Winter is coming to a close and for many that means time to pull the bikes back out and start commuting again but for many commuting is a year long commitment because that IS their primary form of transportation. The City of Boulder is going to launch a new campaign called Driven to Drive less in which this campaign challenges Boulder residents to dump their car and go carless. Sounds difficult and scary right? Wrong. Recently I purchased a book titled How to Live Well Without Owning a Car. In the book they talk about the destructive auto culture and true costs/savings of going car-less. The book covers all alternative modes of transportation but does dedicate an entire chapter to cycling. If you liked (or was moved by) the movie Food Inc then you should check that book out! Anyone can write about going car-less, so this series of stories will tell the stories of REAL Colorado citizens who have made the switch.

Click to Enlarge

Story 1, comes from Diana and Nick, they have even gone carless to bike races!

Yup! I have been doing all my work commuting and grocery shopping with the Xtracycle for a couple years now... It has huge compartments on the sides that are super easy to load, and I can definitely do a full week's shopping with it, fitting about three big grocery bags on each side. The bike parking is good at most grocery stores in Boulder, so post-shop I just wheel the shopping cart out to my bike and load it up, kickstand side first. My favorite part is definitely riding home with my baguette, flowers, and veggies peeping out the sides. The center of gravity is nice and low on the Xtracycle so the handling is great! It holds so much stuff that I can commute with a change of clothes and yoga mat for some evening downward dogs, then hit the grocery store on the way home. Having a cargo bike has definitely allowed me to run around town doing errands just like with a car, only the parking is easier and it is often much faster.

If you have a car-less story you'd like to share please let us know And for those who have already contacted us with your story THANKS, we will get you story out in this month long series!

Thanks to BikeDenver for the story

Recently I spoke to the folks at Bcycle in Boulder but haven't been able to craft up the full details yet so instead of waiting on me to complete the story check out the write up at Bike Denver on the Denver Bike Sharing Launch.

What details we do have...

• Program should launch in late April with 500 bikes and 50 stations
• Stations are in a 5 square mile radius in Denver
• Denver Bike Share is running the Denver Bcycle Program
• See a map where the bike stations are located in Denver

Want to learn more?

Check out this very informative and long video on bcycle on Fearless TV. There was also another Video on Denver Bike Sharing

From Trips for Kids Website
Trips for Kids BOULDER – Launching Summer 2010!

Our connection to Boulder is well established. We’ve been rolling and having fun riding with children in and around Boulder each and every year since our inaugural season in 2004. We know the kids. We know the youth agency staffers (many bike nuts themselves). We love Boulder! Thus, we are inspired and excited to create TFK Boulder for them and other underserved youngsters in Boulder County.

Photo Credit: Trips For Kids Denver

A few years ago, we started seriously chewing on the TFK Boulder idea. “Will it fly?” We asked our Boulder friends and youth agency staffers. The PG answer, in general, was a sarcastic, “Are you kidding me? This is Boulder.” True, true, TFK Boulder seemed like a no brainer, but last year as the economy tanked, we called off the TFKB dogs. Then our motivation and belief in this new endeavor percolated again over coffee last fall on a cold, snowy morning in Boulder with a local mountain biker and homebuilder, Tom Nasky. At that meeting we decided to team up with Tom and other like-minded Boulderites to establish TFK Boulder, giving children without means, in this bicycle-crazed town, the opportunity to ride, like the rest of them.

And here we are…TFK Boulder is a go! It’s a go people! Let’s kick this thing off right in Boulder with a proper party April 10th at the Boulder Velodrome

Photo credit Lisa Fisher-Wade

GoBoulder is looking for you... or a friend you may know, that person who rides their bike not just for fitness but everywhere, to get groceries, ride to the dentist, ride to the movies even if that might be a date. If you are that person or you know this person then be sure to go to GOBoulder and nominate this person by March 12th with the winner announced March 19th. As a winner you will be featured on GO Boulder’s official Walk & Bike Month Web page and in GO Boulder’s "On the GO" newsletter. They also will serve as "Commuter of the Year" ambassadors who will make a few appearances encouraging others to consider walking, biking and transit instead of driving for getting to work, errands, school, shopping, entertainment, etc.

Take the Canyons Survey

And Please be sure to mention 303cycling as your primary sources of cycling news in the survey!

At Boulder county's last Motorist-Cyclist Working Group meeting to address the tensions between drivers and cyclists, we formed an education and outreach sub-group. This sub-group and all the people who are assisting in these efforts have been hard at work developing ideas and strategies for reaching out to your interest groups and the general public. In order to learn more about canyon usage and how people who use the canyons get their information, amongst other topics, we developed a survey with the help and leadership of TDA - Thomas Dooley Advertising. In order to strengthen our education and outreach efforts, please take the survey and forward it along to your family, friends, and the mailing lists that you may have at your fingertips. The sub-group and the County would certainly appreciate it. The more people who take the survey, the clearer that we can get with the education and outreach efforts for this year and upcoming years. There are some wonderful ideas floating in the group, and we want to be sure that we hit the nail on the head when finalizing and distributing the materials.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/roadcode

Recently I had time to ask former professional mountain biker now cycling coach / physical therapist Ann Trombley a few questions (this will be a two part interview).

