PedalGR

February PedalGR Moonlight Bi(ke)athlon

Joshua Duggan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:45:07 +0000

The February PedalGR Bi(ke)athlon will meet on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 7pm at Founders Brewing Co, 235 Grandville Ave SW.

Come say your last hurrahs to the snow (spring is just weeks away!) at the first ever PedalGR Moonlight Bi(ke)athlon. I had planned to try this for January’s full moon, but the weather didn’t cooperate and melted our snow.

The plan will be for everyone to bring their bicycle and cross-country skis to Founders on Sunday. We will ride to Millennium Park where we will then hop on the skis and do a short loop around the park. I will bring my Xtracycle or a trailer to haul everyone’s skis, poles, and boots (if they absolutely won’t work with your pedals), so you don’t have to worry about that. In the event that the snow melts again, we will just plan for a ride, possibly around Millennium Park, possibly elsewhere. I’ve been itchin’ to meet up with some friends at Founders.

If you don’t have skis, ask around and see if you can borrow some. XC skiing is pretty straightforward and we won’t be going too fast. As usual, PedalGR is a social event, not a race.

I hope you can join us on Sunday evening!

Watch your inboxes for the 2010 PedalGR schedule, due out sometime in March. I’ve got some things in the works I’m pretty excited about, including possible monthly 30-40 mile “PedalGR Barnstorming” rides on Saturdays/Sundays to view and document some of the historical barns in Kent County in support of the Michigan Barn and Farmstead Survey. Of course, there will be stops for refreshments along the way and the pace will be suitable for most riders.

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December Blue Moonlight Ride

Joshua Duggan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:03:24 +0000

The 4th PedalGR Moonlight Ride will leave Founder’s Brewing Company, 235 Grandville Ave SW, on Thursday, December 31st at 6pm.

The ride should last 1 to 1 1/2 hours, so dress warmly.

Here’s a short list of what I usually wear:

long underwear
jeans
heavy wool socks
mid-weight wool socks
hiking boots or sometimes my insulated work boots (Note: Some people with better circulation in their feet can get away with a base layer sock, mid to heavy wool socks, cycling shoes and booties. If you don’t have winter cycling shoes, it’s important to have the booties or something else to block the wind. Most regular cycling shoes have decent ventilation which will not keep your feet warm.)
merino wool or polyester base layer
light to mid weight wool or cotton shirt
light weight fleece or windbreaker jacket

For my hands, I have a regular glove inside a fleece thinsulate glove, inside a larger windproof waterproof mitten. That works pretty well for me, although my hands have poor circulation and can still get cold after awhile.
for my face, I use a Psolar (google it) mask with a little heat exchanger cartridge.

Photo by Flickr user: rosefirerising; used under CC license

We’ll hopefully get back to Founders for a beer before the NYE crowd arrives en masse. Afterwards, Amy and I will be wandering down to Rosa Parks Circle to take in the festivities there, including live music, DJs, and the ball drop at midnight.

The route hasn’t been set, as I still need to scout the condition of the Millennium Park roads and trails. If it’s closed, we may head upstream to Riverside Park and back, or we may head elsewhere.

LIGHTS ARE REQUIRED! Extra lights may be available if you need them. Send me an email at joshuajduggan (@at@) gmail.com if you need to borrow a set.

New Year’s Day Ride at Founders

I was informed today that some members of the Founders Racing Team are organizing a New Year’s Day ride at 1pm, starting at Founders. They are a racing team, but I was assured this ride will be at a casual pace, open to riders of all skill levels. They are trying to get a big group together for the ride, so feel free to tell your friends or bring them with you. The route will head to Reed’s Lake and back.

If your #1 Resolution is to “Ride My Bike More” (and everyone’s should be), then this is a great way to start the year. There will be plenty of football games to watch later.

Moonlight bi(ke)athlons (no rifles!)

That’s right, January and February’s PedalGR Moonlight rides will debut the PedalGR bi(ke)athlons. Bring your cross country skis and your bicycle. We’ll put the skis in my Xtracycle or my trailer and I’ll haul them while we ride to Millennium Park. We will ski around on some of the paved or gravel trails, depending on the conditions and with snow on the ground, seeing by the moonlight is not an issue at all.

The biathlons are dependent upon having snow. If there’s isn’t any, or the conditions are not good enough for skiing, we’ll figure out an alternate plan. Don’t have skis? Email me at joshuajduggan @AT@ gmail.com and let me know you’re interested. If there’s enough interest, I’ll look into the possibility of getting rentals from somewhere.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a fantastic 2010!!!

