While on my initial bicycle rack picture taking expedition this wave rack in front of the Center City Commission (CCC) had the most bikes locked to it (aside from the Flying Saucer newspaper corral). This rack might even see more daily use than any other rack in downtown Memphis. I know I use it about once a month in early spring while planning Bike To Work Day.
Here's how it racks up:
Form - Wave
Function - Pass
Environment - Doesn't blend
Points of Interest - CCC, Fire Museum
As you get ready for Friday's Bike To Work Day you should think about your route to work. You can now view some of the unofficial-official routes for the Center City Commission's Bike To Work Day Event at their website: http://www.downtownmemphis.com/biketowork. The map on the right will take you to a tutorial page. There you'll learn how to use the map: figure out from where and what time rides are being led, the location of the energizer stations, or plan your own route.
Also check this video for some "cycle chic" downtowners:
This was kind of weird seeing this video because I used to live in the same building in the medical district as Dale, one of the people featured here. I haven't seen her in about 10 years. I remember I was giving her a ride somewhere and she was all, "Hey Cort, play me some of that freaky white-boy psychedelic shit!" She really dug the intro to Sweet Jane by The Velvet Underground.
While there will be refreshments at the energizer stations and at the Church Health Center (serving fruit, coffee and juice from 9am to 10am, and Ursula Madden will be broadcasting live, I'm gonna try to get on TV!) riders do need to take into consideration the road conditions. The recent storms have sent a lot of water rushing down our streets and the water carries sand and debris with it. Be careful on turns and don't ride too much in the gutter.
As if trolley tracks weren't hazardous enough: for anyone who will be biking to work downtown please take a look at Kermit's flickr stream. He's posted some pictures of the Main Street Trolley tracks that are in disrepair.
Two Thursday's ago we had a wreck onaccounta the tracks on N. Main of which a few of these pictures show the hazardous conditions. The picture to the side shows obvious danger of pinch flats and OTB injuries. Thanks to Kermit for the Trolley Tracks photos.
It's not too late to register for Bike To Work Day. But you do want to make sure you go ahead and get your tickets for the Bicycle Film Festival before we sell out!
Bicycling Magazine just released it's list of the Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities. Memphis is no where on the list. But a simple search for 'worst bike cities' on the website reveals Memphis as #2. You have probably heard about this.
What you may not have heard about is the work that everyone is doing to change that:
MATA (Memphis Area Transit Authority) has installed bike racks on their buses. The website says 34% but in a recent meeting John Lancaster said that about 136 buses or 85% of the buses have bike racks.
The Memphis & Shelby County Health Department Pollution Control, Air Quality Improvement Branch has set up a rideshare program that can now pair you with a bike buddy. Once you register you can even see how much money you save and your environmental impact by choosing how you commuted that day. forinstance, the 8 trips I've commuted in April have had a 33.74 lb reduction in greenhouse gases.
The CCC (Center City Commission) is coordinating a grand scale Bike To Work Day for May 21st. The goal is to help people make that first step and show them how easy it is to commute by bicycle. City officials like Councilman Shea Flinn are expected to ride!
And then there are columns in the Commercial Appeal calling for a "Motorist-bicyclist Utopia."
Cooper-Young plans to have the first real "in-city" bike lanes.
Greater Memphis Greenline, Inc. has already broken ground on a 6.5 mile section of unused rail lines to be converted to a hike/bike path. In the future they plan to use that greenline as well as others to connect Overton Park, The Fairgounds, and other midtown destinations to Shelby Farms and beyond.
These are just SOME of the efforts to make Memphis more bike-friendly. So it's not like Memphis is trying to be in last place. Changing takes a lot of people with positive attitudes. Get in touch with one of the groups above to see how you can help fix Memphis.
We've been working with the Memphis Center City Commission organizing a massive Bike To Work Day event. To my knowledge this has never been done in Memphis, especially on such a scale as we are planning. If you would like to get involved you can visit the CCC's website and sign up here: http://www.downtownmemphis.com/biketowork.asp.
Hey everyone, I received this email from Dawn Vinson of the Center City Commission in regards to the upcoming Bike to Work Day. May is going to be a huge month for bicycles in Memphis. In addition to Bike to Work day on May 21st, the Bicycle Film Festival will be returning to Memphis that very weekend! Here's your oppurtunity to become part of the action:
Good morning!
One of the Center City Commission’s goals is to ensure that Downtown is safe, attractive, and livable. Encouraging the use of alternate forms of transportation is one strategy toward that objective. For a variety of reasons, an increasing number of people are rediscovering the bicycle as a means of transportation for work commutes, errands, and social activities. The CCC wants to support this trend for Downtown Memphis and make the bicycle a reasonable, safe, and enjoyable option for Downtown residents, employees, and tourists. The bicycle is ideally suited for getting around the 6.5-square-mile radius of the CBID, and its use contributes to desired street-level animation and community.
The American Bicycle League (http://www.bikeleague.org/) has established the month of May as National Bike Month and promotes a Bike-to-Work Week and a Bike-to-Work Day each year. The CCC plans to promote Downtown Bike-to-Work (or School) Day on Friday, May 21, 2010, in conjunction with this national initiative. In order to make this campaign successful, we need your help. We would like to hear your ideas about collaborative activities, programs, and events that would make participation fun and as effortless as possible, as well as ideas about how we can assist you and/or your organization in any activities you may already be planning. We also want to talk about ways to encourage people to continue to ride their bikes Downtown after Bike-to-Work Day is over. As national attention is focused on issues such as urban sprawl and the revitalization of urban centers, it is becoming clear that the cities that will thrive in the future are the ones that not only accommodate but encourage a variety of transportation modes – public and personal, motorized and human-powered.
Please join us for a brainstorming session on Thursday, January 21, 2010, at noon here in the CCC conference room at 114 North Main Street (Main and Adams, across from City Hall). Lunch will be provided. Please contact me to confirm your attendance by Tuesday, January 19. We look forward to hearing your ideas and working with you on this initiative.
Dawn Vinson Development Project Manager Center City Commission 114 North Main Street Memphis, Tennessee 38103 (901) 575-0555 (901) 575-0541 (fax) vinson@downtownmemphis.com
While on my initial bicycle rack picture taking expedition this wave rack in front of the Center City Commission (CCC) had the most bikes locked to it (aside from the Flying Saucer newspaper corral). This rack might even see more daily use than any other rack in downtown Memphis. I know I use it about once a month in early spring while planning Bike To Work Day.
