Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Wisconsin Bike Fed's Winter Carnival

Whether you enjoy riding a mountain bike, riding for sport, or riding your bike as a safe and convenient form of transportation, the Wisconsin Bike Fed’s Winter Carnival will have cycling-related fun for everyone on February 1st at Ray’s Indoor Bike Park, 8365 North 76th Street, Milwaukee. Attendees will have the opportunity to ride mountain bikes indoor, try their luck at winning cool bike gear, and enjoy great food and drink. Come mingle and network with bicyclists from across the state and learn more about the Bike Fed’s plans to move Wisconsin bicycling forward in 2013 and beyond.


The Winter Carnival will be a fun, family-friendly celebration of the large and vibrant bicycle community. Ray’s Indoor Bike Park is the perfect venue to promote the diversity and joy of Wisconsin bicycling. Please join the Bike Fed for great food, fun and bicycle camaraderie!

Individual adult admission to the Winter Bike Carnival is $25 ($35 at the door). Individual admission for children (under the age of 18 and accompanied by an adult) is $12 ($15 at the door). Carnival attendees will receive tickets valued at $10 ($5 for children) that can be used to purchase food, drink, merchandise, and participate in carnival games. Additional tickets will be available for purchase and can be won by participating in our fun carnival games.

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Noon – 5:00 p.m.: Open riding (FREE bike rental included!)

5:30 – 9 p.m.: Food, drinks, carnival games and more.

Early online registration discount only $25 ($35 at door)

Volunteer at the Carnival and ride 2 days at Ray’s for FREE! Volunteers gain free entrance to the Carnival, get to ride the day of the event AND get a free pass to Ray’s to use at a later date.

Stay the night!

The Four Points Sheraton Hotel is just around the corner from Ray’s and is offering a special rate for out of town attendees. Mention Ray’s Indoor Bike Park and you’ll get a fantastic room with a shuttle from the hotel to the event!

Monday, January 28, 2013


Oakbrook REI — Cold Weather Cycling Basics

  • Date: 1/28/2013
  • Event Location: Oakbrook REI
  • Event Fee: Free
  • Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM CST
  • Instructor: REI Specialist
  • Group Size: 35
Description: Join REI experts to learn the tips and tricks you need to keep riding your bicycle all year round! The cold weather cycling experts will be talking about the gear, the skills and the maintenance you will need to combat the cold weather months on your bicycle!
13 spots available
Stay Updated on Store Events!
REI Gearmail® updates you on store events, hot products and more.
  
Store Sponsor: Oakbrook REI
Store Hours:
  • Mon - Fri 10 am - 9 pm
  • Sat 9 am - 9 pm
  • Sun 10 am - 7 pm
 


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Australian Youth Olympic Festival - Sydney

Members of the Australian Gold team compete in the men's under-19 four-kilometer team pursuit final at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, Australia.






Saturday, January 26, 2013

Tour of West Ridge

Time: January 26, 2013 from 11am to 3pm


Indian Boundary Park

2500 W Lunt Ave

Chicago

Phone: 773-255-6347

Event Type: fun, architecture, history

Organized By: Lee Diamond

Saturday explore the Northside Community Area of West Ridge. Gather at the National and Chicago Landmark Park, Indian Boundary Park at 2500 W Lunt Ave in front of the recently fire-damaged Clarence Hatzfield designed Tudor fieldhouse with Native American motifs. The park is part of the northern boundary of the area that the Potawatomi seceded to the U.S. in 1816.

West Ridge is Community Area #2, 9 miles northwest of the city’s Loop. It is bordered by Howard and the city of Evanston on the north and the North Shore Channel and the cities of Lincolnwood and Skokie on the west. It’s eastern border following Ridge Boulevard adjacent to Rogers Park and then Ravenswood and finally Western west of Edgewater. The southern border is the community area of Lincoln Square stretching along Peterson from Lake Michigan to Western, and Bryn Mawr from Western to the River. It is a popular and comfortable locale with jaw dropping mansions and a fleet of sturdy and tiny worker’s homes. Come join for a leisurely bike ride to get to know the community, its history and architecture.



