May is Bike to School Safety Month in Fort Collins

By Rick Price, Ph.D.

First published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan May 2, 2011

May is “National Bike Month” but in Colorado we’ve celebrated June as “bike month” since 1995 (something about snow in May).  Indeed, the official “bike week” in Fort Collins is the last week of June and bike to work day is the fourth Wednesday of June. 

A group of middle school students from Dan Schrom's PE class at Lincoln Middle School poses on a bike field trip along the Poudre Trail in Fort Collins.  The students had three weeks of bike safety lessons in April 2011 under the City's Safe Routes to School program in collaboration with the Fort Collins Bike Co-op.

Having June as official Bike Month leaves the kids out.  So thanks to several local school champions, teachers, parents and volunteer bicycle advocates we will celebrate National Bike Month this month.  Join the ride!

May 2 – 6 is Bike to school week at Lesher Middle School where math teacher Rob Breshears is coordinating the Biking Vikings for the third year.   Ride your bike every day this week and get a variety of perks including a free t-shirt, a free light or bell, a bike tune-up from Full Cycle bike mechanics, breakfast on Thursday, a demonstration of wheel building from Phoenix Cyclery, and a chance to win a free bike for all those who participated in Walking and Wheeling Wednesdays through April.

May 12 is the All-school Car-free Bike & Walk to School Day at Laurel Elementary. Bevin Barber-Campbell, a parent volunteer who moved from Bozeman, Montana last fall, has taken over coordination of the Bike to School Program at Laurel and is excited to promote the district’s first “car-free” bike and walk to school day.   Check with the main office at Laurel for details on the “walking school bus” and “bike train” that all students are encouraged to join. 
May 7 & May 14 (both Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon) the Bike Co-op will hold a kids bike swap and bike helmet clinic.  While teaching in our schools the past four months I saw that 90% of the kids in town are riding bikes that are too small for them.  So the bike swap will encourage families to bring bikes in that are too big or too small and trade them with a neighbor for the right sized bike.  The swap will operate in the Bike Co-op parking lot at 331 North College Avenue.  For more information visit http://www.fcbikecoop.org/.

May 19 – 20 Bauder Elementary will take their 4th and 5th graders on a bike field trip with PE teacher Chris West.  This is the second year that Coach West has done this after three weeks of bicycle safety instruction in PE classes.  Chris is providing a great example of how to teach our kids bike safety in regular classes and the kids all look forward to this field trip. 

May 28, a Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. FCBikes is offering a Kids II bicycle clinic at Northside Aztlan Center for 5th and 6th graders.  This is a seven-hour on-bike skills class that teaches safe cycling on neighborhood streets and bike trails.  Contact FCBikes@FCGov.com for information.

Check with the main office in your kids’ schools for other events and begin planning now for your own bike to school events next year.  

Bike Co-op Art Show April 2, 2010

Join us at the Bike Co-op April 2, 2010 for an art show and general merriment to celebrate spring, bike art, and more!  

Bike Co-op Offers Series of Bike Safety Classes

The Bike Co-op will offer a series of nine bike safety classes beginning February 25 and continuing through April 17. This is a buffet -come for the entire feast or just for the courses that appeal to you. There is no cost except for those who need this as a prerequisite for a League Cycling Instructor seminar.

The class will be coordinated by Rick Price and by other League Cycling Instructors (LCIs) in the community.

This class brings together forty years of Smart Cycling curriculum developed by the League of American Bicyclists for both novice and experienced riders. There is something for everyone here. You may attend only the classes that interest you although if you wish to receive a certificate for completing the class you must attend all sessions and take an exam. There is no charge for the class unless you wish to receive the certificate. In that case the fee is $60 ($30 for students and educators). ANYONE interested in becoming a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) needs to take this entire class and an exam to get the Traffic Skills 101 certificate (a prerequisite for your LCI). Otherwise just come for fun!

The first 8 classes are 1 hour and 15 minutes each on Thursday nights at the Fort Collins Bike Co-op. There will be no class during Spring Break (March 18) The last class is a three hour on-road class Saturday, April 17th.

