West Side Cruiser Ride – Photo by Ashley Dale

Here’s a summary of our Bike To Work Week and other events HERE.

And here are the Corporate Challenge results HERE.

Left to Right: Dave, Bill, Jeff, Jeff, Pegg?, Jenny, Molly, Chas, Mayor Bob, Denis, Steve, Shelly, Karen, and ?

Showing their continued support of Muscle Powered’s efforts to increase livability in Carson City, Mayor Bob Crowell, and Carson City Supervisor’s Karen Abowd, Shelly Aldean and Molly Walt joined members of Muscle Powered on a ride around the west-side of Carson to promote Bike Month and the Carson City Corporate Challenge.

Continue reading about this event over on BikeCarson.com!

Where: Telegraph Square (the corner of Telegraph & Curry Streets)

“Mr. Potter, have you seen the movie Alien”

Come out and join Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell and Carson City Supervisors Karen Abowd, Shelly Aldean, and Molly Walt ride around historic downtown Carson City to help promote Bike to Work Week and the Carson City Corporate Challenge.

The ride will be about 30 minutes and we will stop a few times along the way for photos.

Click here to enter the Carson City Corporate Challenge

Upcoming events:

Vulnerable User Procession

When: Wednesday, May 11th at 10:30 a.m.

Where: 911 East Second St.

It is vitally important that we let the Legislature know that this bill is supported by all vulnerable users; pedestrians, hikers, bicyclists, wheelchair/scooter users, come one, come all. Meet at the old Greater Nevada Credit Union at 911 E. Second St. at 10:30 a.m. to assemble. Procession will begin at 11 a.m., and will travel west along Fifth Street to South Carson, then proceed by foot across the legislative plaza to the front of the Legislative Building, where a press event regarding Vulnerable User Legislation will be held.

Flat Tire Repair Clinic

When: Wednesday, May 11th at 6:00 p.m.

Where: The Bike Smith 900 North Carson St.

Bike to Work Week

Read the 2010 Bike to Work Week Wrap up over on BikeCarson.com. Many people showed up for our events throughout the week in spite of the crummy weather!

West Carson Cruiser Ride

Carson City Corporate Commuter Challenge

The driving force behind Bike to Work Week is the Corporate Commuter Challenge. This year, Carson City cyclists completed 987 trips by bike and logged in 3,234.26 miles! Big change happens from many people doing little things.

Read about Tammy Steele’s solo victory in the Nevada Appeal: Carson woman cruises to victory in Bike to Work challenge.

Also check out the complete 2010 Corporate Challenge results over on BikeCarson.com.

The Bike Smith stripped Red Rock Dental of their title.

Bicycle Friendly Community

On May 20th, Muscle Powered’s Dan Allison went before the Carson City Board of Supervisors and gave them our Bicycle Friendly Community presentation.  In the end, the Board voted to sign the action plan to become a BFC, and had many good things to say about Muscle Powered’s efforts in our community!  Here is the recent press from the Nevada Appeal:

Muscle Powered receives the “Silver Dollar” award from the Nevada Appeal!

Silver dollar: To Muscle Powered, a local group dedicated to increasing biking and walking in Carson City. They received support from the Board of Supervisors to make a formal application to the League of American Bicyclists for Carson City to receive an official designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community. This is one of several movements afoot that could bring positive attention and tourist dollars to Carson City, along with the V&T Railroad and the new whitewater launch on the Carson River. Geotourism holds tremendous potential for Carson City, and it will be exciting to watch the progress our community makes in creating a world-class destination for outdoor enthusiasts and train buffs alike.

Also in the Nevada Appeal: Carson eyeing two-wheeled tourists

Muscle Powered Ride

Sat, May 29, 10:00am – 12:30pm

Paul will be leading a Muscle Powered road ride this weekend, starting at Bower’s Mansion parking lot and riding 21 miles around Washoe lake. Short snack break half way through in Washoe City at the Postal Cafe or 7-11. For those looking for a longer ride, there is an additional loop that adds 12 miles to the ride. Email me for more details. Weather permitting and helmet required! Hope to see you there! -Paul pzatarain9th@yahoo.com

Bike to Work Week is May 17th – 21st!

• May 14th – Commuter Clinic with Dan Allison at Comma Coffee – 5:30 PM – Learn about and discuss tips for making your bike commute safer and more enjoyable. Bikes not required for class.

• May 15th – Carson City Chamber of Commerce Freeway Multi-Use Path Cleanup – 8:15 at the Home Depot Parking Lot off College Parkway. Come help clean up the Bike Path with Muscle Powered! Bring some work gloves! Note: We’re short on volunteers for this event! Let me know if you can make it: jeffmoser@musclepowered.org (or just comment on this post)

• May 15th – Movie Night at Capitol Automotive – Located at 1000 North Plaza Street – 6 PM. Pizza and Soft Drinks! BYOB. Ride down and enjoy a bicycle movie.

