Bike Friendly | Bike Friendly Richardson

May 19, 2013 • 9:16 am 0

Pics and Recap From National Bike To Work Day – Bike Commuter Energizer Stations

Richardson

Last Friday was National Bike To Work Day. Based on last years success in Richardson, BikeDFW and Dallas Area Rapid Transit hosted 5 Bike Commuter Energizer Station in the Dallas area: Plano, Garland, Richardson, Downtown Dallas, and Oak Cliff. Joined by local cities of Plano, Garland and Dallas along with local bike groups, Bike Friendly Richardson, Bike Friendly Garland and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, we were able to provide these support stations around town.

Dozens of bike commuters and hundreds of other transit commuters visited these stations that morning. Cyclists were able to eat some breakfast, grab some snacks and drink some coffee and water before heading into work. Local bike shops performed bicycle safety checks, while DART and local cities provided commuter information and swag.

This was a great success for DFW bike commuters and and cycling community. With the help of more sponsors and local volunteers,we hope to expand it to even more stations next year.

Special Thanks To Our Sponsors and Volunteers:
We plan on adding a complete list of volunteers and sponsors, as soon as we get all the information in. Until then, here are some key people:

SPONSORS:
KIND Healthy Snacks Arthuro Garza
Clif Bars Jeanine Romine
Neuro Energy Drinks Kasey Smith
Re-Geared Rachel Spire
Generator Coffee House JimD
Zang Triangle Apartments
Cycling Savvy DFW Waco Moore and Eliot Landrum

LOCAL BIKE SHOPS FOR SAFETY CHECKS:
Plano Cycling and Fitness (Plano)
Richardson Bike Mart (Richardson)
Don Johle’s Bike World (Garland)
Richardson Bike Mart (Downtown Dallas)
Oak Cliff Bicycle Company (Oak Cliff)

DART: EVENT CO-SPONSOR/ORGANIZER:
Dan Dickerson and his team of great volunteers from DART:
Chris Walters, Steve Biba, Shaun Tooley, Jennifer Jones, Charylene Crayton, Jennifer Hall (and more).

CITY CO-SPONSORS:
Ann McGinnes and her team (City of Garland), Renee Jordan (City of Plano), Max Kalhammer, Kevin Lefebvre, Kimberly Mackey (City of Dallas)

VOLUNTEERS:
Jonathan Braddick, and his team (names to come) (Oak Cliff), Michael McNair (Garland), Jared Cook (Garland), Robert Cherry (Garland), Joshua McNeely (Richardson)

BIKEDFW: EVENT CO-SPONSOR/ORGANIZER:
Marc Mumby (Akard), Richard Wezensky (Richardson/Garland), Jenny Rilling (Richardson), Anita Mills (Oak Cliff), Michael Freiberger (Plano), Warren Casteel (Multi-Location Support)

For a more detailed account of how these stations came together, click here.

Pics Of The Event (Richardson and Garland) See full set here:

Richardson

Garland

Richardson

More Pics can be found here:
(coming)

Filed under: Advocacy, Bicycle Events, Bike Friendly, Bike Friendly, Bike To Work Day, BikeDFW, Clif Bar, Cycling Savvy DFW, Dallas, DFW Biking, Don Johle's Bike World, Energizer Stations, Garland, Generator Coffee, KIND, National Bike Month, Neuro, Oak Cliff, Oak Cliff Bike Company, Plano, Plano Cycling and Fitness, ReGeared, Richardson, Richardson Bike Mart, Zang Triangle Apartments

May 8, 2013 • 7:42 pm 2

Bike To Work Day – Bike Commuter Energizer Stations – MAY 17

Mark your calendars! Friday, May 17, 2013 is National Bike To Work Day. IF there is ever a day to ride to work, make it this day. Think about the positive statement we’ll be making as cyclists, safely using an alternate form of transportation throughout the DFW Metroplex.

