Bike-In Movie at the Belmont June 3rd.

(photo from Melissa Sharkey)

Mark you calendar’s…the Belmont Hotel on Fort Worth Avenue in Oak Cliff is having their next Bike-In Movies Under the Stars on June 3rd. This is actually open for cyclists and non-cyclists alike, but the owner’s of the Belmont are major New Urbanists and want to get as many bicyclists and pedestrians out as possible. Also, cyclists get $1 off all beer at the bar, so when you arrive, be sure to check in at the lobby. Last month’s movie, Vertigo, was packed so get there early.

The movie for June is the National Lampoon classic, Vacation. When you bike in, remember to stop by the Cliff Cafe next door to get your BFOC discounted 10% off meal. See you there!

The Other Flying Machine

(the Wright St. Clair)

So we’re obviously advocates for building Frankenbikes, not just for keeping costs down, but also the idea of recycling old and forgotten velos. My commuter has now become a mainstay for riding around town, but for my next project, I would like to recreate the beautiful lines of an old racer. This one would be purely eye candy, and probably only ridden for special events, but I’m a history buff and love the look of anything built at the turn of the last century. When looking around for ideas, the guys at soon-to-be-opened Oak Cliff Bicycle Company forwarded me a link to the gorgeous Pashley Guv’nor. Given the steep price tag for a bike that would only be ridden for special events, I started looking around for something comparable to rebuild…and that’s when I found it…the Wright St. Clair.

Everyone knows the Wright Brothers were famous for building the first controllable aircraft, but little is mentioned of the other machines they created which helped fund their aeronautic experiments: the bicycle. Obviously, parts would have to be updated…new brakes, a gear or three, but other than that, i plan on having something like this roll out of my garage very soon. Time to break out the knickers, cap, and long socks!

BFOC Merchandise Available!

After much delay, we’ve finally got some more merchandise available! We’ve had multiple requests for the BFOC t-shirts but didn’t have a lot of spare time to print them ourselves, so we’ve partnered with one of our favorite local shirt designers, Free Lisa, to start churning out beautiful, all organic versions for us. They can be purchased in the Bishop Arts District at Epiphany.

Also, we’ve got a stack of new stickers for your car, laptop, fridge, or anywhere else you’d like to show off your BFOC pride! You can pick these up at Epiphany in Bishop Arts as well. They’re 5 bucks, and the proceeds go back to BFOC bicycle events and projects.

Bishop Arts Summerfest and homebrew beer competition benefiting BFOC on June 14th!

Come out to Bishop Arts on Sunday! Our favorite beer tavern is judging the District’s first annual Summerfest and homebrew beer competition on June 14th from 2pm to 6pm. It will be outdoors with live music by the Happy Bullets, and City Folk and plenty of great brews to sample. It’s bike and dog friendly, so bring the whole gang!

A Return to Cycling

(image from ecovelo.info)

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff is nearing a year in existence, and we’ve learned quite a bit in that short time. It’s been heartening seeing the number of people come out on our rides, and the businesses get excited about helping us out with discount programs. Some events have been well received, and others have had smaller turnouts, but all in all, it’s been amazing seeing the community go to bat for us.

Early on, we expected most of our lobbying to come against strong opposition from drivers, but that simply hasn’t been the case. The most surprising opposition we’ve experienced has been from veteran cyclists. Typically, people who ride 30 miles a day and have either given up their cars or limited themselves to 2 or 3 trips a week. These riders often spend thousands of dollars a year on cycling and will take vacations to bicycle across the country. These are not the people we’re attempting to appeal to.

We’re advocates for the average Joe and Jane who just bought a new Schwinn at Target for $80 and are interested in starting to dip their toes into the world of cycling. They may not be brave enough to bike to work right now, but they might just take a trip to the local post office. They may not go all out and buy helmets, riding pants, and sign up for a bicycle safety course, but that’s okay…they simply want to remember what it was like to be self-propelled and carefree like they were before ever climbing behind the wheel. It’s that first step that can completely change someone’s future habits. We’re also advocates for the kids who live a mile from school and who desperately want to experience the freedom of being able to wind through neighborhood streets and lock up at the local library.

We’re pretty much a Lycra-free group…not that there’s anything wrong with suiting up for cycling, we just want to help others take small steps so they can begin changing little habits like going to the grocery store and maybe not pulling out the Tahoe for the trip. Portland’s motto has been, “Make Bicycling Irresistible”. We think they’ve done a pretty good job of that.

Sometimes it seems like the fearless and experienced riders among us forgot what it was like to be a newbie and first hop on that saddle and feel the wind while watching the pavement rush under your feet. They will sometimes put you down for not being more brave-hearted and jumping into the middle of a lane on a 6-lane street, or for being a ride-to-the-local-tavern only cyclist. Conversely, you’ll more than likely never hear a member of BFOC bragging about picking up the latest and greatest all titanium frame that was engineered by NASA, or riding from Dowtown Dallas to Fort Worth…that’s not our bag.

