Tempe Bicycle Action Group

Thanks to all of the volunteers that helped with April Bike Month. We had five successful events thanks to all of your help: Bike Saviours/REI Bike Drive, Mariposa Elementary Bike Rodeo, 1st Annual TBAG Bike to BBQ, Bike to Work and School Day, and the Great Bike Chase. We also saw the launch of PHXBAG(or BikePHX, or PHXBike, help decide the name!) with a First Fridays Bike Valet at the beginning of the month, and Bicycle Awareness Party at the end of the month.

Bike Saviours and Rusty Spoke collected over 75 used bikes with the help of both Valley REI locations. Both organizations would like to thank those who donated, and REI for supporting and hosting the event.

The Mariposa Elementary Bike Rodeo was also a big success with lots of kids in attendance learning to ride safely. Click here for a full recap.

It was great seeing everyone at the BBQ, we had a great turnout for our first event of this kind. We had families riding around the town lake in the morning, mountain bike rides throughout the day, and then the bike polo crew showed up in the afternoon to help us finish off the burgers and kegs. This event replaced Tempe’s Bike-a-Palooza event that was canceled due to budget cuts. TBAG will be taking a larger role hosting grassroots cycling events like this to get people to come out and have fun on their bikes.

Bike to Work and School Day gets better every year. This year we had volunteers at 7 free breakfast locations around Tempe talking to fellow bike commuters. The volunteers from each location also led rides to the Tempe Transit Center. Mariposa Elementary also promoted bike to school day for their students, there were over 100 kids that biked to school that day and we had volunteers on hand to promote cycling, safety, and fun.

The Great Bike Chase is a long standing Valley Metro event, but budget cuts increase the need for volunteer help. TBAG volunteers set up a DIY screen printing booth at Hance Park and helped people print their own bike and bike month t-shirts. Volunteers also helped with ride marshaling and bike valet parking at a Diamondbacks game. You’ll see the DIY screen printing at many of our upcoming events.

Thanks again to the volunteers, you are what makes TBAG a successful organization helping to promote cycling in Tempe and around the Valley.

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Sun 4/25: The Great Bike Chase
4.3 mile ride from Hance Park (3rd Ave. & Culver in Central Phx to the D’backs game at Chase Field. Free Bike Parking provided at Jefferson ST. Garage (Jefferson & 1st Ave., just south of Chase Field).
Pre-Event @ Hance Park (9-11a) features DIY silkscreen t-shirts, so remember to bring an old shirt to print on.
We still need volunteers for this event.
- GBC Ride Leaders (10:30a – 1:15pm)
- Bike Valet (12-4pm)
- Bike Valet Set-up (9a-12noon)
Event Info, Ticket Pricing & Route Map:
Or volunteer with us & get in to see the D’backs game for FREE.

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Bike Month Continues…..
4/16 This Friday is TBAG’s monthly 3rd Fridays Ride. April’s theme is awesome local hotel bars. We meet at Tempe TownLake (Mill & Rio Salado) @ 7p. Additional details will be added to the blog soon. For questions or comments contact jeremy@biketempe.org
4/18 Sun: Bike2BBQ @ Papago Park. Registration starts 11a. Event times 12-sundown (approx 7p). Details will be posted on the blog very soon. Questions or comments please contact: sam@biketempe.org
to volunteer, check-out or Bike Month Volunteer Opportunities pg.

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Bike Month has been very successful so far, the first set of events went very well thanks to the people that volunteered. We are still in need of volunteers for two of our major bike month events.

1. Bike to Work and School Day – Thursday 4/22

The first event that we need volunteers for is the City of Tempe’s Bike to Work and School Day on Thursday 4/22. We need representatives at as many of the free breakfast locations as possible (click the link for the list of locations).

You will be there to hand out fliers, stickers, and information on safe and efficient bike commuting that we will provide to you prior to the event. After breakfast you will also be the group ride leader from these locations to the Tempe Transit Center where we will have a TBAG table set up with more resources.

This event reaches bike commuters and potential bike commuters, it is key in our efforts to promote cycling a viable transportation option in the valley.

Click here to volunteer for this event. Fill out the form and check the box Thur 4/22 – Commuter Bike to Work & School Day – Ride Leader we will contact volunteers prior to the event to coordinate locations and materials.

2. Valley Metro Great Bike Chase – Sunday 4/25

The second event that we need volunteers for is the Valley Metro Great Bike Chase on Sunday 4/25. The Bike Chase is a family fun ride from Hance Park to Chase Field that includes tickets to a Diamondbacks game vs. the Phillys.

As a volunteer at this event you will assist as ride marshals along the 4.3 mile route, making sure all attendees have a safe and enjoyable ride. We also need volunteers to help with bike valet parking at the Jefferson Street Parking Garage near Chase Field. You will assist people with parking their own bikes on the way into the game, and help match tagged bikes with their owners on the way out. All volunteers will get free tickets to the game, however we will need some volunteers to stay and help keep an eye on the bikes, let us know if you can help us with this as well.

This event is primarily a family event, it promotes cycling among families and children, helps them learn to ride safely, and shows them that cycling is fun.