Buy Tour for $9
Buy 2012 Poster and Tour for $12

Friday, January 25, 2013

Four Moon Anniversary

It’s been 14 years, but it only feels like 14 minutes……..under water. Come join in the madness. Special prices, free raffle starts at 7:00 with fabulous prizes, cats and dogs drinking together (meaning we’ll be tapping Lagunitas Imperial Stout and Half Acre Big Hugs Imperial Coffee Stout) fog machine, old faces and new, mass hysteria, Alex, and sadly, no dancing monkeys. And as always, thank you for your support.




Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Breaking Away - The Portage Theater

Breaking Away - a Midwestern classic in 35mm!
:: January 23, 2013 @ 7:30 PM
Breaking Away - a Midwestern classic in 35mm! Projected by the Northwest Chicago Film Society
NWCFS blogFacebookTwittercomplete schedule

Admission: $5

"Breaking Away is a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure... Movies like this are hardly ever made at all; when they're made this well, they're precious cinematic miracles." - - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

BREAKING AWAY
Directed by Peter Yates • 1979
Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley are four Bloomington townies on the brink of adulthood, adamantly putting off going to college (expensive), joining the army (dangerous), or going to work (i.e., selling used cars). Bitterly opposed to the privileged social elite at Indiana University, Dennis Christopher enters the annual ‘Little Indy’ cycling race as an act of defiance and falls head over heels for IU undergraduate Robyn Douglas, masquerading as an Italian foreign exchange student to win her over. Peter Yates (Bullitt, The Friends of Eddie Coyle) directed an Oscar-winning semi-autobiographical script by Yugoslavian-born Steve Tesich, who moved to Bloomington when he was 13 and won the Little 500 bicycle race of 1962. The film has the kind of sweet, unsentimental outlook that people like Studs Terkel saw in America and, per Time Out-London, “went out of fashion with [Howard] Hawks.” Breaking Away deals with class issues and coming of age in a way that movies no longer think to do (and even in 1979 a film like Breaking Away was an exception to the rule) and in 2013 is just as relevant. (JA)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Chicago Winter Bike Swap

The 2013 Chicago Winter Bike Swap will be held on January 19, from 9:30-3:30 at Harper College. The original bike swap for the Chicago area is returning for the 6th year.


Friday, January 18, 2013

Winter Bike to Work Day

6:30am to 9am – Daley Plaza


Stop by Daley Plaza in Chicago’s Loop on Jan. 18 for the annual celebration of cyclists who don’t let low temperatures stop them from pedaling to work. Warm up with free Caribou coffee, tea, and hot chocolate
Organized by Active Transportation Alliance
Type: bike, rally



Winter Bike to Work Day 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Ride your bike to the Silver Skates

Warren Park


6601 N. Western Ave.

Chicago, IL 60645

773-262-6314

Come check out children and adult skaters in the 2013 Silver Skates Speed Skating Competition! Registration begins at 5:00 p.m. and races begin at 6:00 p.m.

Fee: Free

Registration Date: 01/17/2013

Age Range: All ages

Come check out children and adult skaters in the 2013 Silver Skates Speed Skating Competition! Top qualifiers (up to five) in the children's division will advance to the Citywide Championship @ McFetridge Sports Center on Saturday, January 19, 2013. Adult skaters are invited to an 18 & over meet immediately following the children's meet. Adults do not need to qualify to participate.

Participants must wear gloves, long sleeves, inline skates, and a bicycle or hockey helmet to participate. Figure skates, hockey sticks, or speed skates must be worn at all times. Helmets and skates will be available free of charge at all meets.

Registration will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 20 participants from each age group and gender.

Stop by your local rink to collect a registration form and complete prior to the meet. All participants under the age of 18 MUST have a parent or guardian's signature in order to participate.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Is this the electric bicycle of the future?

Though its frame seems to be modeled on the side profile of a human on its hands & knees, one look at the nCycle’s Swiss-cheesed carbon fiber rimset tells us that this bicycle is anything but what it seems.


Conceived by Skyrill & Marin Myftiu, the nCycle represents the designers’ attempt to reinvent the electric bike. “The vast majority of current e-bikes are still 100+ year old designs,” explains the design team, ”converted somehow to electric, and you can tell it just by looking at them”.

Despite sharing some components with the conventional bicycle (pedals, cranks, saddle, fork…), this steed differentiates itself with a series of nifty integral developments. From the locking system within its bullhorn handlebars, to its modular side-panel construction, to the battery pack stored within its seat tube (or what passes for a seat tube), the nCycle represents an ambitious leap forward in ergonomic bike design.