In the end, our hope is that we build our community in such a way where our grandparents can easily and safely ride with their grandchildren to the market and back. Where businesses can take away a parking space or two, and open it up to wider patios for a livelier street. And where parents can comfortably ride with the family to the local farmers’ market.

The reality is that not many among us that are just beginning to pedal-up again after years of living a car-only lifestyle are willing to start swimming by jumping off the high dive.

An interview with Tempe, Arizona’s transit planner, Eric Iwersen

First of all, congratulations on your ranking of “Silver” by the League of American Bicyclists. How long did it take for Tempe to get on the list?

Our funding and dedicated staff for bicycling has been an ongoing process, but the first stages of our bicycle program really began in 1971 but stopped around 1977. In 1990 the program was revived when we hired a dedicated staff person. It was at this point that the process of changing things at City Hall to raise awareness of bicycle infrastructure began. A greater push to begin installing bike lanes, signing routes, and setting up bike racks occurred after 1990. By 1997, we applied for the League of American Bicyclists designation of a “Bike Friendly” city, and received their “Silver” status.

How did you become the Bike Coordinator for Tempe?

When I was in school, I organized a couple of critical mass rides and began showing up to city hall to inquire about better bicycle facilities. I studied to be a planner, so it was second nature to begin getting involved. After a while, the city started taking note of this involvement, and when a position became available, I was at the top of the list of candidates.

Technically, I’m a Senior Planner and work on bike/ped issues. There isn’t a sole bike coordinator but I’m often considered the point person. Our city transit staff is very versed in road planning as a whole, and bicycles are always given high priority.

What was bicycling in Tempe like prior to your work in establishing bike infrastructure?

There was a growing street network when I started. There wasn’t really any off road pathways…basic infrastructure existed with some limited bike lanes. There were approximately 50 to 60 miles of onstreet bike lanes in the community and when I came on board we started pursuing federal dollars. Shortly thereafter, the citizens passed a sales tax to allow for additional funding of alternative transportation. After this point, the infrastructure ramped up very quickly.

To date, we’ve taken four different major streets and done road narrowing, added more bike lanes and on-street parking. The community has responded well, even though the majority of commuters are in cars. The citizens of Tempe are very environmentally minded and have been great, while seeing the benefits of these changes. We did have some businesses fight our planning early on, but with time, they’ve seen improved opportunities with more on-street parking, and wider sidewalks that allow for more people. At this point, our strongest redevelopment in the community is occurring where multi-modal options are in place or planned.

As you may know, Dallas was recently ranked “Worst City in the US for Biking”. When looking to promote bicycle infrastructure, opponents will often cite things like “It’s too hot in Dallas”, or “Density is too low”. We notice that Tempe has similar density and issues with climate that we do. How has the community taken to these considering these issues?

We do hear that, but interestingly we also hear some people say they prefer to bike here in the Summer over the Winter. But when you look at the 365 days our of the year, we may have a few hot months, but we have 7 months of mild weather. We have a lot of people who will split trips with bus/train trips on hotter days of the year. Also we’re flat…so in a place like San Francisco that’s hilly, we’re much better off.

Is ridership increasing in Tempe, and if so, to what do you attribute this?

We’re waiting for the new census data to find out what our latest numbers are. As of 2005, we’re at a little over 4% modal share for bicycle. This is much greater than the national average which I think is below 1%. We do attribute this higher nationwide ridership to the city’s efforts to place greater emphasis on multi-modal planning.

In Dallas, opponents of Bike Lanes will often cite “Rashes of Deaths” occuring when these facilities are put in place due to intersection problems and increases in uneducated cyclists on the road. Are you seeing this in Tempe?

No, in fact I would say that our accident data has held the same for years. Every one in a half to two years we’ll have a fatality but it’s extremely low. We’ve reduced speed limits city wide, created no road widenings, and improved multimodal transit. All of this has raised awareness, and shown motorist how to better interact with other forms of transit.

Portland Business magazine recently ran a cover story noting the $125 Million bicycle industry which has developed based on the city’s promotion of bicycle facilities and programs. Are you seeing similar economic development based around cycling with Tempe’s recent programs?

Again, our strongest redevelopment areas and the most vibrant parts of the city is where good pathways exist, and strong multimodal connections are.

How many miles of bike lanes does Tempe currently have? What are Tempe’s future plans for bicycling infrastructure?

We have 170 total bikeways. This includes pathways, bikelanes, and routes. Of that number, 110 miles worth are on-street bike lanes that are a minimum of 4 ft wide.

Do you feel a greater bicycling culture has developed due to this infrastructure?

