Tag: bicycles

Categories
Business News Transportation

Certified bike friendly destinations awarded

For the first time Queen City Bike has worked to help identify and recognize bike friendly destinations this year and recently published the list during the annual bike month celebration. The list of local businesses were recognized for both their infrastructure and encouragement for bicycle use in their company culture. The process was completed through an initial survey which the company completed and then verified by Queen City Bike last month.

Categories were identified and weighted under each of the primary focuses of infrastructure and encouragement. The main parts of infrastructure included ensuring that there is adequate parking for bicycles near or inside the establishment, providing facilities for bicyclists to freshen up, and even providing a fleet of bicycles for employee use. Many more fell under encouragement including measuring commuting, offering classes, and even giving discounts to those that arrive on their bicycle. Points were awarded for each category an establishment had available, and three levels of recognition were given based on how many points were earned.

In all, forty places of business were recognized for their dedication to cycling with fifteen being designated with gold certification for earning a high level of points during the survey. Twenty three earned a silver designation, one bronze, and one honorable mention. Melissa McVay of QCB said, “I was very impressed with the size of the list in our inaugural year.”

The complete list has been published on the Queen City Bike website, with many showing why they earned the designation they did. The list of certified “gold” designations range from retail shops like Park + Vine, to Metro and TANK offices, to the Mercantile Library. As bicycle awareness and acceptance grows around the Greater Cincinnati area, this list will continue to grow and evolve in the coming years.

Slow and Steady ride outside Park and Vine bike corral picture via OTR Matters

Categories
News Transportation

Cincinnati-area transit agencies to offer free rides on Bike to Work Day

**Correction** This THURSDAY, May 19 is Bike to Work Day!

Thursday, May 19 is Bike to Work Day, and to celebrate Metro, the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) and Clermont Transportation Connection (CTC) are offering free transit rides to bicycle commuters.

All three bus service providers have buses equipped with bike racks on the front of each bus, and transit officials say that the racks can be used at all bus stops including Government Square downtown. Bicycles are currently not permitted inside the buses due to safety and capacity issues, but each bike rack is capable of accommodating two bicycles.


Bicycle commuter using Metro’s on-bus bike rack. Image provided.

“TANK’s bike racks have been very popular,” said Andrew Aiello, TANK’s General Manager. “It’s a win-win for people who want to commute part of the way on bike and finish the trip on transit.”

Metro officials say that the Bike to Work Day special is not just to get bicyclists out on the national event, but also encourage more bike riders to utilize bus service to maximize their mobility.

“We hope that Bike to Work Day encourages even more bike riders to use public transportation while still enjoying the benefits of cycling,” Metro CEO Terry Garcia Crews said in a prepared release.

Both Metro and TANK will be on Fountain Square to celebrate Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 19 from 11:30am to 1pm. Organizers say that the festivities will include a commuter center that will demonstrate the ease of biking and riding buses.

Furthermore, all week long bicycle commuters will be treated to commuter stations that will include free coffee, mechanical checks and other treats as appreciation for biking to work. Cincinnati-area commuter stations will be located at 12 sites throughout the city.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Bikes+Brews 2011 takes place this Saturday in Cincinnati’s urban core

This Saturday marks the return of Bikes+Brews, one of the official Bike Month activities of the City of Cincinnati’s Bicycle Program. Bikes+Brews is the perfect segue into next week’s American Craft Beer Week as it will offer riders the opportunity to explore the city’s urban core while learning a bit about craft beer and how it plays into both the past and future of Cincinnati.

The ride will depart historic Findlay Market promptly at 1pm, so feel free to come early and enjoy a beer at the market’s biergarten and some hearty grub from Cafe de Wheels, who will be on hand beginning at 10:30am.

A handful of guides will be on hand, identifiable by navy blue Over-the-Rhine All-Star t-shirts, to help answer questions and keep the ride on track. This year’s ride includes a total of nine stops along a seven-mile course beginning and ending at Findlay Market. This will allow participants to meet at a single location, and offer a convenient parking location for those that will be driving to the event. That being said, it is strongly recommended to use either pedal power or public transportation.

From Findlay Market the ride will proceed past the Samuel Adams Brewery in the West End, and on to Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square. A quick jaunt across the river into Northern Kentucky will take participants to Keystone Bar & Grill in Covington, then Newport’s Hofbrauhaus, the region’s largest brewpub.