Based on our great success in Richardson last year, BikeDFW and DART have partnered up to host 5 Bike Commuter Energizer Stations in:

GARLAND - Downtown Garland Station (Partnered with The City of Garland)
DALLAS - Akard Station (Partnered with the City of Dallas)
OAK CLIFF - Jefferson St. Viaduct (Partnered with Bike Friendly Oak Cliff)
RICHARDSON - Arapaho Station (Partnered with Bike Friendly Richardson)
PLANO - Intersection of Bluebonnet & Chisholm Trail (Partnered with The City of Plano)

DATE: Friday, May 17, 2013
TIME: 6:30-9:00 am

If you are in the area, please stop by. Also, let them know on Facebook.

MORE DETAILS TO COME.

EVENT SPONSORS:

KIND Healthy Snacks - on Facebook (All Stops)
Clif Bars - on Facebook (All Stops)
Neuro Energy Drinks (Akard Stop)
Re-Geared - on Facebook (Akard Stop)
Generator Coffee House - on Facebook (Garland Stop)
Zang Triangle Apartments - on Facebook (Oak Cliff Stop)

Plano Cycling and Fitness - on Facebook (Plano Stop)
Richardson Bike Mart - on Facebook (Richardson and Akard Stops)
Don Johle’s Bike World - on Facebook (Garland Stop)
Oak Cliff Bicycle Company - on Facebook (Oak Cliff Stop)

ALSO: There will be other stations available:

Dallas Bike Works will have coffee and doughnuts and free minor repairs from 7:30 – 9:30am at White Rock Creek Trail where it passes under NW Highway (opposite the shop on Lawther). Facebook Event here.

The City of Fort Worth will have food and beverages and a bike share station set up at the Inter-modal Transit Center from 7:30 – 9am. There will be group rides to the Fort Worth event starting from various locations (map).

Filed under: Advocacy, Bicycle Events, Bike Friendly, Cool Richardson Destinations, Bike Commuter, Bike League, Bike Rest Stop, Bike To Work Day, BikeDFW, Dallas, DART, Energizer Station, Garland, League of American Bicyclists, National Bike Month, National Bike To Work Day, National Bike To Work Week, Plano, Richardson, Texas

April 26, 2013 • 7:08 pm 0

A New Breed Of Richardson Cyclist

What a nice surprise on my way home from work – I saw a small group of cyclists heading over to the Arapaho DART Station. They were taking the train into Dallas to be part of the Dallas Critical Mass. Read more about this at Suburban Assault.

Filed under: BFR Misc, Bike Friendly, Arapaho Station, Critical Mass, DART, Richardson Cyclist

April 6, 2013 • 9:58 am 3

Pics Of The New Bike Lanes On Collins – North Of Campbell

We got a notice from Dave Carter, with the City of Richardson, that more bike lanes were being installed – with more planned for the summer. I’m excited because the ones installed this summer will be in my neighborhood. Click here to see a map of the completed bike lanes in Richardson (so far).

Another 1.1 miles of new bike lanes are being installed this week on both sides of Collins Blvd from Campbell Rd. northward to tie into the existing bike lanes on Collins Blvd at Palisades Creek. This installation will connect the existing bike lane system on Collins Blvd from the Renner Trail all the way down to Campbell Road.

Later this summer there will be three additional bike lane segments installed as part of the Safe Routes to School program grant received from TxDOT.
Collins Blvd (Plano Rd to Jupiter)
Yale Blvd (Arapaho to Campbell)
Owens Blvd (Woodoak to Campbell)

All of these bike lane segments were discussed in the City Council worksession on 10/22/2012 and continue to address the Council Near Term Action Item #29.

I went out to take some pics:

UPDATE: Here is more information from the City of Richardson.

Filed under: Bike Change, Bike Friendly, City Stuff, Bike Lanes, City Of Richardson, Collins, Collins Blvd, New Bike Lanes

December 29, 2012 • 7:05 am 1

The Signs Of Our Times

We just wanted to share some of the signs that you might have been seeing along the road in Richardson. Starting several months back, the City of Richardson has been adding these to a number of locations around town, many of them appear right where you enter the city.

We think these are a nice little welcome into our city, a good way to make motorists bike-aware, and a great way to articulate that we are a bike friendly community.

We feel that these are a nice additions to the cycling infrastructure and a good compliment to our trails and bike lanes.

