Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance (CABA)

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:00:54 +0000

* Weekly News and Views *

Your only go-to source for people, events and advocacy

OUR MISSION: Transforming Community through Cycling

Tomorrow ! CABA MONTHLY FORUM – Tues. Dec. 6

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:13:22 +0000

Come schmooze with us and hear Ben Barry

GUEST SPEAKER: Ben Barry, Exec. Director -The B.I.G. Ride

Ben is a loyal CABA member and leader for this amazing and inspiring bicycle tour ( anyone can join !) to raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of brain injuries. The tour stops in towns along the route to educate others about brain injury and the impact it can have on their lives. The goal is to encourage bike helmet and seat belt safety. It’s a 2 1/2 month ride through 21 states and 6000 miles, now in its 6th bi-annual re-cycle. The ride itself is also in memory of Ben’s late wife, Lee Anne, who tragically was killed on the ride in 2007, and who ironically had suffered from brain injury as a young child.

LOCATION: Kickstand Burgers + Brew (includes vegetarian choices and Fat Tire Ale !) – 1101 Central Avenue at Heath Court a few blocks towards Uptown from Plaza Midwood. We have a relaxed, quiet meeting room to the right of the front entry. Bike parking available ! CLICK: Mapquest.

TIME: 6:30 – 8 p.m. Meet kindred spirits. You don’t have to be a CABA member to participate. Meetings start and end on time.

POST MEETING BIKE RIDE - Bring your lights and helmet. Ride led by CABA member Pamela Murray.

photo copyright Scott Murrish

Thank you Deputy Police Chief Harold Medlock our November Forum guest speaker. Turns out he is an avid bicycle (and motorcycle) guy and an unqualified supporter of the rights of bicyclists. We must have him back again ! Thanks also to CABA members – Attny. Ann Groninger and Jeff Viscount who arranged for this first time appearance, and Jim Gilliland, police officer and former CABA Board of Directors member for joining us. Stay tuned for more !

Do you have a great idea for a speaker or topic ? Click the comment bubble below and let us know.

PEOPLE AND HAPPENINGS

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:04:15 +0000

In and around Charlotte

Cycle Track in Uptown - maybe. We hear that a consultant contract is being negotiated to study the feasibility of Charlotte’s first two-way “cycletrack” along 3d Street from the new Little Sugar Creek Greenway and CPCC thru Uptown to Irwin Creek Greenway.
DNC Sustainability Subcommittee - Dan Murrey Democratic National Convention (DNC) Exec. Director led the first meeting. Yes “bike sharing” is a “wish list” item along with many others. Lively discussion on what transportation ”legacy” is desirable once the DNConvention in Sept. 2012 concludes. Stay tuned for more news as it unfolds. Martin Zimmerman, CABA Exec. Director, is a member of this group.
”Bike Share” update - CDOT staff are scheduled to present before the Transportation and Planning committee of City Council on November 28 . From that the committee can decide if and when a feasibility study might be undertaken to determine if bike share is the right fit for Charlotte. CABA will be there. Thanks to Haley Beaupre, CABA member, who is researching bike share strategies on our behalf. Stay tuned.
Rumor mill! another bike shop for Charlotte – Looks like a custom shop maybe opening very soon, so we are told. Somewhere south of Uptown. CABA attended a sneak preview, but we have promised to hold our lips tight until further notice.
Update on $10 million Federal “Tiger Grant” application for a major urban/suburban bike trail - This is a big one but highly competitive . If Charlotte is selected by the Feds. it could leverage another $20 million to build a trail connecting Little Sugar Creek NE to Tobey Creek at UNCC and from there all the way to Cabarus County as a major link in the unfolding Carolina Thread Trail system. Keep your fingers crossed. Over 800 applicants. Decision is being fast-tracked and may be announced by the end of December !
Green lanes for Charlotte ? – CDOT has received tentative approval from national certifiers to construct some “green lanes” as an experiment. This is big news, and if you have ridden on them elsewhere you may have experince the secure feeling it is to be on one. BTW: In other cities they are also blue and red. As long as they are bright who cares !? CLICK: GoGreen to see a video of Brooklyn, New York’s test lane.

INVITE: BEETHOVEN BIRTHDAY BLAST !

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:00:05 +0000

Roll. Roll over. Roll over Beethoven…

Let’s party ! – Thursday, Dec. 15

Did you know that December 16 is the 240^th birthday of Ludwig Van Beethoven ? No kidding. Let’s be honest, Christmas office parties can get kind of boring. Maybe it’s time for some competition. Maybe it’s time to give Ludwig some credit too, (even if he wasn’t much of a bicyclist). Drink a toast in his honor…. … and celebrate CABA’s anniversary as well.

