Tomorrow is BIKE TO & FROM WORK DAY!

Happy Tuesday!

We're excited for several reasons today!
1. Thank you KGNU for a wonderful story about Bike Night. Did you miss it? Don't worry. We'll post a link to the story/audio file, soon!

2. Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day! Longmont has many stations to get you to work, fat & happy. I'm pretty sure if you make it to all stops you won't realize any caloric benefit.... but you will be happier and  ready to take on the day. Which, I think, is important.

3. Biking home should be just as much fun, too! Oskar Blues Brewery, Left Hand Brewing and the Pumphouse Brewery will have awesome deals for cyclists tomorrow and the Pumphouse (lovingly referred to as the "Pumpzone") will play host to "Pre-Bike Night!" We plan to meet at the Pumpzone at 5pm tomorrow night to hang out and enjoy a beverage prior to Bike Night.

Bring the kids - the Pumpzone has video games and air hockey.

4. We will celebrate Bike to Work Day in 1980's style, too. Wear your best 80's attire and join us. Pre-Bike Night starts at 5pm. Bike Night meets at 6:30pm and we'll get rolling at about 6:45p. We meet at 910 Longs Peak Avenue, Roosevelt Park - G'Knight Ride HQ!

It's Bike Week!

Greetings Bike Nighters!

This week there is a lot going on, and it all culminates on Saturday with Bicycle Longmont's 3rd Annual G'Knight Ride. Bicycle Longmont is extremely excited to bring this great event back this year. We are even more excited to have the start/finish at Roosevelt Park in beautiful Old Town Longmont.

If you have friends coming to ride, or your traveling here. I guarantee you'll have a great time rolling around our gorgeous shaded streets. Speaking of cruising, Wednesday night we'll be celebrating 3 years of G'Knight Ride awesomness.

The ride theme is: G'Bike Night! We will be celebrating by wearing green and/or white. The playlist will include the bands you will hear at the G'Knight Ride. Plus we're working on a surprise at Sunset Golf Course.

So come along with us on Wednesday. We meet at Roosevelt Park at 6:30pm and start rolling about 6:45pm. Our ride this week will be on the Westside of Old Town with a brief circle of the Historic East Side Neighborhood.

Come on out and Join US!

Other events going on in BIKEmont during Bike Week include:

Tuesday night the Tuesday Night Concerts in the Park start up again. Tomorrow night will be the Indulgers. A celtic rock band that is always entertaining.

Wednesday night - BIKE NIGHT - but of course you knew that. Last week we had 180 people join us. Come out and help us set a new record and wear green and/or white!

Thursday - Bicycle Longmont and our partners Twin Peaks Mall, Sanitas Sports, Whole Foods Market and Ideal Market are back with another week of fast paced action. Join us at the Twin Peaks Mall for crit racing. This is a fun and exciting family-friendly event to watch. Pick up a dinner and bring it along.

Friday - Is a great night to come to Longmont early. There are hotel deals at the Best Western Plaza.

We begin the G'Knight Ride celebration early with an open Bike Art reception at the Firehouse Art Gallery beginning after 6pm. The Firehouse Art Gallery is located at 4th Avenue and Coffman Street downtown Longmont.

Following the reception the Retro Sonics will take the stage at Longmont's weekly free downtown concert series.  The Retro Sonics play a great line up of 80's & 90's cover songs.


Saturday is the G'Knight Ride. The G'Knight Ride is a family friendly cruiser ride around Longmont. We bill it as Longmont's celebration of cycling! Every year this ride has grown bigger, better and awesomer!

This year we will have a 1 mile, 3 mile and a 10 mile ride. We will also have a great line-up of world class rock! Join us for Boulder County's own Wires Crossed. This up and coming band is sure to go places. They have a familiar pop feel and are awesome. We will also feature the regionally successful Last Men on Earth.

Last Men on Earth

Wendy Woo Band

Don't shave your mullet. You'll be right at home during this set. Last Men play the best 90's hair covers, ever. If hair metal is your guilty pleasure -you'll be joined by more than 3,000 other people in your support group. These guys rock!

Wendy Woo makes her return to the big stage this year. Wendy Woo was our first act at the first G'Knight Ride. Having Wendy back will be fantastic too. Her music is great rock that puts out an awesome vibe. Come on out and experience Denver's own Wendy Woo!