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PedalGR Lights and Beer 2009

Joshua Duggan — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:05:33 +0000

Lighted reptile sighting not likely. Image by Flickr user: WallyG

The 1st PedalGR Lights and Beer ride will leave Founder’s Brewing Company on Wednesday, December 23rd at 7pm.

We’ll ride around to the GRAM/Rosa Parks Circle tree, the Van Andel tree, and some random neighborhoods to see the holiday lights until people get too cold (dress warm), then we’ll ride back to Founders and share a beer. I won’t guarantee a good light show, but I will guarantee good beer. Founders just released Sappy Slappy Bastard on Saturday. It’s a maple barrel-aged Dirty Bastard that sounds fantastic.

LIGHTS ARE REQUIRED! Extra lights may be available if you need them. Send me an email at joshuajduggan (@at@) gmail.com if you need to borrow a set.

Ride Safe! See you there.

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Filling the Bike Shop Desert in GR

Joshua Duggan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:06:23 +0000

I am absolutely elated that Ada Bike Shop has purchased Fulton Heights Mower and Bike Repair and will be opening a satellite shop in the coming months at 1311 E Fulton near the Family Fare! A grand opening is tentatively planned for sometime in the spring.

When I moved to Heritage Hill in 2006, one of the things that made bicycling and commuting more difficult was the lack of full service bicycle shops within easy riding distance. The two closest were Freewheeler on the NW side and Alger Cyclery near 28th and Buchanan. Both were about a 15-25 minute ride, depending on conditions. Similar to the food desert many city residents live in, without access to a full service grocery store, Grand Rapids had a bike desert in much of the city. Many of the other shops in Grand Rapids are between 5 and 7 miles away, and often located on busy 4-5 lane roads that aren’t very bicycle friendly.

Local Bike Shops - Before 2009 vs Median Income

Local Bike Shops - After 2009 vs Median Income

Local Bike Shops vs Population Density

Why? Follow the money.

I created three maps. The first shows full service bike shops prior to 2009, with a 2 mile radius surrounding each one. (I didn’t include The Motion Initiative on Godfrey because of their limited hours.)

The base map was created with the fantastic MAPAS application of GVSU’s Community Research Institute. The shading is for median income and darker is better, although the data from the 2000 census is getting old.

You’ll note a pretty big hole on the east side of Grand Rapids between Freewheeler, Alger Cyclery, Kentwood Cycling & Fitness, and Grand Rapids Bicycle Company.

The 2nd map, shows what it now looks like, with the addition of Commute Bicycle Shop on S. Division and the new Ada Bike Shop in Fulton Heights.

Dan Koert at Commute GR started with a bang and low overhead, selling a lot of used bicycles, some new, and a lot of parts, accessories, and repairs. He was recently rewarded with the People’s Choice for Best New Business at the 2009 Neighborhood Business Awards.

The new Ada Bike Shop should do well serving the neighborhoods full of bicyclists that surround it and the affluent in EGR who were also in the bike desert. Based on my talks with owner Jim Ippel last Tuesday, they are planning to do their best to continue to fix up some of the cheaper bikes that come in for repairs as well.

The third graphic shows population density. The new shops added this year are within easy biking distance of some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the metro area (>5,922 people per square mile.)

Finally, I wanted to share a few photos of the new space on Fulton St. These photos are from 12/2/09 (when it was 50F outside!!!) and when I was back on Tuesday, there was a nice window display with some youth bicycles and the entire peg board had come down. They were planning to paint the walls this week. The snowblower repair side of the business was also in full swing, with about 15 of them lined up in the main shop area, and more in the garage.

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November Moonlight Ride

Joshua Duggan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:16:20 +0000

The 2nd PedalGR Moonlight Ride will leave Founder’s Brewing Company on Monday, November 2nd at 7pm.

The ride should last 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

We’ll follow Wealthy to Kent Trails. Once we reach the Fred Meijer Millennium Trail, if there is enough light we’ll turn off the lights and continue by moonlight. It’s a pretty cool experience. If not, we’ll continue on with lights. We’ll return back to Founders after covering most of my favorite trail in Grand Rapids.

LIGHTS ARE REQUIRED! Extra lights may be available if you need them. Send me an email at joshuajduggan (@at@) gmail.com if you need to borrow a set.

Don’t miss this awesome ride! Then enjoy a delicious beer afterward and still make it home by bedtime.