For 13 years the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance has been hard at work making our community more bicycle friendly. Come join us to celebrate another great year.

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Here are the stats > >

WHERE: Common Market / 1515 S. Tryon Street / South End. Come by bike, LYNX light rail or (ugh !) by car.

WHEN: Thursday, December 15 – 6:30-9 p.m.

WHO: CABA members and friends including everyday bicyclists, weekend warriors, mountain bicyclists, couriers, commuters, novices and wanna-bees.

DRESS CODE: Power ties and tie dyes, stone jeans and jerseys, helmets and spandex are all optional. The rest is up to you.

MUNCHIES and LIQUIDS: We supply the finger food. You pony up for the brew. And don’t forget – - – Thursdays are ½ price nights for beer by the draft.

NOTE: The deadline for reservations is Sunday, December 12. Reply to danffaris@aol.com. After that, you can still come, but don’t count on us to feed your fancy.

BACK FROM FRANCE !

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:02:10 +0000

Fact-finding tour of bike sharing systems

Message from Martin Zimmerman, CABA Exec. Director ~ ~

Last month I returned from a pretty remarkable 3 – week trip…..to Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg, three of the most successful “bike-sharing” cities in Europe. In Paris I interviewed Monseur Albert Asseraf, the JC Decaux company representative for the “Velib” bike-share system (20,000 bikes; usage increase of 20% over last year). I met with him and the JCD maintenance and repair guys on a barge along the Seine just a stone’s throw from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Met with other insiders and community activists in Lyon and Strasbourg whose successful bike share systems predate Paris’. Pedaled the systems in all three cities to gauge the quantity and quality of the bike infrastructure and check out what segments of society are actually using bikes on an everyday basis. (Lyon is about as good as it gets). I took the subways, trams, trains and boats (and of course walked for miles in each city) to view how the transportation systems were integrated.

Bike sharing systems are simply well-managed fleets of high-quality bikes available for short-term affordable credit card rental at various locations within cities. There are now more than 375 systems in 33 countries. (For more on bike sharing - use the Search box on this page or CLICK: Bike Share.)

The results of this trip will be used by CABA as a public service to inform local decision-makers who are just beginning to consider its feasibility in the Queen City, possibly in concert with the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

MYSTERY PHOTO QUIZ

martinzimmerman8 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:06:34 +0000

Win a CABA intro. membership

It’s been a while since we’ve had a quiz, but we have some tempting morsels lined up for you to chew on. Be the first to identify the location below and we send you a FREE annual membership card good for 10% discounts at 14 area bike shops and the feel-good pride that you are supporting the cause of safe, healthy and fun cycling for young and old alike. Just send us your snail-mail address and answer to charlottebikes@gmail.org or use the comment bubble below.

That's a real bike folks. Not part of the sculpture.

GLOBAL WARMING ACCELERATES

martinzimmerman8 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:33:59 +0000

Higher than worst case scenarios

Dateline: November 4 – Washington Post and other sources

Zero emission vehicle. copyright Andy Singer cartoons

Year 2010 results are published. We first saw this on page 6A of the Charlotte Observer. Read this excerpt > ” We’d be facing much higher land temperatures — as much as a 5.5°C (10°F) rise in parts of the United States — plus a six-foot sea-level rise by 2100, along with large species loss, many more extreme weather events, and a big hit to the world’s food supply. Arctic temperatures could rise as much as 11°C (20°F), which would, among other things, speed up the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet…”

It’s increasingly difficult to find a ray of hope when confronted with data as alarming as these findings. CLICK: Dire warnings to read full Washington Post article.

MYSTERY PHOTO QUIZ – WHERE IS THIS ?

martinzimmerman8 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:06:38 +0000

..and the winners are >

Keihly Moore and Randy Godfrey

Congratulations! You correctly identified the location as Caribou Coffee on East Blvd. near Scott Ave! Keihly tells us she is a grad student at UNCC in urban design, and a loyal CABA volunteer, and Randy tells us he hangs out with the Critical Mass gang of single-speed social deviants (well, not exactly).

Not only do you receive a FREE 1-year membership card, but you will also receive a FREE set of perma-frozen caribou antlers and a FREE year’s supply of stale coffee grinds. Who could ask for anything more ?

You also get 10% discounts at 14 area bike shops and the feel-good pride that you are supporting the cause of safe and healthy cycling for young and old alike in metro Charlotte.

Stay tuned. We will have another quiz next week !

Thanks to Ilan Paltrow and the folks at Bicycle Sport for being good corporate citizens !

A TYPICAL CABA MONTHLY FORUM

martinzimmerman8 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:21:24 +0000

Francisco Montero, expert mechanic now with TrySports teaching bike fundamentals / august 2011

THE LATEST TREK MODEL >

martinzimmerman8 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:11:58 +0000