Cool weather and fall colors will be coming soon and with them, the September Challenge. Ride your bike to work, walk, or take public transit and log your car-free miles on Shift Your Commute. This free, web-based program will automatically calculate calories burned and carbon emissions saved. Every trip makes a difference – for your health, for the environment, and for regional planning. Trailnet uses data generated from Shift Your Commute to plan projects that improve opportunities for active transportation throughout the region. Stay tuned for info about prizes awarded for individuals and teams who log the most car-free miles during the month of September.
Proudly sponsored by:
Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts
Trailnet, with support from Great Rivers Greenway, is participating in the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project for the fourth consecutive September. As we continue to collect data each year, we will be able to show changes in bicycling and pedestrian activity. This information is essential for planning and infrastructure projects that will help to make St. Louis a better place to live. With volunteer support last year, we counted over 4,000 bicyclists and pedestrians at 75 locations throughout the St. Louis region.
Want to help with this important project? Click here for details. To sign up, click here.
Volunteers will be eligible to win four Cardinals Tickets! They’re great seats too—in the home field box, section 151, row 10.
Lucky’s Ride: Registration Now Open!
Trailnet’s Lucky’s Ride puts you on some of the most scenic sections of the Katy Trail. The three-day cycling and camping adventure starts with a kickoff celebration at the Lucky’s in Ellisville. From there, participants hop on our bus to the Lucky’s Market in Columbia. From Columbia, we’re in for all sorts of fun, music, food, and camping.
If that’s not enough to get you in the saddle for a few days, this event is your opportunity to raise money for educating local youth on the importance of leading a healthy, active lifestyle. Sharing Trailnet’s devotion to building vibrant, healthy, and active communities, Lucky’s Market has committed to support Trailnet’s Youth Programming, matching rider contributions dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $10,000.
Let’s get this campaign rolling and see if we can make it to $10,000 before the start of the ride!
Click here for details about this great adventure.
Trailnet to offer League of American Bicyclists Instructor Seminar
The League of American Bicyclists is a national organization that advocates for bicyclists in a variety of ways. To further their work, they offer training seminars that certify individuals as League Cycling Instructors (LCIs). If you would like to learn more about Missouri bicycle laws, basic bike maintenance, and safe riding skills, this seminar can help to improve your own biking experience, and more importantly, make you a valuable resource for other bicyclists. Trailnet is hosting a League Cycling Instructor seminar on October 16-18. After completing this training and receiving your LCI certification, you will be eligible to teach bike education classes in your community. Click here for details about the seminar. E-mail or call Ginny McDonald at ginny@trailnet.org or 314-436-1324 ext.131 for more information.
Spring Earn A Bike Class
Richard Palk will use his new wheels to commute to work in downtown St. Louis
The Pink House, a Community Arts Space in Pagedale, was the site of our most recent Earn a Bike class. Six students, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-nine, met on Friday evenings from March 20th through April 10th. During the five week program, they learned about bike tools and clothing, basic maintenance and Missouri bicycle laws. Students gained practical experience in shifting gears, using their brakes properly and riding safely and confidently on city streets. By going through the program, each student earned a brand new bicycle from the Ferguson Bicycle Shop, individually-fitted and with life-time free tune-ups. Students also received a lock, helmet, and a blinking rear light.
Prior to taking the class, all of the students relied upon public transit or walking to get where they needed to go. Three of the six students will be using their bicycles to get to school; the other three class members will be using their bicycles to commute to their jobs.
On the last evening of class, students and instructors rode on neighborhood streets to the St. Vincent Greenway, a great place to celebrate their new wheels. On the night he received his bicycle, class participant Jay Mitchell rode his bike from Pagedale through downtown to the riverfront and back. He said he was having such a great time that he completely lost track of time, and before he knew it the sun was starting to rise.
Pink House Director, Gina Martinez, reports that she often sees Earn a Bike graduates pass by on their bikes en route to work or school.Trailnet thanks all of the students for their enthusiastic participation and wishes them many miles of safe and fun riding. Thanks also to Gerry Noll of the Ferguson Bike Shop for custom fitting the bikes. Trailnet’s bike education programs are funded byBeyond Housing and the Trio Foundation. For more information about Trailnet’s bicycle education programs and upcoming class offerings, click here.