After all riders have sufficiently stabilized themselves, post-liters of German brew, the peleton will cross back over the Ohio River, via the Purple People Bridge, for a quick stop at the newly opened Holy Grail at The Banks. Our final three stops will take us back into Over-the-Rhine, the heart of Cincinnati’s brewing history, for pints at The Lackman Bar, Neon’s Unplugged and finally our end destination of Market Wines somewhere in the vicinity of 6:30pm.

Bikes+Brews 2011 is part of more than 40 Bike Month events, and is free and open to the public. Admittedly, this year’s ride will be a bit more strenuous both in route, distance, number of stops and brews consumed, so please be sure to keep yourself hydrated with water. That being said, riders have complete autonomy to join late or forgo portions of the trek to either finish early or meet us at a future stop. Bikes+Brews 2010 was a great success, and one of our favorite events of the past year, and UrbanCincy is looking forward to building on the momentum this year. Let’s Ride!!!

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News Transportation

UrbanCincy Partners with Cincinnati to Organize Two Unique Bike Month Events

In celebration of Bike Month, UrbanCincy has partnered with the City of Cincinnati to bring you two unique events. The first will take place on Saturday, May 14 and take bicyclists on a pedal-powered pub crawl through the city’s urban core. The second event will take place on Sunday, May 22 and give riders a glimpse into what bicycle commuting will be like along the Ohio River Trail.

Bikes+Brews is back by popular demand. Last year UrbanCincy organized this event and made five stops throughout Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Roughly 50 people participated over various segments of the ride which began and terminated at Findlay Market. This year’s event will also begin and end at Findlay Market, but will include a total of nine stops throughout Over-the-Rhine, West End, Downtown, Newport and Covington. The ride will be led by Cincinnati brewer, and UrbanCincy contributor, Bryon Martin.

Bikes+Brews will begin at 1pm and will roughly last until 6:30pm. The event is free and open to the public, and interested participants are encouraged to join the ride for any duration and segment. The ride is approximately seven miles from start to finish (map), includes slight elevation change and two bridge crossings.

The Ohio River Trail Tour is new this year. The event will begin at Lunken Airport and take bicyclists for a ride along the partially completed Ohio River Trail. The ride will terminate in downtown Cincinnati at the Bike & Mobility Center currently under construction at the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

Those participating in the Ohio River Trail Tour will be able to get information about future phases of the Ohio River Trail, which will link Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs with downtown, and how to successfully commute by bicycle by utilizing lockers, showers, repair facilities and bicycle parking at the new Bike & Mobility Center.

The Ohio River Trail Tour will begin at 10am in the parking lot across from Lunken Airport’s terminal building. The ride is approximately six miles (map) and contains very few changes in elevation.

2010 Bikes+Brews photograph by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy.

Categories
News Transportation

CycleCincy website unites regional bike riders

Inspired by the work of photographers Dmitry Gudkov and Angelo Calilap, a group of Cincinnati-area photographers have started a website and collective for area bicycle enthusiasts called CycleCincy. Like Gudkov’s #BikeNYC, the name #CycleCincy refers to the Twitter hashtag which allows disparate people to talk to each other about everything related to cycling in Cincinnati. The idea is to meet other people who cycle in the city and take a cool portrait of them with their bike.

The concept, initially suggested by the brains behind OTRMatters, encouraged local cyclists and photographers to team up for portraits with their rides in an urban environment. A month later, the mission behind the site has evolved to include working alongside other cycle advocacy groups in the area, including and especially Queen City Bike, and fill a previously empty niche.

“It [CycleCincy] all started as a bunch of cyclists and photographers wanting to geek it out, but I think the project also highlights the desire to have a more cycling aware culture in Cincinnati,” says Dan Reid, local cyclist and OTR resident. “I think we’ve all had our share of run-ins with ignorant people in cars and it’s a real shame that people can’t co-exist.”

Those interested in joining the crew, be it photog or cyclist, are encouraged to visit the website and register a profile, which is easily synced to a Facebook account. In addition to providing a space for fellow bikers to meet and ride, members have suggested starting a casual monthly bike co-op/building space in Over-the-Rhine, connecting to the city-wide Bike Month, and celebrating bike culture through art. Ultimately, increased cycle awareness is the key.

“I believe CycleCincy will help unify Cincinnati cyclist and in turn force a higher level of awareness amongst car drivers,” said Chad Shackelford, another CycleCincy catalyst. “The core issue shouldn’t be as much about getting bike lanes and paths as it should be about teaching awareness and respect for cyclist and their right to safely occupy roadways.” 

Cincinnati Bicyclists photograph by Sherman Cahal.