They’re pretty self-explanitory, but here is the City of Richardson‘s description of each:

In addition to bicycle lanes, the City is installing “Share the Road” signs on Renner Road where hundreds of cyclists ride many evenings and weekends despite the higher vehicle speeds and volumes. On some collector roadways and residential streets we simply provide a Bike Route sign without a dedicated lane. Below are examples of these different signs and characteristics associated with each facility type.

Share the Road – This sign is posted on routes where vehicular traffic may encounter larger volumes of cyclists even though it is not a dedicated bike route or bike lane. Cyclists are legally permitted on these roadways so these signs are to make motorists aware of the presence of bicycles and to remind them to give the same rights to the bicycles as they would to motorized vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.)

Bike Route – This sign is posted along roadways in the city that have lower traffic volumes than “share the road” streets, and will help cyclists connect from bike lane to bike lane or between an off-street trail and an on-street bike lane. These routes may carry higher volumes than streets with designated bike lanes, but most of these routes are located on collectors or residential streets versus arterials.

Bike Lane – This sign is located along roadways that have a dedicated bike lane. There are currently six bike lanes located in Richardson and more are proposed as future funding is available. This bike lane sign will also be accompanied by white pavement markings of the cyclist symbol and a solid white stripe separating motorized traffic from the bicycles.

For some reason the city didn’t put up a description for the Bike May Use Full Lane signs. To us, those are just as important, if not more informative than the others. You’d be surprised to know that many motorists AND cyclists don’t realize that this is the law.

I’d love to have a set for my garage or office.

Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Change, Bike Friendly, Share The Road Sign, Bike Lane Sign, Bikes May Use Full Lane Sign, Bike Route Sign

December 2, 2012 • 10:25 am 1

Recap and Pics From The Richardson Christmas Parade

This is exactly the direction we want Bike Friendly Richardson to head. We want Richardson cyclists to have organic and spontaneous group rides that are organized by anybody interested in setting one up.

A few weeks ago, a couple of folks on the BFR Facebook page were wondering if there will be a BFR participation in the annual City of Richardson Christmas parade. With our busy schedules and efforts put into setting up our annual Black Friday Ride, we just didn’t have the bandwidth to sign up for the parade.

Fortunately, those folks, Crystalyn and Josh, took it upon themselves to jump in and get it set up. We’re glad they did.

The day of the parade, we had a great variety of bikes, including one with a kid trailer, one with a couple of dogs leashed on, an urban cruiser, a couple of family truckster cargo bikes (loaded with kiddos) and even a penny farthing bike – all decked out with holiday lights and decorations. Even the riders were dressed with festive gear. All together, we had 12 bikes and 16 participants.

The ride itself was mostly stop-and-go or very slow paced, which made it easy to enjoy each other’s company, as well as the spectacle of the parade. The ‘super mom’ (I actually heard that term used by a spectator) family trucksters and the penny farthing bike got a lot of crowd’s attention.

Participation in the parade was our way to build on our bike community, make more folks aware of Bike Friendly Richardson and to just have fun. To our surprise, we found out that we won an award from the city. The Bike Friendly Richardson parade crew won 1st place in the ‘Civic Clubs/Organizations Mixed Unit Category’. Not bad for our first time out.

The parade was a big success for the city as well. They said there were 115 parade entries, and 2400 participants. Also, 1200 toys were donated, as well as $2,200 for Network of Community Ministries – a great way to kick off the holidays.

Since this ride was such a great success, we’ll definitely add it to our annual group ride list. We hope you can make it out to the next one.

Here are some pics from the parade. Click here to see the entire set.

Filed under: Bicycle Events, Bike Friendly, City Stuff, Dogs Leashed To Bicycle, Family Bikes, Parade Ride, Penny Farthing Bike, Richardson Christmas Parade, Utility Bikes

November 18, 2012 • 4:14 pm 5

Bike Friendly Richardson Presents: Black Friday Ride #4

It’s that time of year again. It’s the time to AVOID all the big crowds at the shopping mall, work off that Thanksgiving dinner and have a fun ride around town.

You are invited to attend Bike Friendly Richardson‘s FOURTH annual Black Friday Ride. Started four years ago as the inaugural ride that launched Bike Friendly Richardson, the Black Friday Ride gives folks an alternative way to kick off the holiday season. This is a casual paced ride that will explore many of the different route options available to Richardson cyclists. We will ride on back-roads, side-streets, multi-purpose trails and available bike lanes.

