Tiger Lane Crit Series Tonight

Weather looks great for some racing, some tailgating, then some $1 pints of Sierra Nevada at the Young Avenue Deli!

Cycle Memphis Drink Special At Young Avenue Deli

Who has a bike and the ability to get you happy hour prices on domestics at Young Avenue Deli this Saturday night?

This Guy.

Find me and I'll stamp your hand.

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

Legit Polo Courts in Memphis?

So yes, it's extremely annoying setting up and breaking down wooden pallet barriers, as anyone who's ever played bicycle polo in Memphis knows. So what would happen if there was a legit court that wouldn't have to be set up and broken down before each play, that wouldn't have low spots saturated with water, and the ball didn't jump the curb or the barriers didn't fall over every 3 minutes? Would our play progress? Would more people play?

Obviously a new court to a few polo players isn't the same as a new arena to a few basketball teams but look what happened for them!

We as cyclists are always ready to recycle and there are several tennis courts that could be fitted as polo courts but with the skatepark going in at Tobey Park could the city build a new polo/street hockey court in Midtown?

If you'd like to discuss some possibilities meet at the Young Avenue Deli tomorrow night (that's Sunday) at 6pm. I'll see you there, then polo at 7 at Bluff City Sports.