Denton, Dallas, Ft Worth weekend events

There’s no shortage of bikey events around DFW this weekend, so take your pick! Outstanding.

1. Querencia is doing a Tubes, Tires, and Flats educational event from 2-3PM on Sat.

2. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff Cyclesomatic & RBM bike fair on Sat. BMX freestyle, repair workshops

3. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff urban chicken coop bike tour:

4. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff “Hit the Road, Jack” historic Ray Charles ride:

5. Doom Presents Drunkenshlagen alleycat, 6PM, Union Station.

6. Fort Worth Open-Streets carfree festival on Sunday:

Ross Ave Better-Boulevard recon

Last weekend, I went down to Dallas to see the BikeFriendlyOakCliff/BetterBlock Ross Ave Better Boulevard. They took a neglected block and made it inviting by adding shade, traffic calming, water, crosswalks, bike lanes, entertainment, and food. The NYTimes even mentions the Ross Ramblas event in their article about tactical urbanism.

In one swoop, Jason Roberts of BetterBlock sums up the gist of rebalancing streets to meet the needs for people (and not just cars), while saving millions on maintenance, creating new jobs and revenue, encouraging entrepreneurship, and debunking the myth that gas taxes actually pay for road costs.

For Ross Avenue, we took a 6 lane road and developed a pedestrianized center that allowed entrepreneurs an opportunity to test their business while creating greater economics to the area. Normally, we’d generate no money from this street and actually spend millions to fill in potholes and repave. The wider the street, the more costly the maintenance, which directly affects our property taxes…repaving one mile of a 6 lane road in Dallas costs millions and we have hundreds of miles of these throughout the city. An assumption often made is that our roads are paid for by gas taxes. The reality is that none of our residential and non-highway/interstate roads are covered at all by gas taxes…it’s soley property taxes. To make matters worse, when business opportunity erodes in an area, we typically raise taxes to continue maintenance which pushes business away and creates an undue burden on residents to fill in the void. The money we’d save by reclaiming portions of the streets for businesses and people would go far to helping our city’s balance sheet. Fewer potholes to fill while increased area business tax revenue would help cover the costs of pedestrian amenities like lighting, watering trees, et cetera.

Dallas Cycle Chic April 9-17

It all started with Copenhagen Cycle Chic, with an eye toward urban cycling and style.

As Dallas aligns itself with the cycle chic movement, we set ourselves apart. Dallas embraces its funky southern flair, its uptight respect for red tape, and the rebellious entrepreneurial spirit that’s made this region great.

We come together to celebrate this Spring 2011 as area cities adopt and update their Bicycle Master Plans, and together we begin to envision how our hometowns are becoming cycle-friendly cities.

Dallas Cycle Chic Week April 9th – 17th

Saturday 9th
12pm-6pm Be counted in the 2011 Cyclist Census and be entered to represent as the new Face of Biking in Dallas. We want to see – who are Dallas cyclists? Young, old, students, parents, business professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, and bike messengers – come tell us what inspires you to cycle, and be entered to become the new Face of Cycling in Dallas. We want to see you and your personal cycling style.

Find your closest location where photographers will be capturing the unique style of the people who ride their bikes around our town. Also, check with your local Bike Friendly neighborhood group to see if they’ve organized a ride to your photo spot.

Locations:

North Dallas (Valley View Park – NE corner of 635 and Hillcrest)
North Oak Cliff (Bishop Arts District- at Bishop and 7th)
Deep Ellum (on Main at Walton between the taco joint and cafe)
Highland Park (Bicycles Plus)
SMU campus
Uptown (Transit Bicycle Co)
Downtown Dallas (Pegasus Plaza at Main and Akard)
White Rock Lake (NE side of the lake, near E. Lawther and Northcliff
Main Street in McKinney (location to come…)

Sunday 10th
7pm-10pm “Dallas Rides” Photo Exhibit upstairs at Eno’s Pizza Tavern

Tuesday 12th
6pm Bike to the Texas Theatre for a Bike Friendly Happy Hour (sponsored by Bike Friendly Oak Cliff)
8pm Stay for the showing of the 1948 award-winning Italian film “The Bicycle Thief”

Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th
Online public voting for the Face of Dallas winners

Saturday 16th
12-4pm Dallas Photo Scavenger Hunt by Bike
beginning at Eno’s Pizza Tavern
(Sponsored by Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and photopol.us)
9pm Bike-in movie on the lawn at Main Street Gardens Park

Sunday 17th
12-6pm Bike Polo
Beginner’s Training followed by a Tournament

Dallas to get dedicated cycle track on Bishop Ave

What’s a cycle-track, you ask?  It’s a bike lane physically separated from the automotive roadway, like this one in NYC:

As written about in the Dallas Morning News and BFOC, planners are seeking to utilize $3.7 million in bond money for Bishop Avenue to add a dedicated cycle track.  The project also covers landscaping improvements, utility replacement, and rebuilding Bishop as a concrete roadway from Colorado Boulevard to north of Davis Street.

Many issues and concerns still need to be addressed, said Max Kalhammer, the city’s bicycle coordinator, citing safety, traffic flow and whether bike lanes should be built on one side of the street or separated as shown in the proposal.

Bishop’s existing 100-foot right-of-way makes the corridor especially suitable for building what would be the city’s first barrier-protected bicycle lanes, he said.

Kalhammer also mentions that Dallas will soon be hiring a consultant and drafting a new city bicycle plan.

Kalhammer and others have begun developing a new city bicycle plan. A consultant should be hired by mid-March, he said. A plan will be crafted in committees and after public meetings.

City Council member Delia Jasso has said she likes the idea of segregating bicycle lanes along this stretch of Bishop.

So how about it, Denton?  Where would you like to put a cycle track here?  Carroll?  University?  Avenue C?  Teasley?

I’d advise you Denton readers to keep an eye out for bond-funded road improvement projects, and direct your cycling infrastructure suggestions toward those already-funded projects.

Cyclesomatic !!! Oct 2-11 Schedule of Events

10 days of Dallas bike love starts NOW.  Read the whole schedule and you’re bound to find something you want to participate in.  BikeDenton.org and Oak Cliff Bike Company are teaming up to put on events around 8-10PM on Oct 10.  Bands, Texas Toast fixie crew (incredible trick riding), TallBike Freakshow, etc.

A good number of us Denton folk are headed to Dallas for the Hellhound On My Trail historic-themed group ride tomorrow at 2:30PM.

Full schedule of events:

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff is proud to announce Cyclesomatic, a week long bicycle festival in North Oak Cliff from October 2nd to the 11th. Events will include a history-themed group ride, bicycle competitions, Bike to City Hall, Biketoberfest! in Bishop, an Urban Bazaar, a “Kiddical Mass” Ride, Bike to School Day, BBQ, Bands,Bicycle Films at the Texas Theatre, Art Bike Shows, and guest speaker councilwoman Angela Hunt. New Belgium brewery is sponsoring part of the week, and we’re coordinating efforts withDART, BikeDenton, the Oak Cliff Bicycle Company, the Cube Creative, Eno’s Tavern, and more.

FRIDAY, OCT 2

8:30PM 75208 Presents Dallas Group Night Ride

9:30PM “B.I.K.E.” Film at Texas Theatre

SATURDAY, OCT 3

2:30PM BFOC Historic Blues Group Ride

7PM Eno’s & New Belgium presents the film “”Beer Wars” at the Texas Theatre

SUNDAY, OCT 4

12PM 75208 & Photopol.us present Bicycle Photo Scavenger Hunt

2PM – 9PM Eno’s Presents Oktoberfest in Bishop Arts District

1PM Doom Presents Oktoberfest Alley Cat Race

MONDAY, OCT 5

8PM 75208 Presents “Bikeoke at Barbara’s Pavillion”, bicycling, beer, and karaoke.

TUESDAY, OCT 6

7PM – 9PM Tyler Street The Oak Cliff Bicycle Co. Presents Dallas Bike Polo Club Game in Bishop Arts

WEDNESDAY, OCT 7

7AM Rosemont Bike to School

7:30AM – 9AM Dallas Bikes to City Hall with Council Members

3PM Rosemont Kiddical Mass

4PM Kids’ Floats at Eno’s

THURSDAY, OCT 8

7:30PM Council-member Angela Hunt speaking @ Texas Theatre

8PM OCTA Presents “Contested Streets” @ Texas Theatre

FRIDAY, Oct 9

7:00PM (or sundown) – 11PM Belmont Hotel and SMOKE present Bike-in Movie Night by the Pool featuring the classic film “Breaking Away”. Beer and BBQ!