[303Cycling] Give us a little background on Ann Trombley.
[Ann] Born in Michigan.  Raised in Oakland, California by a single mom with 3 kids.   After grade school, I was in a school system where I learned how to fight and dance but not much education.  After being threatened several times while in 8th grade, I decided I would not be going to school any more. We moved to Marin County my freshman year and I was riding my mom's oversized 10 Speed to school.  A friend of mine, Phil Desrosiers, got together with my family and friends to buy me a Mountain bike for my 21st birthday.  That was 1984. For the next ten years, I had an amazing time riding mountain bikes all over the Mount Tam area with a great group of guys.  There were not many women riding at that time.  I will always remember the first time I rode up Fish Gulch from Phoenix Lake.  We got two-thirds of the way up and I pulled over in tears crying and blubbering to my friend, "why did you think I could ride up this?!".  Fish Gulch is now one of my favorite short cuts to get up Mount Tam.  It is pretty darn steep. After studying and working for several years, I got into P.T. school in Denver Colorado.  While in school I met Stan Vinet who dragged me to my first mountain bike race in the hills above Boulder.  That was1994. I think it was up Sugarloaf on someone's private property.  I was always really scared to race so he had to convince me to go.  I won my first race as a beginner.  I remember finishing the race with a flat tire.  AND I won a shock.  They had a spaghetti feed for everyone after the race.  I was hooked.

[303Cycling] What was it like racing in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney?

Last week we reported on how Eldora is seeking input to their Master Plan and thanks to Mike Barrow and others at the BMA, they attended some of these events and provided some information to the story of riding at Eldora someday. This is one of the ways BMA are helping riders!

Eldora Mountain Resort is in the process of planning out their next decade and BMA is pushing to get some great summer use out of our favorite local winter ski resort!

Because of the ski area sits on USFS land, Eldora is required to have a master plan and periodically update it.

The City of Boulder recently sent out an RFP - "Driven to Drive Less." The goals of which are "to stimulate long term travel behavior change in participants and to creatively demonstrate to the general public the ability of Boulder residents to live car free or car lite."

While you should read the RFP for yourself, here are some of the examples given to perspective marketing firms:

A possibility that City Staff has considered for this task includes a city wide casting call for participants modeled after popular reality shows like “Survivor” or the “Greatest Job in the World,"

As the CDOT Scope of Work indicates, possibilities presented by City Staff include paying a nominal amount of cash to participants each day, giving more significant grand prizes for “winners” from each tier, or providing gifts/discounts from sponsors for participating or completing special “game show” type challenges.

Be Superior – Grow – Flourish!

Colorado Town to host Memorial Day Weekend Bike Race and Wellness Festival

You are invited to the Superior Morgul Classic Weekend in the Town of Superior, Colorado this Memorial Day weekend--May 28, 29 and 30--for a three day bike race event including street sprints, a criterium and circuit road race, along with a host of other activities sure to please the entire family. The weekend will culminate on Sunday with the Morgul-Bismarck Bicycle Race, Awards Ceremony and concert.

Follow up to a press release made a few months ago on planned centurion events in Boulder
Recently 303Cycling caught up with Jason Sumner at Centurion Cycling about the events this summer. Stay tuned to 303cycling as they release more information on their event next week and also if you are interested in doing the event then check out some training plans that Boulder Sport Medicine coach, Neal as prepared for the event

[303Cycling] Is a centurion the "spork" of cycling events? It's not a race, it's not typical century ride, how would you describe it?

[Jason] I really like this analogy. Put another way, we like to think of ourselves akin to the New York City Marathon of cycling. Thousands of people line up, but many have distinctly different goals. Racers race. Riders ride. Everyone has fun.

Most riders at the front of our events will be serious amateur racers. They have a racing license. They’re on a club team. They train 10-15 hours a week, and they’ll be racing to win, or at least do well in their age-group category (we are only doing age group categories, not traditional Cat. 1, 2, 3 etc. Your entry covers insurance.)

A little further back in the field will be the serious cycling enthusiast. They probably ride a lot, but don’t consider themselves racers. Their goals are more self-centered, they want to do the best time they can do, but are less concerned with those around them — save beating a buddy or two.

Further back is the charity ride graduate. They’ve done their share of non-competitive 100-milers, and are now looking for a greater challenge, with a larger group dynamic. Instead of the start when you feel like it M.O., they want to experience riding in a large group, 2000-3000 people. Instead of just finishing, they want to know what their time was (and how their friends did), and then try to improve on it in the coming years. This is in part why all our event distances are standardized. Whether it's Centurion Colorado, Wisconsin or Canada, each event has a 25-mile race/ride on Saturday, and 50 and 100-mile events run concurrently on Sunday. That allows competitors to compare times event to event, and year to year, and strive for improvement.

Finally furthest back on the road are those people somewhat new to cycling, who are simply riding to have fun and finish their Centurion Cycling event. They’ll ride with friends, take their time at the aid stations, and just like a first-time marathon runner, be extremely proud simply to have finished. They are attracted to an event such as ours because of the professional management, spectacular courses, controlled roads, and weekend long festival and expo. And that’s the real beauty of Centurion Cycling events. They truly do offer something for every kind of cyclist.

[303Cycling] route, I don't see a map of the route on your website, has the route been defined and approved by the local and state officials yet?