Victory Earns NMBP certification

Verde Valley cylist, and CAzBike Northern Arizona Representative, Randy Victory has earned an Instructor's Certificate from the National Mountain Bike Patrol organization. Randy is now qualified to train volunteers to perfom the duties of NMBP patrollers and/or ambassadors.

CAzBike Swap Meet: May 29, 2010

For 2010, we are returning our swap meet to the Phoenix Municipal Stadium parking lot on May 29 so as not to interfere with the numerous bike activities scheduled during the month of April.
Set ups will begin about 6am, and the venue will officially open at 7am, however there is much merchandise changing hands during and after setting up. We will be shutting
down somewhere around noon to 1pm.
The parking lot is at the South - West corner of Van Buren Street and Priest near the Phoenix / Tempe border. As previously, there are no costs involved to attend. Hope to see you there.

Volunteers needed for Bicycle Valet First Friday: April 2

Roosevelt Row and TBAG are teaming up to valet bicycles at First Friday !!
While doing bike valet, I will talk with cyclists about the need for a strong bike advocacy group specific to Phoenix. CAzBike is for all of Arizona. Upon finding sufficient interest cyclists, we will begin the process of changing the face of bicycling in Phoenix. 
April 2, 2010
918 N 6th Street (Corner of Roosevelt & 6th Street), Phoenix 85004

two shifts available 5:30pm - 8:30pm and 8:30pm - 11:30pm

Lots of people bicycle to First Fridays and Bicycle Valet will be the best place to park their bikes. 
PLUS vendors are offering discounts to people who valet !! 
PLUS you'll get some cool schwag from TBAG !
AND I'll have an ice chest full on New Belgium beer when we're done !!

Call Joe Perez (602) 531-4985 to sign up or sign up online.

CAzBike Seeks to Connect Arizona Cyclist Advocates

By Bob Beane, CAzBike President

The Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists is embarking on possibly its most ambitious agenda since our founding in the early 1990s. In general, it may be summed up as connecting Arizona bicycle advocates in ways never before accomplished in order to increase our effectiveness. Ah, but “the devil is in the details” as we often hear.

So, here are a few of the specifics that are underway:

Read more »

ADOT unveils 5-year transpo plan

Take a minute to visit ADOT's new "Honk if You Plan Ahead" headline story. It's time for public hearings on the Tentative 5-year Construction program, which expresses how ADOT intends to invest in transportation for the next five years...

Bike Rodeo training workshops

"Helmet Your Head", and "How To Put On a Safe & Successful Bike Rodeo" Bike Rodeo Safety Workshops: Learn to teach real-world bicycling skills & safety
more info, contact: Valley Metro, phone: 602.534.6472, e-mail: jreid@valleymetro.org

CAzBike Report from 2010 National Bike Summit

CAzBike Board Memeber Gene Holmerud reports from the Summit:
I was an attendee, representing the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. It was a thrill and I believe we had an impact on Capitol Hill. We visited the Transportation Legislative Assistants for both AZ Senators and for Representatives Franks, Giffords, Pastor and Shadegg. Congressman Flake meet with us directly. Detailed information is at bikeleague.org (See the "Download the pdf or click on the interactive version below" phrase, under heading "National Bike Summit 2010 Detailed Program".
I made sure to mention in each meeting that Arizona has joined teams from Transportation, HUD and EPA, just as the Federal Administration has. Namely how smart a move that is! Of course, mentioning the First Lady's program to improve youth health fit in just as well.
I have also uploaded Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's remarks at the ending reception to YouTube His closing remark: "you have a full partner in Ray LaHood, and many full partners (at DOT)".
Also see Secretary LaHood and the new...

Wayne Cullop of Tucson Appointed to CAzBike Advisory Board

The Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists is pleased to announce that Wayne Cullop of Tucson has joined the CAzB as an Advisory Board member effective March 16, 2010.

