Bakfiets And Box Fits

So Kyle finally got the bakfiets from our friend Gorman. I had to pass on it because I just don't have enough space for a bike that big. Plus Kyle has Ethan, who will love riding in that thing! Heck, I can't wait to ride in that thing!

For now I have to be content with a smaller box on the front of my bike:


But it can still hold a lot of stuff. Children, well, no. Food from the Cooper Young Farmers Market, yes.

Cooper Young Festival

Cooper-Young Festival is this Saturday. They tried to get valet bicycle parking but weren't successful as far as I know (nothing about it on their website or posters) which is upsetting. I'm sure many attendees will opt for the convenience of a bicycle versus the hassle of trying to find a parking space/paying to park in someone's yard. But maneuvering through a crowd with a bicycle isn't very fun. Last year I re-routed my commute home through the festival. While it was great to see my friends operating their booths and I looked super bad-ass with a bicycle and it was 6:00PM (an hour before the festival ends) I still had to be very careful. I can only imagine what it will be like at peak hour with 120,000 humans milling about.

So park your bike. CY has several ginkgo-shaped bicycle racks that will be situated behind the vendor booths; that's if you can get to one. The picture above is actually a bike rack as well, located before the Art Trestle, behind Toad Hall Antiques. I suspect that there will be more bikes than available bicycle racks so Tamara Cook, CYBA Director suggests locking up to the long fence right after the Art Trestle:


View Larger Map

That would make a pretty sweet picture, bicycles lined up for half of a block. Or some enterprising CY resident might just allocate their yard to bicycle parking instead of car parking (Doug? Ryan?). It would also be cool to get a picture of everyone with their bike and see the different frame styles, colors, tire choices, bag/basket options...

Okay, sorry for nerding up on you right there but maybe you agree: everyone loves looking at pictures of themselves (you do. You get excited when someone tags you on facebook) and everyone loves their bicycle (there's probably just one other thing that you'll get as "familiar" with as your bicycle) so combine the two. Maybe we'll do this at our upcoming alleycat(?).

So back to bags and baskets. You'll need something with which to carry all the goodies you'll score. Like this (the real reason for this post); the best thing ever purchased by anyone ever at the Cooper Young Festival. This has been with me for about 11 years:



Definitely click for larger images. It's too small for me now so Em gets to be amazing. Trust me, it was difficult for me to let her wear it but that's what you do when you love someone: you give them your favorite T-shirts.

Cooper Young Bicycle Racks

You guys and girls are like, "Finally!" right? No bicycle racks are more obviously deserving of a review than these. Well here ya go, I hope you learn something:

Inbalance Fitness
The Cooper-Young Bicycle Racks were designed by Yvonne Bobo (who also built the Drag'n Trailer). From Andy Ashby, reporter at the Memphis Business Journal and secretary of the Cooper-Young Community Association: The CYCA had Yvonne put together several ideas and this one made the most sense. It was small enough to be put in several locations (some property owners didn't want a big long bike rack in front of their space). It was also economical, $400 or $500, I think. Also, the ginkgo tree is the official tree of Cooper-Young, according to the history book. Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop also approved the design.

Burke's Books, of course and Midtown Acupuncture & Natural Apothecary
I have to be honest, I feel a sense of pride when I lock up to one of these because I did some fundraising for Revolutions to pay for these racks. Remember the flat track races? We raised about $341 (probably more but I can't remember. It was the heat, ya know.) All of the racks function well, allowing a bike on each side potentially. Three of them, however, could be turned a quarter turn to allow for more convenient sidewalk flow: Inbalance, Midtown Acupuncture and Celtic.

Celtic Crossing and Cafe Ole/Young Avenue Deli
There is a plaque near each of the racks (except for the Midtown Acupuncture rack which I think was knocked off because it was attached to the ground) telling where funding for each rack came from. The Revolutions racks are the ones in front of Burke's Books and Cafe Ole.