Click here to volunteer for this event. Fill out the form and check either or both of the boxes: Sun 4/25 – Great Bike Chase – Ride Marshall and/or Sun 4/25 – Great Bike Chase – Bike Valet

Thanks again to all of our great volunteers, you are what make TBAG events successful, helping to promote cycling as a safe, convenient, and fun form of transportation and recreation.

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TBAG is looking for you to get involved this Bike Month. The community is our strongest asset for making Bike Month a success, and for getting more people out riding bicycles safely in general. We could really use your help for a number of events – head on over to the Bike Month 2010 page to learn about what’s going on, and how you can help promote bicycling in and around Tempe. And thank you in advance for making a difference in your community!

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While most parts of the country celebrate Bike Month in May, we like to get the wheels rolling early, while the weather is still spectacular. This year, TBAG is involved in a whole host of Bike Month activities. The events are summarized over on our Bike Month 2010 page. Check Tempe in Motion’s page and Valley Metro’s page as well. This week:

Friday, April 2: Ride your bike over to Phoenix First Fridays, then check in at the Bike Valet. I will lead the nine-mile ride from Tempe Beach Park (corner of Mill and Rio Salado) to Phoenix. We’ll roll out by 6 for a leisurely ride there. Be sure to bring lights or plan on taking the light rail back to Tempe. Grab dinner on Mill Ave beforehand, or find something to eat at First Fridays instead.

We’re still looking for volunteers to help run the bike valet, which will run from 5 to 10 pm. Sign up for a valet shift at the end of this post.

Saturday, April 3: Used Bike Drive! Drop off a used bicycle at either Valley REI location, in Tempe or Paradise Valley. See the previous post, below.

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Some of you may be aware, that here in the valley we have our Bike Month in April due to the heat. The fact remains however, that May is National Bike Month. This week, May 11 – 15th, is also National Bike to Work Week. As the temperatures continue to rise, we’re happy to share with you a document put together by one of our board members with Tips for biking in the Heat. If you have tips to share, please share them in the Summer Cycling forum!

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April is Valley Bike Month and we have many volunteer opportunities for those who are interested. If you’re not on our member list, you missed yesterday’s email. If you are interested in volunteering during Valley Bike Month please take a moment to review the opportunities here.

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(for those who don’t know, I attend the monthly Tempe Transportation Commission Multi-Modal Transportation Planning & Project Review Committee meetings)

There was a lot to discuss at this month’s Transit Committee meeting. Some highlights, in order from least to most exciting:

1. Traffic calming projects: Mitchell Park East-West is headed for construction. Maple-Ash is headed for another neighborhood meeting to discuss some potential closure points (suggested about a year ago; dropped from plan; resurrected again). Here’s Tempe’s report on those projects. College Ave is also heading towards construction–we had some discussion about reviewing the striping of the intersection at College and Southern; I’ll try to keep everyone posted on the status of that project.

2. Bike Month: It’s coming up soon! Tempe has just released their Bike Month flyer, which lists a slew of events for the month–pick up a copy at the Transportation Center or look for it around town. Check Tempe’s Bike Month website for details on all events. Two highlights include Bikeapalooza, a biking festival where TBAG will lead a community bike ride, and Bike to Work and School Day, where TBAG’s bicycle commuters will lead rides from each of the 4 other breakfast sites towards the Tempe Transportation Center and beyond to Phoenix and Scottsdale. Stay tuned for more information about TBAG’s involvement in those events and how you can help/participate.

3. **Broadway Road Restructuring Project**: For those who have asked about this for YEARS…Tempe has funding to modify Broadway between Rural Ave and Mill Ave with bike/pedestrian enhancements.

Here are 2 upcoming dates: On Saturday, March 14, from 9-12, there will be a walk-through along Broadway as part of the early planning phase. On Wednesday, March 18, at 6 pm, there will be a meeting in the Community Room at the Transit Center to review several concepts for the modification (i.e. several ideas for how to change things). Right now, Broadway is 3 lanes eastbound, 2 lanes westbound, with a center turn lane. Two potential concepts to reduce lanes and free up space for bicycles/pedestrians: remove 1 eastbound lane, or remove the center turn lane. One complication, however, will be handling the frontage road on the north side of Broadway.

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Yes that’s right, we’ve set a date for our annual volunteer meeting. Sunday February 15th, 7pm at Boulders on Broadway. Anyone interested in volunteering to help us out this year is encouraged to attend. TBAG will provide some munchies and we’ll share our plans for the first half of 2009. We’ll be taking names and information from those interested in volunteering. We also hope that you’ll bring ideas to the table and share them with us, which we as a board will review, and possibly act upon.

To give you an idea of what’s in store, our board meeting last Sunday ran a full 3 hours! We discussed much and will be sharing some details with you in an email newsletter that should go out no later than early next week.

In the meantime, put on your thinking cap (or rather your helmet), go out for a ride, and put some thought into how we can make bicycling better for you, and everyone!

A few quick reminders, discussion forums are now available though off to a slow start, you can help get them off the ground by contributing! TBAG is now on Twitter. Follow us as we send updates almost daily on news and topics that relate to cycling both locally and globally.

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