Wayne has been very active cyclist in the Tucson area for 15 years. He has served on Tucson's GABA Board for more the 10 years. He is currently leading GABA's Advocacy Gruppo, and has served as Club President and Web Master. Wayne was selected to serve as the bike and pedestrian representative on the Grant Road Task Force, a major road improvement in Tucson. He has served on the Tucson/Pima County Bicycle Advisor Board, and is an active LCI instructor. To get in touch with Wayne, or any other board or advisory member, visit CAzBike's contact page.

Secretary LaHood and the new bike/pedestrian policy statement

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has just announced a "major policy revision . . . a sea change. . . . This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized" ...more

Policy Statement

The DOT policy is to incorporate safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities into transportation projects. Every transportation agency, including DOT, has the responsibility to improve conditions and opportunities for walking and bicycling and to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems. Because of the numerous individual and community benefits that walking and bicycling provide — including health, safety, environmental, transportation, and quality of life — transportation agencies are encouraged to go beyond minimum standards to provide safe and convenient facilities for these modes.

Ray LaHood, United States Secretary of Transportation http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bikeped/policy_accom.htm

Stolen Felt Bicycle Recovered

There is a bicycle theft ring that the police are trying to catch -- so, keep your bike locked any time you must leave it unattended.

An upscale Felt road bike that they recovered and would like to return it to its owner. His name is Detective Adam Geremia with the Phoenix police. His number is 602-262-6676. Call him if you can provide any information.

Tour de Arizona Coming in 2011

In 2011, the State of Arizona will host its first Professional Cycling Tour Race that will bring hundreds of International professional and qualified amateur racers to the Valley of the Sun ...more

Phoenix area Bike Shop list

click here to see whole list on one screen
...

Google launches map directions for bicyclists

Google Announces Google Biking Directions at League 2010 National Bike Summit. Visit maps.google.com/biking to try out this new feature. Biking directions for Google Maps is currently in Beta. Anyone given it a try, tell us what you think?

Past CAzBike Membership Meetings

Previous meetings:

March 15th, 2010

February 16th, 2010. 6:30PM -- note that this is a TUESDAY,

Monday January 19th, 2010, 6:30PM

Monday DECEMBER 21, 2009 -- NO meeting this month, happy holidays!

Monday NOVEMBER 16th, 2009, 7PM -- demo of google collaboration tools.

Monday OCTOBER 19th, 2009, 7PM -- discuss goals

CAzBike on Chandler channel 11

Coalition President Bob Beane, and Ken St. John of the PMBC joined Chandler city councilman Rick Heumann to discuss the Bicycle Friendly Cities, and other cycling topics. The program can be viewed from the chandleraz.gov ; scroll down to: Regular Programming / Bicycle Friendly Community.
Direct streaming link.

Former Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club VP Running Chandler City Council

Former Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club vice president and Chandler cyclist, Kevin Hartke, is running for City Council in Chandler this year. In a recent communication to Bob Beane, CAzB president, Kevin commented, "I continue to love and encourage cycling (and give away police donated bicycles). With the increases projected for gasoline and mass transportation, cycling is more than ever a healthy, efficient and viable mode of transportation." Chandler residents and others who would like to find out more about Kevin's campaign may visit: www.KevinHartke.com

ACT Act Introduced

Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced the Active Community Transportation Act, H.R.4722, on 3/2/10. This groundbreaking bill creates a competitive grant program with $2 Billion to help communities build bicycling and walking networks. Read more & TAKE ACTION...
The accompanying chart shows the underfunded position of bike/pedestrian travel relative to the trips and percentage of fatalities. $2 billion sounds like a lot of money, but with these statistics in mind and the obesity problem in this country, it might be some of the best "economic stimulus" and "healthcare reform" spending we could do.

Benchmarking Report Making Its Mark

If you haven't yet checked out Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2010 Benchmarking Report, released January 28, 2010, what are you waiting for? The nearly 200-page report filled with data on bicycling and walking from 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities has been labeled a "Bike-Ped State of the Union." Over 2,000 e-copies have already been downloaded and 500 hard copies distributed. The hefty book is full of useful data to support your efforts to improve bicycling and walking in your state and community, and includes data on how the State of Arizona and our largest metropolitan areas rank in a number areas as compared to other states and cities.