Betty and the Bike

Em found this while going through her Archie collection.

Jefferson Davis Park Bicycle Racks

These two wave racks flank Jefferson Davis park, a nice little respite on the river. It is the last stop on the River Walk before you cut up to Confederate Park. The rack on the right is in good shape but the rack on the left looks like someone backed into it. Perhaps it was Tommy Volinchak's Buick? But look: it still functions properly.

Here's how they rack up:

Form - Wave
Function - Pass
Environment - Nothing Doing
Points of Interest - Jefferson Davis Park, Mississippi River, River Walk

Art Center Bicycle Rack

Tucked into a corner, this six-bike rack limits itself to only three usable spots. That's fine when you think about the materials you usually buy from the Art Center. I've ridden over there and been able to stuff some silk-screens and some paint into a messenger bag and been fine. I can only imagine trying to ride home with one of those large drawing pads; it would become a proper sail going the right direction! My recommendation for the Art Center: paint that bicycle rack!

Here's how it racks up:

Form - double sided six
Function - reduced to 3 onaccounta location
Environment - a stock rack at a creative place doesn't jive
Points of Interest - Art Center, Farmers Market Midtown

Bill Cunningham rides a bike and takes photos

... for a living!?!

"Bill Cunningham New York" is a documentary film about a New York Times fashion photographer with decades of photos in his files. The film will be screened at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art on Thursday, June 2nd. Get there at 6pm for free wine and collage-making. $7 for members, $9 for non-members.

It might seem like the bike plays less into this story than the photography but a cursory google search suggests otherwise. Juleskills thinks she might have spotted his bike outside of NYT:


Sounds like a pretty good date to me: I get to look at bicycles and Em gets to look at fashion.

Ice Cream Sunday

Kyle has asked me to lead this Sunday's Ice Cream Ride from Revolutions to YoLo. It's a bit more involved than just a trip down Cooper St. but I promise I won't lead you down any alleys or trails.

I haven't participated in an ICR since two years ago (time flies!) when we rode to Baskin Robbins on Summer a few times.

Here's a map of previous rides, we might make some slight detours but will generally stick to this:

View Ice Cream Ride in a larger map

Bicycles Flood Pictures & Videos

Steven sent me this pic and video of some BMXers hanging out pre-crest. I can't tell at all who's there, but they did manage to pop off some nice tricks:

Bike Lane Meeting Tonight

Doug has put up a post about the proposed bike lanes on North Parkway. Read it and come to the meeting tonight!

Memphis Brooks Museum Bicycle Rack

Here it is, the catalyst for the bicycle rack mapping project. This bike rack has probably gotten more press than any other in Memphis (I've even mentioned it before). Tootsie Bell (which sounds like candy) won the design contest for the rack back in 2008 and The Flyer covered that well.

If you don't feel like reading the links, the important thing to know is that the Brooks gives a $1 off admission if you ride your bike to the museum.

Here's how it racks up:

Form - Artistic
Function - Pass
Environment - Memphis has a lot of trees, which were the inspiration for this rack(s)
Points of Interest - Memphis Brooks Museum, Overton Park

Some bikes were exploited

If you were part of that unfortunate group that didn't attend the Bikesploitation festival you can check out the Live From Memphis recap.

They were also kind enough to post the winner's video: "Confessions of a Pedalphile" from Corduroy Wednesday



"Solid black, motherfucker!"

Memphis Bicycle 20518

This is the 30 second PSA from TDOT, the Clean Air Board and Live From Memphis. You'll notice that Emily is in there and while it may seem like the Schwinn she's riding has the bicycle registration license plate it, in fact, does not. Not sure to which bicycle it belongs; Sarah was under the impression that it was Emily's.

My friend Steven offered up his opinion on the whole registration thing:
I'm 90% sure that those were plaques from Memphis Bicycle Co. on Summer Ave. Kinda the equivalent to the Peddler, Outdoors, Inc., etc stickers put on bikes when sold. Not sure about the number though.,

Then here's what my friend Jim turned up:
There was a program at one time where you could register your bike with the Auto Theft division of the Memphis Police Department. The cost was .50 and you got one of those cool little license plates for your bike. It was strictly voluntary and the police held registration events around town to sign people up. I don’t know the exact years of the program, but I found a newspaper article from 1964 and one from 1970 announcing registration events. Here’s a photo of a civic-minded young Girl Scout registering her bike in 1964. No idea how effective the program was in deterring theft, but it was certainly a friendlier approach than earlier registration efforts.

Jim Goes on to add:
Back in the dark days of 1940 there was a big crackdown on cycling and a sweeping new Memphis bicycle ordinance was passed. This made registration mandatory. Every bike had to have a license attached and all riders had to carry a registration card. In fact, you had to have your bike inspected at the police garage before getting your registration. There was also a whole list of crazy new rules and regulations for cyclist with fines ranging from $1 - $50. Here are a few of the possible infractions…
-- Bikes must have brakes, horn or bell, and lights required after dark.
-- Bikes must have a seat. (According to the newspaper, seats were considered “sissy” among the rowdy Memphis youth of 1940. I’m not making this up!)
-- No riding on sidewalks.
-- Unlawful to park on any sidewalks in the city.
-- Cannot remove both hands or both feet while riding or practice any acrobatic or fancy riding.
-- No person operating a bicycle upon a public highway, street or alley or place in the city of Memphis shall participate in any race of speed or endurance, or contest with any other vehicle.
-- No riding double.
I can’t imagine those laws being enforceable as I broke half of them just riding to work this morning! Seems like it would have killed bicycle sales, too. That’s about all I can tell you and hope that helps. Take care.

Thankfully a lot of those laws were taken out of the recently updated ordinances because I saw some racing and stunt riding on the way home from Bikesploitation!

Send pictures of your Memphis Bicycle license plate to fixmemphis@yahoo.com