Come on out to the Shops at Eastside, enjoy a tasty lunch at Chiloso, Russo’s Italian Kitchen, Urban Eatz or Panera Bread, then meet us at the fountain around 1:00 pm.

The first part of the route will be around 10 miles and stops at Dal Rich (Whole Foods) shopping center for a nice break.

The return ride, back at the Shops at Eastside, will be around 6 miles.

DATE: Friday, November 23, 2012
TIME: Arrive: 1:00 pm, Ride: 1:30 pm
START/FINISH: Shops At Eastside – 700 E. Campbell Road @ Central (meet at the fountain)
PACE: Casual
RSVP: Via Facebook
ROUTE: Click Here (subject to change)

Filed under: Bicycle Events, Bike Friendly, Black Friday Ride, East Side

October 30, 2012 • 9:34 am 2

Help Plano See the Light

By bergerandfries

All, Plano is looking at putting in a traffic signal at Preston Road and Commonsgate where Bluebonnet Trail could cross Preston. In order to do that, they have to do a traffic signal warrant study. Both vehicular traffic on Preston and bike/ped traffic on Bluebonnet at Preston will be counted. A signal can be warranted based on the volume of vehicular traffic (which we easily have), and/or volume bike/ped traffic. Get the picture?

When?
Wed 10/31 from 1 pm to 7 pm
Thurs 11/1 from 7 am to 1 pm

What?
You need to travel West/East on Bluebonnet and turn around in the gas station parking lot (RaceTrac or QT) and head back East/West during the above windows of time.

I will leave 2400 Glenville Drive at 4:00pm on 10/31 to go to this intersection, and will ride from this intersection back to 2400 Glenville Drive starting at 7:30am on 11/1 if anyone wants to join me!!!

Filed under: Advocacy, Bike Change, Bike Friendly, Bike Trails and Routes

October 22, 2012 • 5:39 am 1

BikeDFW Fall Meet Up – TONIGHT, Oct 22

Please join us! BikeDFW’s Fall Meet Up will be on Monday evening, October 22, 2012.

Come network with other cyclists and learn about what’s going on at BikeDFW and in our local communities to encourage cycling. Our speakers will discuss how the two bike-friendliest cities in the DFW metroplex (Fort Worth and Richardson) got to be that way and what they’ve got in store for the future.

Speakers:

Julia McCleeary
Senior Planner
Transportation and Planning Division
City of Fort Worth

Dave Carter
Assistant Director
Traffic and Transportation
Department of Development Services
City of Richardson

Just added (10/17/2012)

Short presentations by the Fort Worth Mayor’s Office (MaryAnn Means) and Bike Friendly Fort Worth on grass roots advocacy.

Refreshments will be served.

The Meet Up is open to the public and admission is free, but space is limited so you must RSVP to reserve a spot.

WHEN

October 22, 2012 at 7pm – 8:30pm

WHERE

REI Dallas – Guadalupe Peak Room
4515 LBJ Fwy
Dallas, TX 75244
United States
Google map and directions

CONTACT

Marc Mumby · president@bikedfw.org

Some folks from Richardson will be riding to the event. They will be meeting at the Kroger parking lot, at the northeast corner of Coit and Beltline at 6:00. Check the BFR Facebook page for details and updates.

Filed under: Advocacy, Bicycle Events, Bike Friendly, Bike DFW, Bike Meeting, BikeDFW

August 21, 2012 • 8:23 am 3

Please Welcome Bike Friendly Garland

Ever since we started up Bike Friendly Richardson (from the inspiration of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff), we had a vision that more communities in the DFW Metroplex would do the same. Several have – more actively than others – but none were our immediate neighbors like Plano, Addison, Carrollton, or Garland. Well, that has changed.

We are happy to announce that friend of BFR and fellow blogger, Jonathan Guzman with A Bicycle’s Point Of View, started up Bike Friendly Garland.

Let’s show BFG some support by joining their Facebook Page. Also, if you live and cycle in Garland, Jonathan would love some help getting their group launched. Volunteers are more than welcome.

Filed under: Advocacy, Bike Friendly, Bike Friendly, Bike Friendly Garland