Got a bike trailer? Help Querencia move, this Saturday
Got a cargo bike or bike trailer? If so, you’re invited to help the Querencia Community Bike Shop move across town this Saturday at 2PM. They’re finally moving out of the backyard on Hickory and relocating to 411 E. Sycamore, which some of you may know as Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.
You can RSVP to the Facebook event.
They’re desperate for trailers, let me tell you. Word on the street suggests that they will buy food and beer for anyone who arrives with a bike trailer, and the bigger the better. Anyone in DFW, for that matter.
Their move will be highly visible, as they cart hundreds of bike frames, tools, and parts through the Denton square to get to the new shop location. Even though the gentlemen at Little Guys Movers offered use of a large truck, QCBS hopes to move as much as they can by bicycle. But they can’t do that without your help, because these poor saps only have two child trailers and 2 cargo bikes.
Want to become a champion? Email info@qcbs.org and let them know you’ll bring a trailer and help them move!
we have to admit
Denton gets a little bike-friendlier every day. We just noticed that Lucky Lou’s on Hickory St added a new large bike rack, moved the existing rack over, and added some really thoughtful amenities: public air pump, seat covers. This is an awesome surprise. All those cyclists spending $.50 for air from the 7-11 can now air up for free at Lou’s! Just remember who showed you the love.
We will reward Lucky Lou’s goodwill by buying drinks and relaxing on the porch! Salut, friends.
PathLessPedaled – Ft Worth – Wed
Hi there Bike Denton,
We are two people who have sold all our belongings to travel the US by bicycle. Currently we’re in Texas and are giving a presentation at Trinity Bicycles next Wed.
We’re big fans of these folks, and we started reading Russ Roca’s writing back when he was a carfree photographer in LA. Yeah, that’s right, CARFREE IN LA. Carpool to Ft Worth on Wed for this, Denton folks. If you want to learn about bike-camping, these are great folks to ask about it. They’ll be sharing lessons from the road and photos, great photos since Russ is a professional photographer.
RSVP to the Facebook Event!
The new model
As I fly towards the sixth most bike-friendly city in America, San Francisco, my eye catches a photo of happy, everyday cycle commuters on page 32 of The Economist.
If you’d like to read what conditions in Portland favored their rapid rise in bike-friendliness, I suggest you read this article. Of particular note:
1) limiting sprawl, so urban density increases, public transit is more efficient, and bike route design moves more people per mile. Denton has yet to stop sprawling, and we are spending tens of millions on expanding road infrastrucure while the urban core roads decay (nice sidewalk updates aside). Do we implement limits, as Portland did, or do we wait to hit the edges, like Plano? Either way, the end of sprawl will benefit the city immensely.
2) “keep Portland weird”. Yeah, we all know where they stole the slogan. But here’s the rub, Denton too is “weird” or “charming”, especially in contrast to the other DFW suburbs. Perhaps Denton’s unique character doesn’t need a slogan to reinforce it. “keep Denton beard” is funnier, at least.
3) Portland, San Fran, Boston are all “elite cities” that attract young, rich, and single. With the coming A-train, more and more residential density downtown, city intention to build bike infrastructure, creative gravity of music/NX35/art, Denton could be a new kind of model town, a hybrid Davis/Mini-Austin, perhaps in 10 years. Denton is a human-scale, walkable, bikeable, unique affordable town poised for some upgrades. Will that attract spendy elites? Maybe not, but younger families who own houses, have modest income, vote, pay taxes, and vocalize their preferences are a new, reshaping force in Denton. The Economist won’t write the Denton article until we’ve resiliently worked towards the new model for a decade. That and we stop sprawling one way or another.
Querencia permanently closes Hickory St shop
The Querencia Community Bike Shop all-volunteer nonprofit announced today that they’ve closed their Hickory St public shop after almost 1.5 years of being open almost every weekend. Many of our readers/writers overlap as volunteers there, and we are extremely excited about the relocation to a large leased space adjacent to the Rubber Gloves music venue. If you’d like to help with the construction and/or move, email them at info@qcbs.org. Thanks for a great year on W. Hickory, QCBS, the community repaired a LOT of bikes.