I considered looking at each of these racks individually but I think I would just be saying the same thing about each one, substituting a location. Since we think of Cooper-Young as the mark by which we measure other Memphis communities it seems only proper to keep these racks together.

Andy also tells me that there is a seventh ginkgo rack at the CYCA offices. They wanted to put it in front of the office but the asphalt doesn't make a good foundation. Perhaps they should put it in front of Urban Outfitters? Or maybe a contest to see which CY business gets the most bicycle traffic, excluding the businesses that already have racks, and also excluding Victory Bicycle Studio because they would obviously win.

Here's how they rack up:

Form - Artistic
Function - Pass
Environment - Inspired by neighborhood trees
Points of Interest - Just check the tags below

Cooper St. Bike Lanes

Here is a recent article from The Lamplighter regarding bike lanes for Cooper. This is a wonderful step forward for a neighborhood that so many of us frequent (being that Revolutions has made its home there).

Please read the article and make plans to attend the meeting on March 23rd from 6:30–8:30 pm at Peabody School.

One Million Bicycle Related Events in Memphis this Week

There are a million bicycling related events happening this week.

First, tonight there will be a volunteer night at Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop. If you want to work off volunteer hours, you have a chance to knock out two hours tonight. We start at 7 and go till 9 p.m. Hope to see you there! www.revolutionsmemphis.com

Second, tomorrow night at 6 p.m. the Cooper Young Community Association will host its monthly meeting on the deck outside of Revolutions here at First Congregational. The topic will be "Making Cooper Young Memphis' First Bike Friendly Neighborhood." They will have sno-cones. What more do you need? Attendance at this event will count towards volunteer hours.

Third, if you can make it out to the Sustainable Shelby Agenda Public Presentation, it will be held at the Memphis Botanic Gardens on Tuesday July 8 at 2:30 p.m. They will announce that creating bicycle paths and installing "Share the Road" with bicyclists signs is in the top ten priorities for the county. Here is the official info from the County on the event:

"You are invited to join Mayor A C Wharton in launching the Sustainable Shelby Agenda, our community's first comprehensive agenda that is equal parts sustainability, smart growth, green building, and more. This agenda was produced from committees and public polling that converged to create detailed recommendations for a sustainable future. This Sustainable Shelby Call to Action meeting will announce the agenda for the future and next steps to accomplish them. Special remarks will be made by Doug Farr, author of Sustainable Urbanism, the seminal book that set the context for our local agenda. Please invite your friends and colleagues to be part of this history-making meeting."

SUSTAINABLE SHELBY
CALL TO ACTION
Tuesday, July 8
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Memphis Botanic Garden
750 Cherry Road
Memphis, Tennessee 38117


Fourth, the shop will be closed on Thursday during our normal hours (6:30-8:30 p.m.) in lieu of a meeting held by the City of Memphis to discuss creating bike lanes on Shady Grove Road and Humphreys near Shelby Farms. Revolutions has organized a ride from First Congregational to Christian Brothers High School where the meeting will be held. The ride will leave from Revolutions at 5:15 p.m. in order to make it to the meeting by the start time of 6:30 p.m.. Please join us, or head over to CBHS at 6:30 p.m. Attendance and riding time count towards earning volunteer hours at Revolutions. Don't forget a blinky light and a helmet if you'd like to ride with us.

Finally, the Revolutions workshop topic this Saturday is "A Bicycle Maintenance Crash Course." Participants will learn bike basics: the regular maintenance required for all bicycles, a simple explanation of how a bike should fit, and concise explanations of common repairs—like how to change a flat tire! All workshops start at 10 a.m. on Saturdays, but this workshop will start at 1 p.m. Please make a note of it--Again, all workshops start at 10 a.m., but this workshop will begin at 1 p.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. this Saturday July 12. Remember, all workshops count towards volunteer hours.


Keep those wheels turning, and the water bottles flowing!