, this seems like a good bet.

    Dorais Velodrome

    The web site DetoritUrbex has a little history, including some recent photos of the old Dorais Velodrome near E. Outer Drive and Mound Road. A great deal of cycling history was made at Dorais, much of it was captured in the Mike Walden/Wolverine Sports Club documentary, Catch the Wind.

  • Tuesday Media: Bikes in the news

    Let’s Save Michigan

    Bike to Work day received some coverage on the Let’s Save Michigan web site, hosted by the Michigan Municipal League.

    It was great to see so many people, despite the less than perfect weather, bike to work or wherever they were going and prove that Michigan’s roads aren’t just for cars. Once we start designing our transportation system to accommodate users beyond cars, we’ll be able to develop the more walkable and desirable communities that people want to live, work and play in.

    The Let’s Save Michigan campaign is teaming up with the Michigan Complete Streets Coalition to move forward to policy that will help develop the state policies that will develop a better, safer and more accommodating transportation system for Michigan. The Coalition includes groups such as AARP, the League of Michigan Bicyclists, and the Michigan Environmental Council.

    The web site includes many photos from events around the state.

    The 10 Things You MUST Do

    Metromode has a list of The 10 Things You MUST Do Outside In Metro Detroit This Summer. Riding with Ferndale’s Defying the Law Bike Club made the list.

    If Marlon Brando in The Wild One got sick of motorcycles, got a bike and developed a taste for garage sales and microbrews, he would so be in this club. It’s a cool mix of professionals, students, blue collar, and artsy types who meet up in Ferndale every Saturday to bike around and see what they can find going on or going down, whatever the case may be.

    Worried you’re not exactly in shape for a bike club? No worries. “If anyone wants to ride, they just have to show up,” says Mike Kawamoto of Berkley, who has been a member of the group for three years. “It’s usually a pretty casual-paced ride.”

    Ford to measure suppliers’ carbon footprints

    The Detroit News is reporting on Ford’s recent announcement as part of their efforts to reduce their carbon emissions by 30% by 2020.

    And although it doesn’t mention biking to work, that is one strategy for reducing a company’s carbon footprint.

    Ford Motor Co. said today it will begin surveying its largest suppliers to find out how much energy they use and how much greenhouse gases they emit.

    It’s part of a broader effort to reduce the carbon footprint of Ford’s global automobile manufacturing operations.

    The Dearborn automaker said it ultimately plans to use the data to establish carbon-reduction goals for its suppliers.

    “Suppliers play an important role as we look to reduce our overall carbon footprint and drive more efficiency in an energy constrained world,” said Tony Brown, Ford group vice president in charge of global purchasing.

    Of course, we would prefer they “bike more efficiency” rather than drive, but it is Ford.

  • Michigan and Metro Detroit slip in rankings

    Bicycle Friendly State

    The League of American Bicyclists have released their 2010 rankings of U.S. states based on their bicycle friendliness.

    Michigan dropped one slot to 16th. This slip appears due to other states passing legislation which gives them additional points.

    Here is Michigan’s rankings within the six categories:

    • 37th – Legislation
    • 12th – Policies and Programs
    • 5th – Infrastructure
    • 4th – Education
    • 38th – Evaluation
    • 27th – Enforcement

    America’s Fittest Cities

    American College of Sports Medicine has released their 2010 American Fitness Index report.

    Washington D.C. is the top Metro area for the third year in a row.

    The nation’s capital is also a well-endowed city when it comes to community recreation centers, ball fields and other places to exercise. Washington has the second-highest rate of people walking or biking to work, aided by 60 miles of bike lanes. [Ed. emphasis ours]

    On the other hand, just because there are a lot of parks and bike lanes being built doesn’t mean that everyone uses them. And by giving points simply for having infrastructure, the index might favor wealthier cities or those with bigger governments. “It’s a fair point,” says Brenda Chamness, who gathers the data for the index. Chamness points out that research has found that fitness levels rise along with the building of new facilities. “If individuals do not have access to safe, convenient and affordable places to exercise, they would be less likely to exercise.”

    Where’s Metro Detroit? We’re near the bottom, 47th out of 50. Metro Detroit was 44th in 2009 and 41st in 2008. The trend is apparent.

  • Why don’t you ride a bike to work instead?

    Here’s a bit of humor for bike the work day from Jef Mallett’s Frazz:

    Frazz

    Frazz
    …and from Mark Fiore:

    (via Streetsblog)