AND please tell your friends.

Classes begin at 7 p.m. at the Bike Co-op at 331 North College Avenue.

Feb. 25 – Vehicular Cycling Philosophy and Practice (What this class can do for youth, adults, beginning cyclists, educators, commuters, and motorists);

March 4 – Picking a bike: what kind of bike should I buy ?

March 11 – Bike Maintenance Basics (very basic: replace a tube; patch a tire; simple brake and derailleur adjustments);

March 18 – Spring Break – NO CLASS;

March 25 – Safety equipment, Bike Clothing, accessories, & on-the-bike tools for commuters, recreation and touring;

April 1 – Principles of Traffic Law (in general and in Colorado);

April 8 – How crashes happen and how to avoid them;

April 15 – Riding basics (classroom);

April 17 (Saturday) Bike Handling basics – Parking lot drills (1.5 hours); On-the-road practice (1.5 hours)

Take a look at the League of American Bicyclists web site for other classes we are offering this spring.

Call Rick Price if you have question: 970-310-5238.

Why Not Bicycle to Work?

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) publishes a blog called Greenversations. On May 12, 2008 they posted the following "Question of the Week: Why are you or aren’t you biking to work?"

Within four weeks they had 799 answers to the question! 345 people wrote that they did bike to work (of course, they would read and respond to such a blog post) and 359 wrote that they didn't pedal to work.

What is interesting is the reason WHY people don't pedal. As bicycle advocates we can learn something from this.

Of course, many people live too far to pedal (or they think that they do), others have to take the kids to school or have no showers or place to change. But a good third of the folks (120) say they don't ride because it is "too dangerous."

Indeed, Bob wrote the following in this respect:

"The Safe Routes to School program is brilliant. We need a Safe Routes to Work program. And a Safe Routes to Just About Everywhere Else program. Its sad that people are detered from biking because they feel like they’re going to be run over by a car (yes, even Priuses can hurt). Understandably, there are many people that lack confidence on bikes. City riding is not easy. Suburban riding can be even worse. We need to throw money (buckets of it) into viable, SAFE routes around cities and towns. Also, its all about connections. The routes actually need to go somewhere. I’ve been on too many trails that suddenly end in a busy intersection/narrow bridge/highway on-ramp/etc. You can have a beautiful trail for 10 miles, but if for a 100 feet bikers feel endangered, most people won’t even bother."

A League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101 class or Commuter Skills Class is just what those folks need. And at the risk of oversimplifying the issue (maybe that last 100 feet really is bad) then your local advocacy group should take that problem up and get it fixed (of course, bicyclists easily become pedestrians and can walk their bike, also!)

So let's get a Safe Routes to Work Commuter Skills class going in Fort Collins. We have many League Cycling Instructors in town who could teach such a class and even offer individualized instruction, accompanying commuters on their route to demonstrate exactly how to handle uncomfortable intersections.

If your business is interested in such a class for bicycle commuters contact the Fort Collins Bike Co-op today!

Cycologist Cooperates with Bike Co-op on Clunker Bikes

Through Jan. 31 the Cycologist Bike Shop will give you a 10% discount if you turn in a "clunker" bike with the purchase of a new bike. The good news is that the Cycologist will donate your clunker to the Bike Co-op for recycling, refurbing and redeploying to someone in need! Everybody wins.

Visit the Cycologist web site today and take a look in the basement for that clunker that you never use!


Then plan to visit the Bike Co-op to see what we do! (Of course, we're glad to take that clunker as a donation if you don't intend to buy a new bike this month). Visit the Bike Co-op web site today.

City should rethink stance on bike safety

Soapbox in the Coloradoan, Nov. 11, 2009
by Rick Price, Ph.D.
Safe Cycling Coordinator for the Fort Collins Bicycle Cooperative

Thanks go to City Council member Lisa Poppaw for questioning funding for bicycle safety at the Sept. 1 City Council meeting. That question, and the discussion that followed, gave us Traffic Engineer Joe Olsen's study of bike/car crashes, which appeared Nov. 1 on the front page of the Coloradoan.

