Free Bike Tune Ups on Friday & Happy Hour on Saturday

Friday June 21st, 4-7pm, stop by Allegheny Commons East Park, Cedar Avenue and Foreland  Street, for a Car Free Fridays event hosted by Northside Bike/Ped – a Committee of the Northside Leadership Conference.

Free bike tune-ups, food, drinks and info on how to best bike around the Northside will be available from their table – first 10 visitors will receive a CFF canvas bag with some suprise giveaways.

Saturday June 22nd, from 5-7pm, head in to the Happy Hour at the James Street Gastro Pub where $1 from every drink goes to Northside Bike/Ped - sure to be a refreshing end-point after a day of riding bikes!

Show your support for Car Free Fridays and celebrate with our friends on the Northside.  To find out how you can bring Car Free Fridays to your neighborhood or business, contact dan@bikepgh.org

Car Free Fridays – putting an end to rush hour traffic, one single-occupant car trip at a time. Car Free Fridays empowers people to step out of their cars on a Friday to try an active transportation option.  With active commuting, Fridays are fun days and before long, Car Free Fridays are an everyday option.  See a list of Car Free Fridays events and request a Car Free Fridays Action kit at www.CarFreeFridays.org.....

June 21st, 6-10PM, ride over to the Carnegie Science Center to celebrate the opening of their newest exhibit, BIKES: Science on Two Wheels and explore a collection of rare, historic, and peculiar, all-around amazing bikes! Enjoy hands on exhibits, and science demos that explore energy, forces and motion, engineering, and material science. Learn about the ancestors of the modern bicycle, such as the Boneshaker, Penny Farthing, and Safety Bicycle. Test your balance by trying to ride a unicycle with the Butler Wobble unicyclists, and more! A cash bar and snacks will be available for purchase.

Just $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Buy tickets HERE.

Get $15 in free slot play at Rivers Casino (just a short walk away!) when you register while supplies last. You’ll receive a coupon upon check in.

Car Free Fridays – putting an end to rush hour traffic, one single-occupant car trip at a time. Car Free Fridays empowers people to step out of their cars on a Friday to try an active transportation option.  With active commuting, Fridays are fun days and before long, Car Free Fridays are an everyday option.  See a list of Car Free Fridays events and request a Car Free Fridays Action kit at www.CarFreeFridays.org.....

Time lapse video of a portion of the bicycle parking at Point State Park during Saturday’s 3 Rivers Arts Festival and Point Made

For the past several years, we’ve been helping the Three Rivers Arts Festival encourage people to ride their bikes to the festivities by offering a free valet bicycle parking service for the thousands of people who arrive to the festival on their bicycle.

This year, over 2,000 bicycles used this service over the course of the week. It also helped that the Point Made celebration of the completion of the Great Allegheny Passage coincided with the festival.

But what do you do with all of those bikes?

Be sure to check out the above time lapse video to see a portion of the bikes that were parked on Saturday at the Point.

Not a member of BikePGH? 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.bikepgh.org/membership.....

Join BikePGH this Saturday at Whole Foods in East Liberty for pancakes and Pedal Pittsburgh.

Whole Foods hosts their annual PedalPGH pancake breakfast from 8am until noon this weekend on June 22nd.  Join us at the store under the big white tent!  All proceeds to benefit Bike Pittsburgh.  Please bring family & friends, you won’t want to miss it!  On-site registration for Pedal Pittsburgh available during the hours of 8am and Noon.

If you can’t join us for pancakes, you can register now by clicking here to sign up for PedalPGH’s 20th Anniversary Ride.

Pancake Breakfast details:
Saturday, June 22th
8am-Noon
Whole Foods in East Liberty
$10/plate for adults & $5/plate for children under 12

Not a member of BikePGH? 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.bikepgh.org/membership.....

Two weeks ago, the PA Senate passed a comprehensive transportation funding bill (Senate Bill 1) that includes the FIRST-EVER dedicated funding for bicycles and pedestrians.

This money will fund projects that will make Pennsylvania roads and communities safer and more accessible for biking and walking.

Now the PA House must pass this $2.5 billion plan. We expect opposition to the bicycle and pedestrian funding portion of the bill, so we need to speak up for it! You can help in two ways:

Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.

Cities grow more bike-friendly

From messenger bag makers in Philadelphia to custom frame builders in Detroit, the new bike-based economy is flourishing across the country. The startup ecosystem includes everything from tour companies and pedicabs to mountain bike parks and app developers.

In Pittsburgh, that includes The Wheel Mill, the new indoor bike park, Project Aura which was started by students at Carnegie Mellon and Fiks: Reflective, a company with a good reputation that is doing very well. In the service sector, Golden Triangle Bike Rental not only provides rentals but also gives tours around the city and the Great Allegheny Passage. Also of note: Pittsburgh is home to three major bike publications in Urban Velo, Bicycle Times, and Dirt Rag Magazine.

According to Alison Dewey, Program Manager for the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle-Friendly Business program, these businesses are feeding off the rise in bike commuting and the fact that young people are now driving less. A recently released report from U.S. PIRG shows that car usage is declining after climbing for six decades straight. Meanwhile, bike commuting grew 39 percent on average from 2000-2010.

“Many cities are moving in the direction of trying to make streets more bike-friendly,” says Dewey, citing the growth of bike lanes, cycle tracks and bike parking in many cities, which has made bike commuting safer and more popular. “Studies show that people arriving by bike will spend more money at businesses.”