This seems crazy, but I’ll actually kind of miss having this in my backyard. However, the large new location will offer more secure storage, expanded public shop hours, and a home RIGHT NEXT to the coming A-train station.
It’s been great, y’all. Our Hickory street shop has housed our bikes, tools, and open shop days nearly every single weekend of 2009.
As all good things must end, we are officially closing this shop while we complete construction and the move to the new shop on E. Sycamore, next to Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.
Want to help with construction? Great. Drop us a line at info@qcbs.org, and we’ll find something you can do to help. We’ll be working on shop every saturday until we’re done, and we don’t expect this transition to take more than a couple weeks. If you have a generator or stick welder we can borrow, we’ll thank you forever!
Our immediate goal is to build a storage shed in which to put our tools and perishables, and then we’ll need to move everything to the new location. We’ll definitely need help with moving, so you’ll hear us announce an official moving party date soon.
In the meantime, go enjoy a nice ride for no reason in particular. It’s the best kind.
Council votes to fund Loop 288 pedestrian/cyclist bridge
At a city council meeting on tuesday, members voted to allocate funds for a pedestrian bridge to connect the Denton Rail Trail across the south Loop 288 highway.
Consider adoption of an ordinance of the City of Denton, Texas, authorizing the City Manager to execute an Advance Funding Agreement for a project using funds held in the State Highway 121 Subaccount in the amount of $1,165,145.00 between the City of Denton, Texas and the State of Texas for construction of city pedestrian bridge on the Denton Branch Rail Trail at Pecan Creek and Loop 288; authorizing the expenditure of funds therefor; and providing for an effective date. The Mobility Committee recommends approval (3-0). The Parks, Recreation and Beautification Board recommends approval (6-0).
Denton’s Park’s and Rec department offers similar news of the Loop 288 bridge, and they also mention a Robertson St bridge:
Pedestrian and bicycle bridges on the Denton Branch Rail Trail across the Pecan Creek tributary, between Prairie and Robertson streets and over Loop 288, have been tentatively funded as part of the Regional Toll Revenue Initiative funding from the highway TX 121 project. CIP bond funding of $260,000 for the Prairie/Robertson Bridge will be used for the 20% match to the toll road funds to complete the $1.4 million project. The project may start planning and engineering in December and be incorporated into the DCTA Rail Commuter line construction as the trail is being constructed. Agreements with TXDOT have been completed. Agreements with DCTA and NCTCOG are being developed for approval by each agency.
Yoga for Cyclists
I’ve been longing to take a yoga class for some time now, and I always tell myself I’ll get around to it eventually. This announcement from Corinth Cycling may be too good to resist:
Old- and mid-timers in the CCC will remember the successful Yoga for Cyclists program we ran a few years back. The best thing about these classes, in my opinion, is that they were taught by my sister, a yoga-teacher and studio owner. The most frustrating thing about these classes, in my opinion, is that they involved bringing in my sister from Colorado, meaning that we couldn’t offer a series of consecutive classes, each building on the other. Also, scrambling for a facility proved taxing.
I’d love to be able to say that I was bringing Faith back to teach a month’s work of classes. But, alas, she seems to prefer Colorado to Texas (go figure!). But I DO have an exciting announcement nonetheless: the CCC will offer a four-week program of Yoga for Cyclists, beginning Monday, 5/3 (7:00) and running for four consecutive weeks, at Incline Yoga in Denton. Ce (pronounced “See,” or, if you prefer, “Sea”), the teacher, is magnificent. Each class will target a problem area for cyclists (most dramatically, hamstrings, which for most cyclists are about as flexible as rebar).
The cost for the WHOLE SERIES will be $40.00–series commitments only (i.e., no drop-ins or partial buy-ins). The minimum number of participants will be four (three plus me); the maximum will be ten. Spouses/partners are welcome. A check for $40 holds your spot.
The teacher is even now preparing a flyer, which I hope to post in the next few days. I’ll open up a sign-up thread at that time, too.
My opinion: yoga is the BEST form of cross-training for cyclists.