Although data on bicycling are sparse and the statistics on bike/car crashes are preliminary, we can make some interesting inferences from the data we do have. Hopefully, these inferences will help the City Council rethink funding priorities for the city's bike program.

According to the estimates of the American Community Survey, a project of the U.S. Census, 5.4 percent of commuters rode their bicycles to work daily in Fort Collins in 2006 (about 3,800 people). In 2008, that percentage had risen to 7.4 percent (5,800 people), a jump of 37 percent. With this increase, we saw a 31 percent increase in bike/car crashes compared to annual growth in the single digits for most of the early part of the decade (one exception was the increase of 13.5 percent from 2003 to 2004). (We don't have data on the increases of cyclists during the early part of the decade as this information has been collected only since 2006.)

Based on these statistics and observations, most of us would agree that bicycling in Fort Collins is on the rise and so, it seems, are bike/car crashes. Is this because we reinstated the bike coordinator's position in 2006, or is it because there is a bicycle revolution going on across the country? Probably both, but the alarming increase in bike/car crashes and the deaths in the last year of two children suggest that we have an issue that needs the immediate attention of the City Council.

Our bike coordinator will be funded from federal monies at about $287,500 per year for two years beginning in 2010. Those funds are allocated as follows: $70,000 to promote bicycle events; $70,000 to fund the bike coordinator's position (including benefits and training); and $32,500 to fund "regional bicycle coordination and marketing" so we can help Loveland and Greeley become more bicycle friendly. Finally, $100,000 a year will continue to fund the Bike Library. By comparison, $38,500 of other federal funds will pay for a Safe Routes to School Program during 2009/10. As yet, no funds have been awarded for Safe Routes in 2010/11.

The council has scheduled a work session Feb. 9 to address "transportation safety." That session should focus on a review of the city's bicycle policies and take a serious look at reallocating funds from bicycle events and encouragement to bicycle education. And by education, I mean just that: "providing knowledge and training through formal schooling, teaching and learning," not through pamphlets and posters.

Is it not reasonable, given the present situation in Fort Collins, to suggest that federal funds be reallocated so that we are spending $250,000 annually on bicycle education and $38,500 on encouragement and events?

If you have an opinion on this, please let City Council know.

Bike Co-op Schedules Open House Saturday, November 14

The Fort Collins Bike Co-Op would like to invite you to come help us celebrate our Grand Re-Opening/Open House at our new location at 331 N College Avenue on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (We have glass in our windows now! You must see to believe!)



We are excited to show off our new space (our fourth home since 2003) and encourage the public to drop by and see what we’re all about. Bring along your neighbors, friends, and people you meet in the bike lane on the way there. Its a great chance to learn more abut the Bike Co-Op’s programs and discover how you can learn about bike maintenance and bike safety. Join our army of volunteers and help us give back and encourage a better bicycling community. Drop off a business card for a chance to win our Bike-A-Way.

The Fort Collins Bicycle Co-Op is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to 'Building community through bicycling". Our programs and services are designed to give back to the northern Colorado community through your open bike shop, bike education, bike recycling, bike donations, and coordination of bike parking at local events. We put a strong emphasis on a zero-waste goal to help minimize the impact on our environment. Please contact us at outreach@fcbikecoop.org for more information or we’ll see you on the 14th! Spread the word - pass this information on!

Come and see how our pile of bikes for Ghana has grown! More importantly, come and see what a pile of 500 bikes looks like!

Bike Co-op Offers League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling Class Nov. 7th

The Fort Collins Bike Co-op is offering a Smart Cycling class for both experienced and novice cyclists Saturday, Nov. 7. This class is part of the wide ranging curriculum of smart cycling courses offered by the League of American Bicyclists. The goal of the class is to teach the principles and practices of “vehicular” cycling.

The course gives all levels of cyclists critical knowledge about where to ride in traffic, how to ride in traffic and on multi-modal trails, and what bicycle to select for your specific needs. The class will also address cycling techniques for commuters and recreational cyclists and recent changes in Colorado law that affect cyclists.

