Expect to see these postcards around town in the coming weeks for this year’s BikeFest, our annual celebration of Pittsburgh and all things cycling. As usual, BikeFest is organized by cyclists for cyclists, so we need you to host an event and contribute to the calendar.
This year, we decided to go with little 2.5″ x 2.5″ cards to put around town. Not only are they easier to throw in a bag and transport than the larger sized ones, they also make for a sharp looking spoke card. If you have any interest in helping distribute these, or any other volunteer tasks that come up, please see our volunteer page and fill out the form.
Thanks to local designers Kevin Parent and Matthew Libby for coming up with the vintage look.
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Mere days after our letter was published, we came across this tidbit from the historic federal Climate Bill that passed the House of Representatives.
Sec. 5319: Bicycle Facilities
A project to provide access for bicycles to public transportation facilities, to provide shelters and parking facilities for bicycles in or around public transportation facilities, or to install equipment for transporting bicycles on public transportation vehicles
We urge the Port Authority to include projects to accommodate transit users with bicycles in the final TDP. Let’s get ahead of the curve and create a truly multimodal system above and beyond what is in the current plan. Otherwise, we’ll be playing catch up to the rest of the country, and that’s never fun.
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Its that time of year again and BikeFest! is about to be upon us. This years Fest will be August 14th to the 23rd. We have some new and special events coming up this year as well as some old classics. We’re excited to ask you, Pittsburgh’s cycling community, to get involved! Every year we have a variety of fun events on the calendar, from the ACA criteriums to local group rides led by different groups like Team Caffeine or the Major Taylor Cycling Club to rides led by individuals like the ride to the Pirates game last year.
We would love for you to add to our calendar this year! You can organize a ride, an art show, a music show, a race, or anything that you think might be a fun event that would fit with our mission. If you don’t think you would have the time to organize on your own, still send us your ideas and we can try to pair you up with someone who has a similar goal. Past BikeFest! calendars have some good ideas and you can find them on our page http://www.bike-pgh.org/events/bikefest/. There is always a need for volunteers too, so if you’d like to volunteer, just let us know how you would like to help.
BikeFest! wouldn’t be possible without the amazing calendar put together by you, our cycling supportive community! If you have any ideas or any questions, please e-mail bikefestpgh@bike-pgh.org. Please have your event submissions in no later than August 1st! I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Jessie Buckner
BikeFest! Intern
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
I just found out some bad news. William Thomas, a frequenter at Free Ride, is no longer with us. He died on Thursday from complications due to pneumonia.
When William started coming into Free Ride to obtain bikes and parts to fix up for kids in need, he would always drag the goods to the front, then pull out his wallet and flash a Kraynick’s Bike Shop business card to whoever was working - his pass to get free parts. Everyone knew what he was up to, and gladly obliged.
After awhile, he became a regular character at the shop, and would brag about how many bikes he fixed up and gave away, hundreds a year, often putting us to shame. Although always modest, I think he liked to show off a little bit to fellow tinkerers. He would also take some of the bikes that were donated to us, fix them up, and give them back to make it easier for us to give them away. We always knew when William fixed up a bike because any rusty part or rim would be meticulously painted silver. This detail was a small deed for a guy with a heart of gold.
William, you will be missed. I think everybody in the shop has said that they aspire to be like him in their golden years. You truly were an inspiration to us all.
Come one Come All!! Friday, July 3 - Brew House in the South Side
After the films at the international Bicycle Film Festival (July 2 - 4), be sure to check out the bumpin’ afterparty. The party is sponsored by Magic Hat Brewing Company and 42Below, so you know it will be fun.
Get ready for a fashion show and a DJ’d Dance Party into the night.
Admission is FREE with a BFF ticket stub, $5 at-the-door otherwise.
Check out this trailer. It’s the rad story of the BMX company, FBM Bikes. The film will be shown at this weekend’s Bicycle Film Festival, at the Andy Warhol Museum.
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Pittsburgh Trails Advocacy Group (PTAG) was formed in 2001 in an effort to lend a hand to local park managers to help build and maintain area trails for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking. The Greater Pittsburgh area has arguably the best mountain biking in all of the USA. Some of the areas include - North Park, Hartwood Acres, Moraine State Park, Bavington Gamelands, Laurel Highlands, Frick Park, Boyce Park, Deer Lakes, Harrison Hills, Settler’s Cabin, South Park, Schenley, Riverview, Seven Springs, Apollo and Brady’s Run. Most of these parks are within an hour’s drive of downtown.
PTAG focuses on one BIG workday per month to help maintain trails in some of the higher usage parks. We also work in smaller teams during the month to keep on top of issues that don’t necessarily need the BIG group. Our numbers have ballooned from a small group of 5 to over 100 strong. Our work hours logged in area parks average about 1500 per year. In North Park alone, we have already worked over 350 hours this year.
A big part of our growth came from several visits by the International Mountain Biking Association. This helped show local shops, park managers and area riders that we plan to be here for the long haul.