4 out of 5 Americans want carfree choices
I talk to a lot of people about cycling, and many of these people are normal, car-commuting workers and students. While they’re often skeptical that roads can be redesigned to accommodate all transportation modes, they’re very rarely anti-bike or flat-out opposed to not driving. In fact, when you get down to the heart of it, most drivers use cars because they feel they have no choice, not because they prefer driving.
Today, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blogged a statistic that shows the majority of Americans strongly want broadened transit options and less dependence on cars. I suspect Ray’s statement is a counter to the partisan criticism that Ray received after his recent statements supporting improved bicycling infrastructure.
Ray also says that the improved livability we seek here in Denton is truly a common goal that he sees in cities all over America. With the statistical support, partisan critics ought to heed the voters actual preferences, not a de facto idea that most people must love driving everywhere, all the time.
This is precisely what I’ve been talking about here in this blog with regard to livability, transit, and walking and biking. I have traveled all over this country in the past 14 months, and everywhere I go people want better options. Options that offer reduced greenhouse-gas emissions. Options that offer reduced fuel-consumption. Options that offer better health. Options that bring communities together.
Now, let me make this absolutely clear: I never said we would stop repairing, maintaining, and–yes–even expanding roadways. I said only that it’s time to stop assuming that putting more cars on more roads is the best way to move people around more effectively.
This survey demonstrates that, by and large, the American people get that. I never doubted them, but it sure is nice to see the numbers.
Denton Fat Alleycat race – May 1
If there’s one thing that all cyclists have in common, it’s a love of food. Not just any food, but good, hearty, rich, down-home cooking. Local race promoter, André J. “Frenchy” Rheault, explains how he came up with the Fat Alleycat concept.
Back in the mid 70’s, when I was working as an air traffic controller at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, TX, I was constantly managing complex and takeoff situations, and it gave me a knack for managing risk. Once my lawn business became my main job, I missed that excitement and energy of safely guiding all these complex elements, so I immediately thought, “why don’t I give cyclists a chance to do what they really want: ride really fast between checkpoints, and eat an enormous amount of rich, heavy food. You have all these Clif bars and energy spazzoid drinks, but cyclists completely miss out on the simple enjoyment of ribs or brisket, pints of refreshing ale, the wonderful delights of everyday Texas living. Once I mentioned this idea to my good friend, Lance Armstrong, and he told his good friend, world hot-dog-eating champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi, we knew the race would be an international hit and attract serious BBQ aficionados and lycra-clad athletes in droves. As a charity benefit, Lance’s cancer foundation has agreed to manufacture 80,000 BBQStrong bracelets to give away to the expected massive crowds.
After filing street closure permits for various roads around Denton, Frenchy teamed up with local BBQ eateries to design a route between all the checkpoints with maximum gluttony. Starting in South Denton at historic Sweet Y BBQ, the racers have 45 seconds to consume 2 pounds of Grill Masters Choice Smoked Ribs and 2 heaping bowls of mustard greens. Then they begin the race by sprinting on full stomachs to From Tha Heart on South Elm, where they must consume 24 linear inches of delightful sausage. Then, racers climb 2,000 vertical feet to reach Roosters BBQ on Industrial st. Race officials will oversee the two key points of the Industrial street stop: racers must consume a foot long loose-meat po-boy, and 3 pints of Franconia ale at Dan’s Silverleaf. Back on the ultra-light carbon fiber race bikes, grease-fingered cyclists will lay back in the saddle for an endurance stage all the way north to Babe’s Chicken. Once in Sanger at Babe’s, riders will suck down two servings of chicken fried steak and a plate of coconut meringue pie. Back in the saddle, the route winds north to finish in Valley View at Big Fatty’s Spanking Shack. The riders will waddle inside and devour the infamous “El Farto Grande” monstrosity, a macabre culinary weapon of Ricky, the BBQ chef.
Note to prospective racers: pre-race protein-load steak dinner is at 9PM the night before at Prairie House, just east of Denton. All racers must weigh in at the start and finish to prove that they gained at least 2% of total body weight during the race. Reasons for disqualification include vomiting, using silverware, or eating any national chain fast food during the race. Digestive supplements, including Tums and Rolaids, are grounds for race license revocation, and blood-doping lab analysis will search for trace elements of banned substances.