SATURDAY, OCT. 10

12PM Old Oak Cliff Conservation League Home Tour, Group Ride. Meet @ The Kessler Theatre.

12PM-8PM Make Presents:Urban Bazaar

7PM – 11PM OCBC & the Cube Creative Present: Tyler Street Block Party. Races, Competitions, Bands, Art Bike Competition, BBQ and more.

SUNDAY, OCT 11

12PM – 4PM Make/Eno’s/OCBC/BikeDenton Present:

Urban Bazaar

6PM “Triplets of Belleville Film at the Texas Theatre

Dallas Council Members Oct 7th Bike to City Hall

So I haven’t yet made a big announcement of the 10-day Cyclesomatic bike fest in Oak Cliff, Dallas, but I should.  The problem is, it’s so awesome and so expansive that I’ve had a hard time summing it up.   So whatever, I’ll break it down and dish it out in ADD-friendly sizes.

Today I’m crazy excited about the Bike To City Hall event on Oct 7, in which Bike Friendly Oak Cliff will ride with 5 Dallas City Council Members to City Hall.

Awaiting others now. Also, we’re still working on the Mayor, a State Rep, and a Senator! Will update soon.

Oh, and Good Morning, Texas! Host, Robert McCollum may be riding with us on a tandem with a news crew! Stay Tuned…

The event description is no less exciting:

October 7th, the City of Dallas Promotes Dallas Bikes to City Hall on October 7th 2009. Arriving at 8:30AM and Unveiling of Complete Streets Initiatives

The city of Dallas, in cooperation with DART, the City Parks Department, and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff invites all to bicycle to City Hall to promote greater bicycle awareness on the morning of October 7th, 2009. Several Council Members have signed on to ride starting at Union Station to City Hall on bicycles that we’ll provide, but all others are encouraged to ride from home to City Hall Plaza. We’ll arrive at the Plaza at 8:30AM, and Council Members will unveil upcoming projects that embrace future citywide Complete Streets initiatives, and introduce the city’s new bicycle coordinator, Max Kalhammer. More details on routes coming soon.

On October 8th, at 7:30PM, Council Member Angela Hunt will host the evening and discuss infrastructure developments and initiatives noted from recent trips to Portland, Vancouver, and Copenhagen at the historic Texas Theatre. Afterward, the documentary Contested Streets, will be featured, which profiles New York’s streetscape history, and its efforts to become more pedestrian friendly. Large cities around the world are showcased along with some of the most renowned urban planners.

If you come at 7PM, the North Texas Chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism will be holding a discussion in the lobby of the theatre. Should be fun!

Get Tickets today at Brownpapertickets.com: 

Dallas Officially Encourages Commuter Cycling

Joe Simnacher of Dallas Morning News writes:

Urban planners are looking to enlist more mild-mannered Clark Kent-like bicycle commuters to help battle Dallas-Fort Worth’s air-pollution and traffic congestion woes.

Six years ago, Paul Hakes of Irving could hardly pedal three miles. Now he cycles a 42-mile round trip, three times a week, to his job at Texas Instruments in Far Northeast Dallas. His safety gear includes a mirror, light and camera.
They want more people to consider bicycle commuting for short distances, either directly to work or to link to mass transit.

The city of Dallas has started the construction bidding process for the East Dallas Veloway, which will link the Fair Park area to the White Rock Lake trail by late 2009.

Mike Sims, senior program manager of sustainable development for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, says:

“Ultimately you’ll be able to get on a bicycle from downtown Dallas up to Frisco and up to Plano”

Wow. And I never thought I’d want to move back to Dallas.

I can only hope that the City of Denton notices this great action by Dallas, especially since Denton’s smaller size naturally lends itself to bicycle commuting. A cooperative effort between Denton city planners and community cyclists (like the Querencia Community Bike Shop) could have amazing results.