• May 16th – Lee Vining to Benton Junction Road Ride – Details on the Muscle Powered blog HERE.

Continue on to our Bike Month Page for more Bike to Work Week events starting on Monday by clicking HERE.

We’ve come up with ten actions that may help Carson City achieve this goal:

1. Ride your bike to work
2. Walk to work
3. Carpool
4. Use public transportation
5. Let your kids walk, bike, skateboard and scooter to school
6. Exercise at home
7. Make meals at home
8. Accumulate errands
9. Steer clear of big box stores
10. Turn off your cell phone

A Ten Percent Challenge document provides detail on each of these items, letting you know more about what you can do and why. A Ten Actions for 10% flier is available that you can print for your own use, and post around town in places where people will see it.

We ask for your help in measuring motor vehicle traffic. Please volunteer by contacting Dan Allison, allisondan52@gmail.com. We need to know ahead of time your name and the location you pick. It can be a high or moderate traffic street or intersection. You need not specify the time you’ll be there ahead of time, but the time does need to be the same on May 21 and on May 14. It can be at any time of day, not just commuter hours, since we are trying to reduce overall motor vehicles trips, and only about 1/3 of trips are now related to work. We ask for at least one hour, though if you can do more than an hour, that is great. You’ll report your counts by Monday, May 24, and we will compile them and report back on the results for Carson City.

If you can count two things at once, then you may also count bicycle traffic, but our main focus is motor vehicle traffic. We will start counting bicyclist and pedestrian traffic in the future.

Just in the last week, I’ve seen several incidents of unsafe cycling around town. Most notably, I’ve had cyclists riding against traffic straight toward me on my narrow share of the road. I’ve also seen many examples of riding the sidewalks. These riders are just trying to be safe, but in reality, they are riding unpredictably and could cause serious accidents. Thankfully, a little bicycle safety education can go a long way to keeping you safe on the road.

Can you spot the safety hazard in this photo?

Muscle Powered‘s Dan Allison will be giving two bicycle commuter classes this week. These events do not depend upon each other, you may take one or both. Come down and learn some cycling skills for next week’s Bike to Work Week (May 17th- 21st)! There is no charge, both classes are FREE.

Commuter Bike Rodeo, Thursday, May 13, 5:30–7:00PM, Curry & Third parking lot

Learn and practice skills for safe and enjoyable bike commuting. Bike and helmet required – you will be riding your bike and must sign a League of American Bicyclists educational course waiver. This class works for beginners and is a good refresher for experienced bicyclists. Limited to 10 people – sign up by emailing LCI instructor Dan Allison at allisondan52@gmail.com.

• starting/stopping
• straight line/gears
• scan drill
• scan/signal/turn
• rock dodge
• avoidance weave
• and for fun, a slow race

Commuter Class, Friday, May 14, 5:30–7:00PM, Comma Coffee courtyard

Learn about and discuss tips for making your bike commute safer and more enjoyable. Bikes not required.

• Why commute?
• Which bike?
• Helmets
• Commuting routes
• Bicycle handling skills
• Riding in traffic
• Hazards
• Clothing
• Bicycle security
• Back up plan
• ABC Quick Check
• Lights
• Encouragement

So that we don’t have to maintain pages and other resources in two places, the main content for Bike to Work will be hosted on Bike Carson. Check the Bike Month 2010 and Bike to Work Week Corporate Challenge 2010 tabs. The Google calendar is already a shared resource between Muscle Powered and Bike Carson, so you’ll see the same entries from either location. There will still be some posts on Bike to Work here on the Muscle Powered blog, but Bike Carson will really be hopping.

Bike Month is Coming in May 2010

It’s also time to start thinking about building your Corporate Challenge teams. We had a fantastic challenge last year! People were really excited about this event. Last year Carson City Corporate Challengers completed 1,240 trips by bicycle or by walking, and there were 3,978 miles walked or ridden through the week! I expect this year to be even bigger.

Bike Month 2010

• Social Rides and Gatherings
• Bike to Work Week
• Educational Classes
• Basic Repair and Maintenance Classes
• Corporate Challenge
• Movie Night
• Party at the Firkin and Fox on Bike to Work Day on May 21st. Live music, beer, and bike and prize raffle.

May will be chocked full of fun bicycle events.

Last year we had a lot of help from volunteers. If you’d like to help out, or have some good ideas for events, Muscle Powered would like to hear from you. Stay tuned for a Bike Month meeting.

Bike Month is well underway! Check BikeCarson.com for the latest Bike Month news!