This course is ideal for parents or PE, health and wellness educators who are interested in teaching better bicycling to their own children or to their students. The class is also a required course for anyone seeking to achieve the League of American Bicyclists “League Cycling Instructor” – LCI - certification. The Co-op will offer an LCI certification class in late winter so if you are considering pursuing that certification the Nov. 7th class is a great opportunity to complete the Traffic Skills 101 (TS 101) prerequisite.
The class is sponsored by the Fort Collins Bike Co-op: www.FCBikeCoop.org

To register for this Traffic Skills 101 course, contact:
Rick Price
Contact Email: Rick@experienceplus.com
Website: www.FCBikeCoop.org
Signup is required in advance
Contact the instructor by e-mail or phone: 970-310-5238
rick@experienceplus.com.
Fee: $60 (Scholarships, educator & student rates are available)
Equipment required: Bring your bicycle and a helmet (required for sure)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7 - 8:30 to 5 p.m.
Instructor: Rick Price
Location: Fort Collins Bike Co-op: 331 North College, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Fee: $60 (Scholarships, educator & student rates available)

Big News: The Bike Co-op is Moving!

The Bike Co-op would like to announce that we're moving a few short blocks to a new permanent home at 331 N. College Ave! We just signed the lease yesterday (on Friday). Its awesome, there's nearly 9,000 sq ft of space, it's all heated and insulated, there's plenty of storage, workspace, two bathrooms, a retail area, a great parking lot for test rides, plenty of room out back for donations and recycling. You've just got to see it for yourself to believe it.

Volunteer Opportunities

Come on down today (Saturday 8/22) at 3pm to 331 N. College if you'd like to lend a hand cleaning it up before we start to move in. Please bring any large push brooms and cleaning supplies you might have available. Then at 5pm this evening we'll be moving Ghana bikes from Steele's market over to the new space. We have a 16' trailer to move them but could use more hands on both ends to speed the process.

Please also plan on joining us tomorrow Sunday 8/23 for a work day (closed to the public) during our normal shop hours Noon-6pm for a work day at 222 Laporte getting things organized for our big move! We will not re-open the shop until everything is moved over to 331 N. College, so please watch for more emails in the upcoming weeks announcing further work/move days.

We will not re-open the shop until everything is moved over to 331 N. College, so please watch for more emails in the upcoming weeks announcing further work/move days.

Donations

If you would like to contribute financially, we sure could use some funds to help us offset the costs of repairing/renovating a few areas of our new home, keeping our tools and parts well stocked, and helping out with monthly rent. You can donate via Paypal by credit card, bank account, or Paypal account and all donations are tax decuctible. Please visit our website http://fcbikecoop.org/programs/grants/donations.php and consider a one time or subscription donation. Thank you in advance!

Grinning from ear to ear,
Your Friends at the Fort Collins Bike Co-op

http://fcbikecoop.org/programs/grants/donations.php soon 331 N. College!

Bike Co-op Offers Valet Bike Parking Services

Thomas Edwards is the volunteer at the Fort Collins Bike Co-op who heads up the Valet Bike Parking project. Thomas works with two board members to coordinate and organize our valet parking events but above all he hauls bike racks on our cargo trike and trailer, staffs the parking events, and coordinates volunteers.

The photo of the trike and loaded trailer was taken during a time trial race on CSU's oval while the other two were taken at New West Fest, 2009. Bicycles left over at the end of an event are hauled back to the Bike Co-op and logged in as abandoned (see photo). The owners can pick them up by calling the Co-op and stopping in during open hours. Note Thomas holding the bolt-cutters that the Co-op volunteers use to cut the locks on bikes that abandoned at the end of an event

Fort Collins 2009 One Speed Open Photos Now on Line

Check out the photos of the Fort Collins "One Speed Open" on Flickr.

Polaris High School Freshman to ride the Colorado Trail

Thursday, 30 April 2009 21:07
To whom it may concern:

I would like your assistance in raising money for the Fort Collins Bicycle Co-op. I am looking for sponsors who will contribute directly to the Fort Collins Bicycle Co-op as I spend 2 weeks mountain biking the Colorado Trail. I will cover all my own expenses, carry my own gear, ride during the day and camp out along the 500 miles of trail between Denver and Durango.