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Rail trail mired in legal issues; m-bike.org; Go Bike! ride rescheduled

Joshua Duggan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:40:22 +0000

Plans for an abandoned rail corridor from Greenville to Lowell to be purchased and land banked for conversion into a future shared-use trail have been mired in some legal issues. It seems that an enterprising lawyer from St. Louis has made it his specialty to sue organizations trying to convert former rail rights of way into shared-use rail trails.

You can read Barton Dieters’ in depth article on mLive.com to get more information.

It’s an unfortunate case where a technical legal loophole on contracts that were written in the 1860s and 1870s may prevent new trails from being built. I’m not a legal expert, nor have I done the necessary due diligence, so I don’t feel qualified to say who is in the right. If this precedent is set, it’s hard to know what effect it will have on future trail development.

I just hope a sensible solution can be worked out and this sort of legal battle can be avoided in the future so that we can continue to expand our invaluable trail network. It is one important part of encouraging bicycling for recreation and transportation purposes. To use a bad cliché, these trails are often a “gateway drug” for bicycling.

m-bike.org is fantastic reading

Senator Stabenow's office in Wash, DC. Todd Scott on the far left and John Lindenmayer (nice dreadlocks) of the League of Michigan Bicyclists

I’ve been a fan of Todd Scott’s Detroit area bicycling blog, m-bike.org since I discovered it well over a year ago. He has always posted useful information on his advocacy efforts as Detroit Greenways Coordinator for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. I got the chance to meet Todd at the National Bike Summit and his passion for his work is absolutely undeniable.

He’s been on a posting frenzy in October, including some great historical stuff. Some examples are:

But my favorite is, Cycling Negatives Worth Memorizing, a series of tips from the Good Roads Magazine, June 1901. Here are a few of my favorites, but you should go and read them all.

– Don’t pay any attention to the big gear the fellow next door rides. Get one to suit your own style and strength and stick to it.

– Don’t take any chances at street car crossings. It is much easier to go around a car than through it and besides it is far more comfortable.

– Don’t leave your wheel at home when you can use it. You save expense get the exercise and are sure of a seat.

– Don’t think that cycling is a fad. It isn’t. It is a healthy and pleasurable means of transportation to be used when necessity or inclination so dictates.

You can read a short bio of Mr. Scott at his guest blog on Metromode Detroit.

Go Green! Go Dutch! Go Bike! ride rescheduled for Oct. 23rd

A recent talk on Oct. 9th by Henk Aay, the Meijer Chair for Dutch Culture at Calvin College, about the role that bicycle as transportation plays in Dutch culture was to be followed by a ride from Calvin College to Rosa Parks Circle, where the group was to be met by Grand Rapids Mayor Heartwell.

The weather did not cooperate howevers, so the ride portion of the event was rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 23rd. I’ll post more details on the exact time and location when I have them.

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Harvest Moonlight Ride

Joshua Duggan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:24:59 +0000

So much going on in Grand Rapids! It’s completely awesome, but I haven’t been keeping up on the blog.

Sunday night (tomorrow) is the first PedalGR Moonlight Ride. We will meet at Founders Brewing Co at 8:30pm and leave at 8:45pm. The ride should last 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

I’ll admit from the start that I’m not going to put a lot of effort into planning these rides, but they will still be a blast!! We’ll follow Wealthy to Kent Trails. Once we reach the Fred Meijer Millennium Trail, if the moon is out we’ll turn off the lights and continue by moonlight. If not, we’ll continue on with lights. We’ll return back to Founders after covering most of my favorite trail in Grand Rapids.

LIGHTS ARE REQUIRED!

ArtPrize Top Ten Extravaganza

On Wednesday, October 7th, we’ll have a special ArtPrize PedalGR starting at 6:30pm at Founders. The route will be short and sweet and we’ll try to hit all of the ArtPrize top ten. We’ll also try to stop at the ArtPrize venue 28th Floor of the RiverHouse condos building around sunset/twilight at 7:30-7:40pm. Bring your camera, it’s an unbelievable view from out on the deck.

If you haven’t registered yet for ArtPrize, it’s not too late. Visit the voter registration site and pre-register. Then you’ll be able to verify in person at the Old Federal Building and place your vote for the final winner by midnight on Wednesday.

Please bring a lock and your lights, as we will need both of them. Daylight is disappearing quickly these days. We’ll plan to return to Founders by 8:15-8:30 for some great beers, as usual!

Don’t miss this awesome ride!

http://www.artprize.org/home

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