The designers want the bike to fit the rider’s life, not to force the rider to adjust his behavior because of his bike. Besides the integrated handlebar locking system — and the fact that those bars will rotate nearly 180 degrees — there are two ergonomic features that demonstrate the convenience of the nCycle. The first is the pocket that drops down from the top tube, in which you can secure any laptop-sized cargo; then, there’s the folding function, which breaks the full-size bike down to an apartment-sized via a series of hinges.

The craft is just a concept for now. They’ve got a lot of kinks to solve before producing this bike for real (Core 77 does thorough job poking holes in the design), but it certainly is beautiful in its appearance.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Bike Winter Event this Saturday

OK, not everyone loves Three Floyds. Different spokes for different folks! This year, you have the option of going to Flossmoor Station instead. (It remains an option to go to Flossmoor Station in addition.)


We depart Daley Plaza at 9:00 AM and collect riders at Promontory Point at 9:45 AM. We stay together (more or less) down to I-80, then split up into Three Floyds and Flossmoor Station groups. The goal of the Three Floyds group will be to get to Three Floyds by noon, when they open, and not have to wait outside.

Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor gloom of night stays these couriers (and other riders) from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Depending on the weather, however, returning from our rounds via Metra from Flossmoor Station is sometimes a very attractive option. Total distance: Three Floyds round trip: 60 miles, Three Floyds and Flossmoor Station one-way 40 miles, Flossmoor Station one-way 35 miles. Here’s a link to the routes (there may be adjustments if it snows).

they ask that you RSVP if attending.

The fine print: There is no support vehicle. You are responsible for yourself. The pace is 12-16 mph with a short break at Wolf Lake. Mid January weather may be extreme. Be prepared for cold as well as flats/mechanical problems.

Checklist:  Growler, Snacks, Lights, Lock, Pump, tube, tools

Extra layers of clothing (more than you expect to use)

Money

The inaugural Three Floyds ride was conceived and organized by Mark Sinclair and took place on January 14, 2006. As many of you know, Mark died on April 14 of that year, at age 34, a few days after suffering a brain aneurysm. It was Mark’s hope that it would become an annual event.

Thanks,

Bob and Kevin

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Safety Culture

By their very nature, city streets are filled with a broad spectrum of users, from children walking with their parents all the way up to tractor-trailer trucks, which can weigh 80,000 pounds or more. With such an immense disparity in size, those outside motorized vehicles are the ones most likely to suffer in a crash — in 2008, more than 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists were killed by vehicles in the United States, and more than 120,000 were injured.


Statistics have long indicated that disadvantaged minorities are overrepresented among those injured or killed in crashes. While it has been suggested that factors relating to their socio-economic status and greater reliance on walking and cycling might play a role, a 2012 study in the Journal of Urban Health suggests another factor: The “safety culture” of an immigrant’s homeland.

The study, “Exploring the Impacts of Safety Culture on Immigrants’ Vulnerability in Non-motorized Crashes,” examines the role of individuals’ culture in New York City pedestrian and cyclist crashes. Conducted by scholars from the University of Washington, City College of New York, and University of Hong Kong, the study is based on New York City data from 2001 to 2003, when nearly 41,000 crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists took place.

The findings include:

•Neighborhoods’ percentage of foreign-born population was a significant contributor: For each 1% increase in those born outside the United States, the number of crashes increased 5.63%. Such areas “tend to have more pedestrian and cycle crashes after controlling for other factors including native-born minorities.”

•Neighborhoods’ daytime population density, residential or retail floor area, and visitor-oriented employment are associated with more crashes.

•More crashes occur in areas with many streets with four or more lanes, one-way streets, and intersections with four or more “legs.” Of these, the last is the most significant: A 1% increase in the number of intersections with four or more legs was associated with a 3.29% increase in the number of crashes.

•Areas with schools and a high percentage of residents 18 to 21 are associated with more crashes.

•Areas with a high number of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America have more pedestrian and cyclist crashes than those with immigrants from Western Europe.

•Immigrants tend to adopt the “safety culture” of their adopted country within five years: “We expect to observe a declining trend in the significance and magnitude of the coefficients associated with longer years of stay and eventually, the estimate becomes insignificant.”