I felt I could make my 2 week trip even more rewarding by raising money for the Fort Collins Bicycle Co-op http://fcbikecoop.org/index.php . The Bicycle Co-op is a nonprofit organization that promotes the health, environmental and economic benefits of bicycling in Fort Collins and abroad. They do this primarily by collecting and repairing old bikes and reusing them here as well as in developing nations over-seas.

There are several ways you can support my cause for a more bicycle friendly world. You can go directly to the Fort Collins Bicycle Co-op web site and donate on line at the Fort Collins Bike Co-op or mail a check to the Fort Collins Bicycle Co-op 222 Laporte Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80521. If you prefer you can pledge a donation now, either a set amount or a dollar-per-mile amount and I will collect from you after I finish in July. If you contribute direcly to the Bicycle Co-op please let me know so I can track it.

Thank you for your support. I appreciate your contribution.

Sincerely,

Cassi Mason

tony@greyrock.org
freshman Polaris High School

Bike Co-op Achieves 501-c-3 Designation

The Fort Collins Bike Co-op recently received its very own 501-c-3 designation and at about the same time it signed a contract with the City of Fort Collins to handle:
1) Bike maintenance through 2009 for the Bike Library bikes and, 2) Valet Bike Parking for the City Parks Department at a variety of events. The Co-op also has undertaken to be more visible in the community through tabling events at CSU and in Fort Collins. The photo shows Co-op founder and Rafael Cletero and volunteer Steve Burns staffing a table at the CSU Earth Day event April 22nd while stuffing themselves with Kasbah Pizza (Kasbah is a Co-op sponsor!)

Fort Collins Bike Co-op Seeks Volunteers: HELP (WANTED)!

Bike Mechanics– Experienced or apprentice mechanics to help with Earn-A-Bikes, prep library bikes, and restore impounded and donated bikes.

Bike Co-op Greeters- Friendly greeters needed every day the Co-op is open. Help Co-op customers with bike problems, issues and answering questions.

Bicycle Retrieval Squad- Help needed to retrieve lost and abandoned bikes as necessary. Have a truck? All the better. Or use our bike + trailer to bring bikes in.

Bike Co-op Art Department- Help wanted to provide artwork for shirts, murals, posters, diagrams, signage, decals, and countless other fun stuff!

Bike Library Checkout Volunteers- Meet, greet, and entertain visitors to the Fort by checking out library bikes from the kiosk or Bike Co-op during the week.

Community Outreach, Bike Safety & Mechanics Classes- Join our team to take bike ed. To school groups, CSU and other community groups.

Earn-a-Bike Assistants- Help organize, coordinate, and promote our E-a-B program to any & all who would like to build and earn their own recovered bike.

Fundraising and Grant writing needed- Help us find that next mini-grant, major donation, and $5 monthly subscription to feed the Bike Co-op system!

Ghana Bikes Project- Help us & the World to send 450 abandoned bikes to Ghana with the Village Bicycle Project.

Iron mongers, tinkers, tinsmiths and blacksmiths needed- we need help recycling iron, steel, aluminum and more to keep it out of the landfill.

League Cycling Instructors in Training- Join our team of League of American Cyclists Bike Ed instructors who will develop and teach Bike Ed. To schools!

Newsletter Editor- We need a wordsmith to help us tell the world what we’re doing! Work with all our lead volunteers to keep people informed, inflamed, and inspired!

Racing Volunteers- Help monitor, and cheer the National Collegiate Cycling Championships in May 2009 and 6 day races around the oval this summer.

Valet Bike Parking- Bike Parking at community events make the Co-op more visible in town, spread the word, and ask for tips and donations to the Co-op.

Volunteer coordinators- Every single activity listed above needs help with coordinatin’, innovatin’, and activatin’. Maybe that would be you?!

Tabling- Customer service and sales people need to help spread the work about the Bike Co-op and our need for volunteers of all flavors!

Check out the Co-op web site today and get in touch!