Bike Calgary

On Saturday Feburary 4th, 2012 theives broke into BMX Gallery on 16 ST and 10 AVE SW at approximately 8:00 PM. They took two bikes which have unique features. Read more here: http://www.bmxgallery.ca/2012/02/bmx-theives-store-break-in-2-wtp.html

Here is the central ask of the Calgary tour de nuit Society which was designed to refocus the Transportation and Transit Committee's Bike Rental debate back on to dedicated bike lanes in the central business district, i.e. the Road Diet.

 

2. Direct Administration to cease further allocation of staff time and expenditures on research and assessment of public bike share until:

it has received affirmative direction from BOTH the two key stakeholders in the commuter cycling community: the Commuter Cycling Bike Calgary Association and the Calgary tour de nuit Society,

the cycle community engagement to redraft the downtown cycle route network, which was terminated on December 8, 2011 by Administration, is resumed and a ‘Collaboration’ exercise is completed in compliance with the relevant section of the City of Calgary engage!Policy

Damn it's cold! I still cycled today! Here is my warm weather gear assortment!

• Ice Breaker underwear briefs. All wool. Very nice.
• Softshell pants
• Rainwear/wind blocking shell pants
• Polyester short sleeve top (to remove the sweat)
• Omni-Heat belay jacket from Columbia. Not very thick. Warm and breathable. Not waterproof.
• Balaclava (not to be confused with Baklava... mmm sweets)
• Smith goggles
• E-tip liner gloves by The North Face
• $8 gloves I bought at Wal-Mart (I've misplaced my good Gore-Tex gloves)
• Smartwool socks
• Leather hiking boots

It was reported that it was -50 while I biked 10 KM uphill. Kill the wind and you kill the cold. You can do it on two wheels Calgary!

Jonny BarrettFounder and director of The Good Life Community Bicycle Shop, Jonny Barrett, started his day with some bad news. Good life is getting the boot from Eau Claire Market. The lease for the space ended at the start of the year. Barrett approached the property management this morning about a lease renewal and was informed shortly after that they were to vacate by February 17th.

“We would have liked three months notice”, says Barrett. A letter was sent to parent organization Two Wheel View. When Barrett pressed the property management about more details he was told that the eviction is non negotiable and that a new tenant has signed a contract for the space.

Can anybody tell me of the condition of the Bow R pathway from Glenmore Trail to downtown?

I want to take this opportunity to thank Bike Calgary's directors and volunteers for their hard work in ensuring that Bike Calgary is effectively representing the concerns of Calgary Cyclists to Council and City Administration.

I would also like to thank our partner organizations, under the Bike Calgary Advocacy umbrella, Elbow Valley Cycle Club, Bike Root Campus Bicycle Society of Calgary, Alberta Randonneurs, Good Life Community Bike Shop and the Sustainable Alberta Association/Commuter Challenge for their continued support.

2011 has been an exciting year for cycling in Calgary with the buzz really getting going with the public release of the Cycling Strategy Report and Pathway Safety Review Report. The last few months have been particularly busy with our involvement in the West LRT cycle network improvements, working towards ensuring the floating bike lanes on 10th Avenue meet the needs of cyclists and participating with the City to develop a revised plan for a Centre City Cycle Network.

Through this we have received a number of messages of thanks via bikecalgary.org, email and in personal conversation. It is encouraging to know that we are making a difference we appreciate your support. We ask those of you following our efforts to help out by continuing to provide feeback via the website forums, volunteering to assist with some of our initiatives or simply taking a few moments to voice your support for improved cycling infrastructure to your elected representatives. Ensuring Calgary and surrounding areas has a safe, functional and efficient transportation and recreational cycle network is important to the future of our City. We look forward to seeing more of our ideas put into action in the coming year.

Happy Holidays!

Brent Clark

Bike Calgary, President

A cowboy cyclistI have a potentially unique problem. I am a Calgary Stampede volunteer and as such I attend Stampede events throughout the year. This year I have started winter cycling and need a way to transport my beautiful 10X (beaver felt) cowboy hat, my cowboy boots and my expensive DSLR camera on my bike. There must be a way for me to do this safely without damaging these items. I've considered the following:

A pannier bag large enough to do this. Is this practical? Can I find one this big?

Stuffing these things into my 40L pack. I'm afraid I'll crush my hat.

• Buying a trailer cart. But... how well would this work in the winter?

I look forward to your creative ideas! YAHOO, and BRRR!

I am a podiatrist and have treated many riders for foot problems over the years. A while back someone asked me to write something about cyclist and feet issues. I decided to start a blog here and will write new updates occasionally until someone tells me to shut up otherwise I hope to help provide some answers to some questions.

Cycling creates a significant demand on the lower extremities since they are needed to power the bike. The high reactive forces created between teh foot and the pedal produces a load that can adversely affect the bones and muscle and eventually lead to overuse injuries.

It has been reported that 85% of cyclist have overuse injuries and 36% of those require medical attention. A lot of these injuries can be prevented by better foot to pedal contact.

The most commmon question I get from cyclist is about orthotics. What should a cycling orthotic look like? It should be as rigid as possible to have teh greatest influence on the foot. The orthotic should help reduce misalignment of the overly pronated foot as much as possible. If necessary the shoe can be wedge to get more correction without adding too much bulk to the orthotics to avoid overcrowding the shoe.

I was in Wild Grainz Bakery in Inglewood, having a scone and coffee.  There was a cyclist who dismounted from his upright hybrid bike and bought several loaves of bread.  After exchanging pleasanteries, I commented that there should be bike parking racks installed  nearby for customers.  He didn't bother locking up his bike.

I mentioned that unlike Toronto and Vancouver where there is phone line to report on needed bike rack, Calgary locals have to fill out a 311 form. 

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/TP/Pages/Cycling/Bicycle-Parking/Bicycle-rack-sponsorship-program.aspx

 

He mentioned that he was the alderman for the area. 

Kickstands are, to me, a barometer which indicates to what extent bicycles permeate a given culture.  In a country where millions of bikes are on the road (e.g., India and China), can you imagine the chaos if every cyclist tried to lean their bike up against a wall/shop window/sign post?  Our own downtown bike racks are unsecure, to which anyone who has found their bikes cannibalized will attest.  Instead, bike parking lots exist elsewhere, where one parks a bike with a kickstand in rows, just like cars, locks the wheel, and it's watched-over by an attendant until it's re-claimed at the end of the day - I did this many times in China, for a nominal, affordable fee.