Family of the Year

Headlining is Family of the Year. Family of the Year is on the Lollapalooza tour this summer. Bicycle Longmont and KBCO are excited to welcome this great rockin' folk to our main stage. Family's sound is similar to Fun., Lumineers, Shins and Of Monsters and Men. They come to us on the heels of the their current chart hit - Hero.

Proposed Pedestrian and Bicycling Fund

Goodmorning, Everyone.

This morning, Saturday, check out the Times-Call's website they've put together a brief article explaining the proposed Pedestrian and Bicycling Fund we've been working on.

The Pedestrian and Bicycling fund is something Bicycle Longmont has put together in collaboration with City staff. Together, we think we can raise the bar for biking and walking in Longmont. See below for more details on our proposal.

If you believe in this, please join us Tuesday night at City Council at 7pm. Civic Center, 350 Kimbark Street.

The Pedestrian and Bicycling Fund - What is it?

Bicycle Longmont, together with City of Longmont staff, have been working together, collaboratively, to create a Pedestrian and Bicycling Safety Fund.

The premise is: Cyclists and Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users. And when motorists, cyclists and pedestrians make poor choices, often times there are accidents and injuries.

How do we correct this? By creating a Pedestrian and Bicycling Safety fund - Longmont will have the resources to provide a stable source to change behavior by funding pedestrian, bicycling and driver's education projects and programs. 

The fund's focus is to promote education through existing programs including driver's education, Bicycling safety classes, and by creating or reviving previous programs including a headlight/taillight program, helmet program, educational outreach, bike rodeo's, and funding community identified projects through the Safe Routes to School Programs. 

The fund will also help promote Longmont as a desirable place for active events and make these events safer.

Publicly permitted events concentrate pedestrians/runners and Cyclists on our streets. Event organizers will have the opportunity to apply to the fund. A portion of the fund will be set aside to offset or defray the costs associated with increasing the safety of these on-road events. These include safety barriers, cones, signage, and hiring off-duty police officers and emergency personnel.  

Who pays for this fund? Motorists AND Cyclists who cause accidents. 

This fund is not a tax. 

What is a surcharge?

A surcharge is an amount of money added to a ticket. The surcharge's purpose has to be related to the behavior that is ticketed.  

The fund, as proposed, would add a $10 surcharge to moving violations (tickets) that are written as a result of an accident. Cyclists as well as motorists would be required to pay the surcharge if ticketed. 

The fund would also add a $30 surcharge to tickets received in School Zones or occurring on course, during a publicly permitted event. School zone surcharges would help fund Safe Routes to School programs and to increase safety in School Zones. 

Is this program legal? More research is required. Previously we stated it was legal however after conversations with the City Attorney we've agreed more research is necessary. Having said that, Longmont added a surcharge to some violations to fund the Victim's Advocacy Program. The fund we're proposing uses the same groundwork to create the Pedestrian and Bicycling Safety Fund. 

How much money could be raised for these purposes? 

Last year the City of Longmont Police Department wrote approximately 2,500 tickets that were the result of an accident.  If the $10 surcharge were in place in 2012 the fund would have generated $25,000 for Pedestrian and Bicycling Safety programs. 

Is this really a first for the USA?

Yes, Longmont would be the first city in the USA to fund Bicycling and Walking programs this way. The fund as proposed is based on Washington State's program. Washington has a surcharge added to violations occurring in School Zones. This surcharge is collected by the State and returned through grants (approximately $1 million/year) to municipalities and school districts to make school zones safer.

C'mon, this is Longmont. Is this really necessary?

Bicycle Longmont believes this fund is necessary. Increasingly there are more people riding and walking in Longmont. During recent City studies biking and walking continue to rank in the top 5 most popular ways people get around town. Also, each year a cyclist is killed because he or she was riding on the left (wrongside of the road) or because they didn't know the "rules of the road". We believe creating a fund that supports reaching out to road users, especially cyclists and pedestrians is important and supports the investment and taxes we, the citizens of Longmont, have paid to create our system of streets, bike lanes, trails and greenways. 

The full council communication can be found here: 
http://webapp.ci.longmont.co.us/cache/2/km5luxfwaizddu20morwfrrz/21936500531201303095718.PDF