TBAG will begin a design exercise to develop marketing materials related to bicycling, bike safety, or respectful driving – the specific campaign is still being decided. If you are interested in joining the TBAG team, email Aaron. We will meet with the design studio three times: on Monday, Feb. 6th at 2:30 PM, on Monday, Feb. 13th, at 2:30 PM, and on the 27th, to see the final designs.

TBAG and the Mitchell Park Neighborhood are moving forward with an exciting bicycle public art project for 2012.  In the fall of 2011 a committee made up of a public artist, Mitchell Park neighbors and TBAG board members conducted a competitive artist and concept selection process.  More than 15 fifteen Arizona public artists were considered.  A Tempe-based artist team by the name of coLAB was selected in December.

The concept for the public art (see attached images) involves bicycle sculptures and large boulders that will be placed in 4 locations along Farmer Avenue (between University Drive and 13^th Street) that will serve as a permanent monument to the importance of bicycling in Tempe, the contributions of TBAG to the community, and help deepen the emphasis of creating bikeable, sustainable corridors for our town and to serve as a model for land use and transportation.  In the words on the artist team, coLAB: “The people-powered vehicle (bicycle) is immensely efficient and useful, and can drastically change the outlook for future balance between man and nature.”

The city of Tempe and TBAG is currently working with the artist team to finalize designs.  Construction of the artwork is expected to happen late Spring/early Summer 2012, with a dedication ceremony anticipated soon thereafter.  This important project will help transform the street and further emphasize TBAG’s role in shaping Tempe and beyond as a bicycle region.

Eric Iwersen

e...@biketempe.org

eric...@tempe.gov

480-239-9593

Check out the concept pdf: TBAGbicycleART.pdf

Attached here is the final report from the 2011 Tempe Bike Count. Get in touch if you are interested in helping with the 2012 bike count.

PDF File: Tempe Bike Count 2011 Final Report

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) has issued a draft report reviewing bike and pedestrian crash data in Maricopa county in order to develop appropriate countermeasures. Please email me at aar...@biketempe.org if you’d like a copy to review. Comments are due on November 15th.

Early Bird Ride Leaders Needed
8am this Sunday 10/24 @ Kiwanis Park.
15th Annual Tour de Tempe Community Bike Ride.
route: 12 mile mellow-paced community bike ride, heading south from Kiwanis park along the Western Canal & back.
Route: Map
Volunteer sign-up:for additional volunteer information contact s...@biketempe.org
for event details try: sue_...@tempe.gov

Annual_Mtg_Flier[final]TBAG’s Annual Membership Meeting & Board Elections
Sunday ll/22 6:30pm
Boulders on Broadway (530 W Broadway)
We have 3 Vacancies to Fill
nominate someone or even yourself
If you have an idea for great new bike program, consider joining the board – We’ll work with you to make it happen.
The second part of the this meeting is all about volunteer involvement. We’ve accomplished a lot in 09 and we’re not about to stop now. Come find out what’s in store for 2010…and how you can get involved.
and yes, there will be FREE PIZZA
We will be sending out more info on the Annual Mtg. soon. If you haven’t signed up for the TBAG list-serve yet, now would be a good time. Check back here, on the biketempe blog

Ryan Van Duzer is riding from San Diego to Washington DC on a New Belgium bike, three speed with a coaster brake. He’s raising money for Community Cycles in Boulder, CO and doing some bike advocacy during his ride.

He’s also filming and taking photos of bike culture along the way.

He will be at Boulders on Broadway at 7:30pm, tonight, Friday June 26th. Get the word out to anyone you know who rides a bike, bring out the fixters, roadies, mountain bikers, commuters, curmudgeons, the polo crew, bro’s on cruisers, whatever. It would be great to see the lobby packed like it was after Tour de Fat.

Check out his blog on Team Wonderbike: http://www.newbelgium.com/team-wonderbike/duzer or visit http://ryanvanduzer.com or http://duzertv.com. You’ll find the video from Scottsdale earlier today titled DAAM-Bike lovers in Scottsdale at http://ryanvanduzer.com.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Ryan Van Duzer of New Belgium Brewing is pedaling across America on a 3 speed cruiser with a trailer in tow in support of bicycle awareness. He’s due to pass through the Phoenix area on Friday morning. Representatives from Tempe and Scottsdale will be out to meet and talk with Ryan at 10:30am at McDowell & the Crosscut Canal which is halfway between Galvin Parkway and 68th Street. All are welcome to join along in pedaling as he travels through Phoenix. These are all the details we have right now, so if you’d like to pedal along it’s probably best to be at the above mentioned location @ 10:30am on Friday, June 26th. Here’s a snippet from the League of American Bicyclists on Ryan’s journey:

Ryan Van Duzer, an experienced journalist, adventurer and athlete is representing New Belgium Brewery, one of the League’s Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Businesses, and riding a New Belgium cruiser bike across the country under New Belgium’s Team Wonderbike banner. Duzer left June 17 from Oceanside, Calif., which was coordinated to leave the same day as their Race Across America. Duzer received an official send-off from Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. Duzer will ride from Oceanside, Calif. to Washington, D.C., arriving in D.C. mid August.

The cross-country bike ride is to raise awareness about the bicycle by highlighting that if one person can ride a three-speed across America, anyone can surely become a bicycle commuter and ride your bike to work or to the store.

Please excuse the @ symbol in the title, links to our blog posts are automatically posted to Twitter and the @ symbol ensures that Duzer will see our blog post.

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.

Please join the City of Tempe and TBAG for a community bicycle ride this Sunday, October 26th.

We’re looking for 8-10 volunteers to serve as parade marshals for the mellow, 10-mile ride. Marshals help direct the cyclists and assist with any minor repairs (mostly flats) along the way. Volunteers must be able to meet at Kiwanis Park (the parking lot off of All-American Way just north of Guadalupe) by 7:30 AM. The ride starts at 8:30 and lasts 1-1.5 hours. All participants will receive t-shirts and breakfast goodies. Because this is a City of Tempe event, HELMETS ARE REQUIRED. Goofy costumes are optional, but highly encouraged.

If you would like to volunteer for this event, please email Kate: k...@biketempe.org

Official Event Info:

1,500 bicyclists expected at annual Tour de Tempe bike ride

Tempe, Ariz. – More than 1,500 people are expected to participate in the 13th annual Tour de Tempe community bike ride Oct. 26. The ride starts and ends at Tempe’s Kiwanis Park (Parking lot off All-America Way just north of Guadalupe Road). Riders will enjoy some of the most distinct bikeways in Arizona during this 10 mile ride that begins at 8:30 a.m. Registration starts at 7 a.m.

Tour de Tempe, Tempe’s free leisurely community bike ride, is a fun, non-competitive ride that weaves through diverse neighborhoods, public art projects and other Tempe sites.

All riders will receive free breakfast snacks, and artist-designed T-shirts will be distributed to the first 800 registrants. Helmets are required.

Tour de Tempe sponsors include Back East Bagel Company, Berning’s Fine Jewelry, REI, Starbucks, Whole Foods Market, Wildflower Bread Company, Clif Bar and Tempe in Motion.

Tempe has more than 165 miles of dedicated bikeways, including on-street bike lanes and off-street multi-use paths and is designated a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. For more information, call (480) 350-2775 or visit www.tempe.gov/tim.