Bike Month Continues: Fam Bike Party, Bike Jam, RecRide, Trailwork & Dinner

Once you survive Bike To/From Work Day, Bike Month in Baltimore continues with 3 more events this weekend.

• GUMBO (Gunpowder United Mountain Bike Operators) is doing some trail work along the Little Gunpowder River on Saturday, May 18th starting at 9am. Performance Bicycles will be on hand to help.  Meetup at the Jerusalem Mill parking lot
• The Baltimore Family Bike Party spins around Druid Lake on Saturday morning from the Rawlings Conservatory at 9:30 am
• Explore East Baltimore on the (now subterranean) Harris Creek Bike Tour.  This free bike tour will examine the historic stream path starting at Real Food Farm at 2pm
• Bike Jam happens at Patterson Park on Sunday, May 19th. This all day event includes racing, Bike Maryland’s Rec Ride, live music and more
• Bikemore hosts Dinner + Bikes, a vegan meal featuring Elly Blue & Joe Biel on transportation equity and the history of Portland’s bike culture.  Tickets are now only $10 thanks to a generous donation from Race Pace Bicycles

Bike FROM Work Happy Hour

It’s not all about biking TO work.  How are you getting home?

If there’s no rush, then stop by
Bikemore’s Bike FROM Work Happy Hour

from 5-8pm
at Pratt Street Ale House (206 W. Pratt Street)

Check out the Facebook event page

(and just around the corner, the O’s take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 7:05)

Family Bike Party This Saturday, May 18

The Baltimore Family Bike Party celebrates National Kids to Parks Day on Saturday, May 18th.

Enjoy the lovely spring weather with a family ride around Druid Hill Park and Reservoir Hill. Starting from the Howard Peter Rawlings Conservatory at 9:30 a.m., follow the Jones Falls Trail around the lake, out onto quiet streets through Reservoir Hill, past some fantastic community gardens and stop to enjoy a snack break at a neighborhood playground.

More details on the Facebook event page

Kinetic Sculpture Results Are In!

From Tom Jones of  KineticBaltimore.com

Baltimore was amazing May 4 for the Fifteenth Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race!  The KineticBaltimore.com Crew has just published the extensive Race Report showing every sculpture.
Share your experiences at Kinetic Forum and at American Visionary Art Museum Facebook page

If you missed it, here’s a quick clip of some of the scultptures at Canton Waterfront Park

See you for the Sweet Sixteenth East Coast Championship next year: May 3, 2014!

Last Chance to Register for Bike To Work Day

This entire week is BIKE TO WORK WEEK and the weather looks to cooperate more than it did for last week’s bike counts.   Tomorrow morning, online registration for the city Bike To Work Day will close.  You can still participate, but you will not be guaranteed a free hat. Stations will have lite breakfast fare, beverages, bike mechanics and Chipotle ”Buy One Get One” coupons.

There are 11 stations around the city and more rallies across the region to join other riders in celebrating Bike To Work Day

The week wraps up with a BIKE FROM WORK DAY Happy Hour at Pratt Street Ale House, hosted by Bikemore from 5 – 8 pm.

Check out the Facebook event page

Support The Ride for the Feast

This weekend, a bunch of hearty souls will be pedaling from Ocean City to Baltimore for a good cause.  Ride For the Feast  raises money for Moveable Feast, a longstanding Baltimore nonprofit organization that provides lifesaving, nutritious foods for low-income Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and other life-threatening conditions at no cost. 

Serving 14 Maryland counties, in 2011, Moveable Feast delivered 487,786 meals directly to the doors of our clients, an additional 201,509 meals to shelters in Baltimore and the surrounding areas, serving a total of 3,371 Marylanders.

Whether you choose to ride, volunteer for the Crew or contribute financially, your efforts will aid thousands of our neighbors here in Maryland.

The Ride wraps up on Sunday pedaling from the American Visionary Arts Museum to 901 N. Milton Street at 1pm.  Come out and support them on the final miles.

Celebrate Mothers’ Day with CycloFemme Ride

Join Baltimore’s women’s cycling group Crank Mavens for an international day of empowerment and celebration on May 12th! This ride will leave from the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon and run about 8 miles, ending in Mother’s Garden at Clifton Park. Women of all ages, abilities and experience are welcome– no one will be left behind!

Gather at the Monument on the North side at 6:00, leaving at 6:30.   Bring an extra tube, snacks and drinks for a twilight picnic.

Check out the Facebook event page here, the route here and more info about CycloFemme here

City Approves Bikeshare Grant Agreement

As covered in traditional media outlets, the city’s Board of Estimates approved an $880,000 grant agreement between the City of Baltimore and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The approval indicates that the city will accept the money from the state.  Before receiving the grant (which only covers the capital investment such as bikes and stations), the city must first purchase the equipment from a bikeshare vendor.

Before moving forward with vendor selection, the city’s Department of Transportation is waiting for a statewide bikeshare source approval from the Federal Highway Administration.  If approved, one company will be allowed to supply bikeshare services to the entire state.

BMC To Do Bike/Ped Counts

Just as Baltimore City performs (very wet) bike counts this week, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) is getting in on documenting bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The BMC is requesting proposals from contractors will work with representatives from BMC staff, Maryland State Highway Administration and BMC member jurisdictions to develop a common data framework for storing, displaying, analyzing and sharing bicycle and pedestrian count data among the state and local governments. The contractor will collect bicycle and pedestrian data using agreed upon technologies at locations at 19 locations in the Baltimore region (none in Baltimore City) May through June 2013.

Click here for more info

County Ped/Bike Group Selects Projects

Following up to the April 17th public meeting, the Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee made a final recommendation for which projects the county should pursue this year.  The committee was asked to pick which projects should be priority projects and then rank them, which included:

1)       Feasibility Study and Preliminary Design for the North Point Heritage Trail

2)       On Street Road Improvements in Catonsville area, including a linkages between UMBC, Arbutus, Catonsville, and Patapsco Valley Park

3)       Towson Bike Loop “Spokes” (Putty Hill, Pennsylvania & Chesapeake Avenues, Kenilworth Drive)

4)       Bike Lanes on Dundalk Avenue

While the Cromwell Valley Trail was popular during the public meeting, this project was not selected because there is not enough support from the immediate community.  To fund these projects, Baltimore County will be preparing the grant applications, which are due June 5.