In the past 3 years, we have sponsored a local Mountain Bike Festival to help build our “tribe” as we like to call ourselves. During this time, we let people know how they can get more involved and show them what we have accomplished during several days of riding.
We average about 300 participants each year at the MTB fests. There is no charge to join in the fun. We have planned to make our event this year even bigger. From July 16-20, 2009, we will have our 4th Mountain Bike Festival. We will be adding some new twists to this year’s event to showcase some of the other areas that we work and play.
Over the Bar Bicycle Café will host the start of the festival this year. There will be a party that offers the opportunity for people to meet the organizers of PTAG and its members to get an idea about us. There will be a limited supply of free microbrewery libations supplied by Troegs Brewing.
We are part of a non-profit group if you would like to offer your support to help us out. You can check us out at www.ptagtrails.com to verify our 501(c) 3 status as a non-profit group.
Please mail any donations or guide any questions to:
Friday: It’s the last Friday of the Month, so cyclists meet at 5:30 at the Dinosaur in front of the Carnegie Library in Oakland for the ride.
For the Roadies:
Friday:Friday Nights at the Track - Oscar Swan’s weekly races at the Cycling Oval. This week is racing on track bikes, which will be a fun time whether you’re racing or watching
Saturday:Women’s Intro Racing Clinic, Sat June 27th at the Washington Blvd Cycling Oval. Coach Suzanne Atkinson, and various members of the Steel City Endurance Racing Team will be hosting a Women’s only introduction to Bicycle racing at the Washington Oval. Come and learn what bike racing is all about in a supportive, encouraging, non-threatening environment. Here’s a link to the full info, and if you’re on Facebook, here’s the page.
For the mountain bikers:
Saturday: Via the Pittsburgh Mountain Biking Blog, there will be a Hartwood Acres Trail Care Day on Saturday, as well. As usual, according to Maurice Tierney, “We love working on the trails, but playing on them is even better!” There will be a ride afterward, as well as some quality hang out time at JD’s Pub for free pizza and cheap beer.
For the History Buffs:
Saturday: Historic Bike Tour of Industrial Pittsburgh - This is a very leisurely 6-mile ride with lots of stops to point out and discuss remnants of the steel industry that are still visible along the South Side and Eliza Furnace Trails. Reservations are required - please call 412-464-4020 or visit www.riversofsteel.com
For the Families:
Sunday:Family Ride, Yough River Trail - Bring the family for this slow paced, pick your distance ride suited for casual riders, children and families. The ride will begin at the Boston Trailhead of the Yough River Trail and will travel up stream for 6 miles (12 miles round trip) to the Dravo Cemetery an interesting site along the Trail. See the Events calendar for more details.
All this and more on our Local Cycling Events Calendar. Showing a cycling movie? Planning a neighborhood ride? Let us know! We’ll list it too. To get your cycling event on this calendar, email info@bike-pgh.org
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
By Bob Karlovits, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Pittsburgh is becoming a bicycle town.
It is a city where trolley tracks and Belgian brick-lined streets are nightmares of the past.
Now, it is a city with about 22 miles of bike trails and 14 miles of marked bike lanes with plans for more, says city bicycling-pedestrian coordinator Stephen Patchan.
It is a city with a pub and a coffee shop heavily into the bike culture.
Good magazine, a health and activity publication from Los Angeles, lists Pittsburgh as one of its seven top cities with a burgeoning bike scene.
“We are on the map,” says Brad Quartuccio, co-publisher of the Bloomfield-based magazine Urban Velo.
“Bicycling is growing by leaps and bounds,” says Tom Baxter, executive director of Friends of the Riverfront, a development and recreation group.
Business has increased 20 percent to 30 percent at the three shops of Pittsburgh Pro Bikes, says Todd Schoeni, who owns the chain with Craig Cozza.
Golden Triangle Bike Rental added another site only a little more than 3 miles away from its original.
“It seems like we have something special going on here,” its owner, Tom Demagall, says of the interest in riding.
More pressure in the tires
Numbers tell the story, but they can be hard to find.
The city’s Patchan and Scott Bricker, executive director of BikePGH, the bicycling advocacy group, say they are working to develop estimates of the numbers of riders but have no figures right now.
“You can monitor one intersection one year to the next, and it just gets bigger and bigger,” Bricker says.
Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership
Posted Jun 25, 2009 by Rebekah M under spare parts
Ladies- come out in support of BikePGH by joining me in this ladies-only ride on Sunday, July 19th at 9:00a.m. Sponsored by the Major Taylor Cycling Club, the 30-mile ride begins and ends in Highland Park, with midway refreshments and post ride prizes! The $5 donation benefits BikePGH, helping us to continue advocating for your rights! I’ll be there filling you in on BikePGH’s recent projects and coming events, and signing up new members. To RSVP, email Sheila Woods at smcloudwoods@comcast.net