Read more

Watch this unused space transform! Complete set can be viewed on Flickr

City, Parking Authority, BikePGH transform space in Downtown’s 3rd Ave Garage into a bike parking facility

Today, the Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s office announced a new bike parking facility, developed with BikePGH and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, as part of the Mayor’s Project Pop Up: Downtown.

The new facility offers 50 new parking spaces for cyclists. This project transformed an unused space on the ground level of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority’s Third Avenue Garage – located only a block from Market Square – into a much-needed bike parking facility for cyclists. The bike station includes two areas: a free, public area that offers a bike fix-it station and space for approximately 30 bikes, as well as a premium parking area available by annual lease ($100/year) that offers secure, weather-protected storage lockers and parking for up to 24 bikes.

“Providing cyclists with safe, secure parking for their bikes is another step forward in making Pittsburgh a world-class, bike-friendly city,” Ravenstahl said. “Project Pop Up: Downtown has made great strides in increasing Downtown’s vibrancy and bringing more people into the heart of our city. This collaborative project will make shopping, dining and entertainment amenities more accessible to cyclists as we continue to make Pittsburgh an even more livable city for everyone.”

“This station is a life saver,” says a cyclist who was able to repair his flat on the Fix-It Station and get home.

Led by BikePGH, this project was made possible thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Mayor’s Project Pop Up: Downtown program, $7,200 from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, and the donation of parts and labor by the PSX Group, one of the Parking Authority’s systems contractors, worth $4,200.

“We’ve loved working on this project. Not only does it stay true to the spirit of the Mayor’s Project Pop Up program by taking an underutilized space and making it vibrant and interesting, it addresses a true need in the heart of Downtown,” says Scott Bricker BikePGH Executive Director. “The Third Avenue Bike Station shows off the City’s dedication to bike transportation and sustainability, while helping Pittsburghers save a few bucks and stay healthy.”

The Third Avenue Bike Station provides the city’s growing cyclist population with a protected and safe space to park their bikes. Bicyclists may choose from two parking options:

Free Bicycle Parking:

The free-use public component contains room for approximately 30 bicycles, a bike Fix-It station and a colorful tile mosaic on the floor in a fun, retro video game design thanks to local architect Lucia Aguirre.

Premium Bicycle Parking:

The premium fenced-in section includes spaces to be sold to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. An annual season lease is for one year, beginning July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. Cost is $100 per year. Approximately 24 bikes are able to park in the premium area, which includes lockers. Access to this secured area is via a magnetically locked door, which is opened through the use of a proximity badge. Interested residents are asked to call 412-560-2504 for more details.

“This is a much-needed amenity and we appreciate Mayor Ravenstahl, the Parking Authority and Bike Pittsburgh for working collaboratively and hope to see more of these projects in public and private garages throughout Downtown to meet the demand of our growing cycling community”, states Jeremy Waldrup, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

Article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Article in the Pittsburgh City Paper

Not a member of BikePGH? 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.bikepgh.org/membership.....

Don’t miss event this Friday, June 14

As part of Frank Lenz Day on Sat June 15th, BikePGH is excited to announce that David Herlihy, author of The Lost Cyclist, a book the New York Times says is “a view from the helmet cam in the days before helmet cams.”  Cyclists and historians alike will enjoy this incredible turn-of-the-century story about a Pittsburgher named Frank Lenz, a renowned high-wheel racer and long-distance tourist who dreamed of cycling around the world. He finally got his chance by recasting himself as a champion of the downsized “safety-bicycle” with inflatable tires, the forerunner of the modern road bike that was about to become wildly popular. In the spring of 1892 he quit his accounting job and took off on his bike as a correspondent for Outing magazine.

Two years into his journey, Lenz disappeared in Turkey during the start of a chain of atrocities that eventually led to the Armenian genocide.  His disappearance initiated a massive hunt for him, which even affected diplomatic relations.  Lenz managed to capture the imagination of the whole country during this interesting time in history when the bicycle was the most advanced form of independent, personal transportation.

Author David Herlihy, who wrote Bicycle: The History, explores what it was like to be an adventurer and traveler in the times before the automobile on the newfangled mechanical device called the bicycle.

June 14 Pittsburgh’s Lost Cyclist

An Evening with David Herlihy

Stop by the Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall, this Saturday between noon and 10pm  for a party celebrating the opening of the final piece of the Great Allegheny Passage.

Event will feature the Community Heritage Market with local vendors, businesses, food and beer, DJs and bike events.

Besides a variety of handcraft vendors, Pittsburgh food trucks such as Oh My Grill, the Pittsburgh Taco Truck and The Dozen Dessert Truck will also be on hand. Blue Dust will be supplying microbrews from their gastropub in Homestead at the market for purchase and The Waterfront will be sponsoring music as well as hosting events throughout the shopping complex site in celebration of the trail opening. During the Pop-Up Party, electricity will be supplied by sustainable energy outfitters ZeroFossil.

Rivers of Steel Community Heritage Market will also run 10 AM to 2 PM, Sunday, June 16. Other market vendors include Robin Londino’s Handcrafted Jewelry; Brown Bird Green String, Karen’s Kind Beads and the Bulgarian-Macedonian Club.

For more info contact Rob Baraff.

Sign up for the National Bike Challenge Today!

Officially kicking off on May 1 and ending September 30, this free and friendly competition encourages people throughout the Pittsburgh region to get out and ride, whether as daily commuters, weekend warriors, or somewhere in between.

The city plans to put more bike racks in business districts in an effort to improve access to cyclists and spur economic activity, the mayor’s office said.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/admin.....z2VNdB2XNO