Because they relied on police statistics, the authors state that the “immigrant effect” found in the study is likely to be low. The data used produce a probable underestimation of actual incidences: “In reality, many pedestrian and cyclist crashes, especially when involving immigrants, are not reported.”


The study states that policy makers should learn about the walking and cycling behavior of immigrants and work to promote safe walking and cycling among recent arrivals. In addition, the authors suggest engineering solutions such as pedestrian barriers and bike lanes.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Ride your bicycle to the Winter Bonfire Series

Winter Bonfire Series/Chicago Women's Park and Gardens


5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Chicago Women's Park and Gardens

1801 S. Indiana Ave.

Chicago, IL 60616

312-656-0307

Come outside and play this winter with Nature Oasis! Roast some marshmallows over the fire and enjoy some fun family winter activities at this free event!

Fee: Free!
All Ages


Monday, January 7, 2013

Mark Your Calendars

Mark your calendars!
The 2013 Chicago Winter Bike Swap will be held on January 19 from 9:30-3:30 at Harper College
 

The original bike swap for the Chicago area is returning for the 6th year as the premier event for HUGE SAVINGS on everything for the bike.

$5 admisson for adults-Kids 12 and under free
FREE PARKING

2-for-1 admission for all
League of Illinois Bicyclists members!! 


 
 
email lib@bikelib.org with any questions

 

 

Not only is the Chicago Winter Bike Swap a place for some great bargains, but it is an excellent social experience for the cycling community as well!!

 
          Road -- Hyrbid-- Cyclocross -- Commuter
   Kids -- Tri -- Mountain -- Single Speed -- Recumbent 
        Track -- Components -- Clothing -- Nutrition
--New and Used--
--And Much More!!
--


Whatever your velo needs, there is something for everyone in the 30,000 sq ft of the Chicago Winter Bike Swap!
Don't pass up the one chance in the year to find a huge selection of great post-holiday closeout bargains
Browse the BIKE CORRAL for a selection of hundreds of new and used complete bicycles at discount prices
       Need a vendor space?    PLEASE REGISTER EARLY!
All vendor spaces will sell out


To contact the Chicago Winter Bike Swap:
email promoter@chicagowinterbikeswap.com
or call 847-877-1189

To add your name to the CWBS email list, simply send a
blank email to the promoter.  This list will only be used to
update information and as a reminder of the CWBS.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Volunteers

Looking for Community Service hours?

These high school juniors needed hours for the National Honor Society requirement.

Dan at Working Bikes set them up stripping parts of off bicycles that are too far gone to repair.  Working Bikes takes donations of any bicycles in any condition.  There is some value in every bicycle.  We have bins of parts to help you with your project.  The proceeds from the sale of parts keeps the Co-Op going.  Even though we are not-for-profit, we do have expenses, not the least of which are the gas and electric bills.  Funds are also need to pay the shipping charges to get the containers full of bicycles to our partners in developing nations. 

A volunteer can come in not knowing anything about the functionality of a bicycle.  Dan sets you up stripping a bicycle down, which inversly prepares you for bicycle repair and assembly.  You are exposed to many specialty tools designed for specific parts. 

Before long you will be overhauling hubs, bottom brackets, and headsets! More importently, you'll know what each of those things are.

There is always great music in the background and lots of fellowship going on. 

Give it a try





Friday, January 4, 2013

Tree Eats Bicycle

Fact: At no point in history has a little boy been excited about riding a girl's bike — even if that bike was free. Eight-year-old Don Puz was given a girl's bike in 1954, after the death of his father prompted a wave of generosity from their community on Washington state's Vashon Island. How to get out of actually riding the thing? Don ditched the bike and told his mother he'd lost it. She only found out the truth decades later, when someone discovered the cycle swallowed by a tree, hanging five feet in the air. The accommodating tree was able to grow around the bike, and even left its front tire free enough to spin. Thank you MSN for this story.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

New Years Resolution #2

Spread the word.  As you meet new friends this year, and they ask what you are all about, let them what Working Bikes is all about. 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013 New Years Resolution #1

Volunteer one more day at The Working Bikes Cooperative than you did in 2012.

I'm off to a good start.  I'll be there on Wednesday January 2nd. 

Your Working Bikes Volunteer

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from your friends at The Working Bikes Cooperative