Safety is the priority for alternative transit in St. Louis
Trailnet, Missouri Department of Transportation, and Bi-State Development Agency advocate “Safe Roads for All” during National Bike to Work Day
Trailnet celebrated the St. Louis region’s 10th annual Bike to Work Day Friday, May 15. Sponsored by Great Rivers Greenway, Missouri American Water, and Saint Louis Bread Co., the event drew more than 560 cyclists dedicated to making biking a way of life in St. Louis. Sponsors, volunteers, and Trailnet staff hosted refueling stations throughout the area, offering coffee and bagels to all bike commuters. Bike to Work Day helps to build a sense of community, promotes environmentally-friendly modes of travel, and inspires people to maintain healthy, active lifestyles.
Maggie Crane, communications director for the Office of Mayor Francis Slay, drew applause from the audience when she announced St. Louis will include its first bike and pedestrian coordinator position in the city’s 2015-2016 budget. This is one step required to boost the region’s overall bike friendliness ranking, as evaluated by the League of American Bicyclists.
Ralph Pfremmer, Trailnet’s executive director, stressed the importance of installing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to improve the health of local communities as well as the environment. “For the future, it’s critical that the expansion of well-designed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure continue,” Pfremmer said. “By increasing safe and pleasant opportunities for walking and biking, we will build the confidence of our users and improve public health and the environment. These assets of our community will most certainly attract and retain talented young people and entrepreneurs, adding to the vitality and economic prosperity of our region.
Five of Trailnet’s 2015 BFC rides included century routes. In addition, there were five opportunities for century routes on our non-profit partner rides. Below are lists of riders who completed centuries for each of these events:
For information about the Century Club, click here.
Forty tweed-clad bicyclists rode through the neighborhoods surrounding Tower Grove Park on Saturday morning, enjoying spring blooms and several of the architectural gems that grace the area.
The tour wound its way through Tower Grove Park, visiting the Christopher Columbus statue (one of few examples in the world of the explorer sporting a beard), and the stone ruins salvaged from the Lindell Hotel that sit at the edge of the park’s central pond.
The ride ended at The London Tea Room, where many members of the group enjoyed Afternoon Tea and lunch (don’t miss their tomato soup and croissants).
Many thanks to LaBerta and Sons Cycles for providing eco-SAG support, to Michael Allen for choosing our destinations and sharing his seemingly limitless knowledge of the area, and to Mark Axe and Peter Wollenberg for the great photographs. Trailnet thanks The London Tea Room not only for providing delicious food and a variety of fancy teas to riders, but also for donating part of the proceeds from their sales to Trailnet.
Features: This ride is for women only, and is intended for those who are new to road riding in general and especially those who are new to riding with traffic. It is a no-drop ride, so no one will end up riding alone! Carrie Cash Wootten will lead the group and will focus on fun and learning as the miles fly by! The Thursday evening ride is intended for road bikes, so hybrid and off-road bike riders may find their wider tires make it hard to keep up the pace of the road bikes. If you have any questions about your bike or the ride in general, please call Carrie at The Hub. Helmets are required. Routes are marked, and maps will be provided.
Routes: 15 miles
Terrain: Moderately hilly, a few big hills
Start location, bike shop sponsor and ride leader:
Time: 7:45 a.m. group at a “fast pace”: finishing average speed of 19 mph and below
8:00 a.m. group at a “conversational pace”: finishing average speed of 16 mph and below
Features: This ride heads westward from the shop, and uses roads in Webster Groves, Kirkwood, and Ladue. It is a ride intended for riders on road bikes, and the wide variety of rider speeds makes this ride a great one for all abilities. Hybrid and off-road bike riders will usually find their bikes’ wider tires make it hard to keep up the pace of the road bikes. There is no sag support, but there is generally someone to help in case of mechanical trouble. Complimentary bagels and coffee served after the ride.
Routes: 30, 26, 18 miles
Terrain: Moderately hilly, a few big hills
Start location, bike shop sponsor and ride leader:
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