Yes. I can say that definitively. I see it in the community response. The residents have become more vocal and supportive of multi-modalism. Maybe there were some risky processes done earlier like narrowing streets (worrying about traffic backup, etc.) but seeing what’s occured has changed the residents attitudes. Within the last 7 years, there are now 3 non-profits working on bicycle advocacy that have sprung up, I attribute to the awareness.

What advice would you give the city of Dallas to begin removing itself from the “Worst of” lists for cycling?

Find political advocates. One city council member or more that are aware of, if not vocally supportive of bicycle infrastructure. Make sure you have city staff that gets it and start changing city guideline documentation.

Blueprint America: Road to the Future

PBS released their latest documentary on the future of US transit planning titled Blueprint America: Road to the Future. In it, they profile Denver’s sprawl and contrast it with Portland’s multi-modal planning. They go through the process of federal spending which promoted car-only modes, where the US Government would give .90 cents on the dollar to any highway project. Conversley, Portland bucked the trend in the 1970′s, and through a lot of hard work, was able to get those federal dollars transferred into streetcar and bicycle infrastructure. The results are incredible. The show includes an interview with the head of bikeportland.org and New York City’s planner Janette Sadik-Khan.

BFOC in the News!

Channel 11 News filmed some BFOC members talking about our new Discounts for Cyclists program:

You can read the full story here as well.

Ride Your Bike, Get a Discount..

We here at BFOC sometimes sit around and try to think up clever ways to increase ridership in the community. The goal is to get average people and families out on their bicycles, which not only creates a vibrant street life, but helps our environment and health of our community. Also, business owners are often required to create more parking for their patrons which can be costly, and take away from their bottom lines.

After cyclists were given discounts on tickets for the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie at the Texas Theater last month, we decided that it may be smart to ask more area merchants if they would be willing to offer more specials to bicyclists.

So we asked around and received an overwhelmingly positive response. Look for our stickers with the BFOC logo on the doors or windows of your favorite Oak Cliff stops. There are still more merchants to talk to, so keep an eye out for updated lists from time to time.

We would like to ask that you try and park your bike within viewing shot of the merchant so that they can tell that you did indeed ride your bike in. We are running this program on the honor system because we know our community is awesome enough to not take advantage of the wonderful generosity of these businesses. With that being said, if we do happen to get a bad apple or two, they will likely pull out, so let’s all do our best to stay true to the goal!

And now…… here is the initial map and list of discounts you can receive if you ride your bike!

View Larger Map

Alchemy Salon
317 N Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX‎ 75208
10% Off all services

Bolsa
614 W Davis St
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off purchase

Cliff Cafe (Hotel Belmont)
901 Fort Worth Avenue
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off all meals

CocoAndré Chocolatier

831 W Davis, Dallas, 75208

10% off a $15 purchase

Cozy Cottage Children’s Boutique
336 W 8th St
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off purchase, excluding sale items.

Epiphany
412 North Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off Bike Friendly Oak Cliff T-Shirts

El Jordan Cafe
416 N. Bishop
Dallas, TX 75208
On Mondays, get a free fountain drink or coffee with purchase of a meal

Eno’s Tavern
407 N. Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off purchase

Espumoso Cafe
408 N Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX 75208
Free small coffee of the day with purchase of a pastry

Green Pet
315 N. Bishop Ave.
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off purchase, excluding pet food.

Hula Hotties Café & Bakery
244 W Davis St
Dallas, TX 75208
Free iced coffee with the purchase of any pastry
Or
Free cookie with the purchase of any entrée

Hunky’s Hamburgers
321 N Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off a purchase of at least $5

Make
313 N. Bishop Avenue
Dallas, TX 75208
10% off art classes

Marissa’s Tamales y Mas
1009 W Davis St
Dallas, TX 75208
15% off any purchase over $10

Oak Cliff Pizza
1315 Davis St
Dallas, TX 75208
12 inch pizza with 2 toppings for $8.95 (pick-up on bicycle or dine-in)

Shambhala Soaps
320 W 7th St
Dallas, TX 75208
10% of entire purchase, excluding sale items or massages

Spiral Diner
1101 N Beckley Ave
Dallas, TX 75203
To Be Announced

Sweet 200 Salon
738 W Davis St,
Dallas, TX 75208
50% off retail products (Nioxin excluded) when coming in for a salon appointment

Texas Theater
231 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75208
$2 off ticket price for movies (next showing is Bonnie & Clyde at 7pm on May 23)

Zola’s Everyday Vintage
414 N Bishop Ave
Dallas, TX 75208
20% off any purchase over $25

Happy riding!

BFOC Bonnie and Clyde Video Posted

The Dallas Morning News just uploaded their video of our Bonnie and Clyde ride. I still can’t believe the turnout…it’s a site to behold.