Christmas in July - Happy Summer- Christmas Eve!

Bike Night is back tomorrow night! 

We’ll celebrate Christmas in July. Bring your best Christmas get up and we’ll see you at 6:30pm at Roosevelt Park!

If you sat at home thinking no one would miss you - well let me tell you  - you were missed! We had 70 riders join us last week, can we push it over 100 again this week? I think so! 

Tonight is the final Roosevelt Concert in the park ! Come down to Roosevelt and catch Two Dog Tuesday. 

These ladies ROCK!   

Also on Friday is the final Downtown Concert on 4^th Avenue, and it’s the ColoRODan’s Cruise-In weekend! There will be lots of vintage cars along Kimbark Street and, I’m sure, a few retro cruiser bikes, too.

BTW – If you haven’t followed through on any of your New Year’s Resolutions – next week on August 1^st we’ll celebrate New Years Day all over again! Bring the tinsel and noisemakers!

See you tomorrow!

Ryan Kragerud

Wagons West! HO!

It's good to be back! Anna and I recently returned from our 2 week trip to Northern Minnesota, rested and energized!

Wagons EAST!

While visiting Minnesota I had the opportunity to hang with an extraordinary band of  volunteers who staff the Fargo Moorhead Bike Workshop. These people  are committed to doin’ good in the neighborhood!  

I was interested in finding out more about the Bike Workshop so I stopped into the Great Northern Bike Shop .  I spoke with Tom, the owner, and Alex, a motivated and energetic mechanic, among others. Both people felt their shop benefited from the work of the Fargo Moorhead Bike Workshop. 

In their words, the Bike Workshop gets people who aren’t going to buy a bike shop bike on safe and reliable bicycles. The Workshop provides wrenching services that help teach customers how to build, maintain and fix their bikes. These are services a bike shop can’t offer.

Throughout the week I got several chances to experience the Bike Workshop not only as a spectator but also after volunteering a couple of hours. During that time on a very hot and humid Thursday evening I got a chance to talk with Steve and Alex in depth about how their non-profit “collective” works and how jobs are divvied up. The FM Bike Workshop has a collective group of volunteers who meet on Sundays who identified the jobs that didn’t get done from the previous week, assemble a bike parts order, discuss current topics and plan for upcoming community events.

I returned later that week on Sunday for their collective meeting. Items on the agenda were shop cleaning, organizational development and collective oversight, how to fill out the receipt book, how to register a sale of fundraiser bikes, the weekly parts order, and a discussion of BikeBike! Which had just taken place in Vancouver BC.    

It was refreshing to hear a group of dedicated volunteers having a progressive and positive discussion about bikes, with the a common vision of moving Fargo forward. Fargo had recently been recognized by Bicycling Magazine as an up-and-coming place for biking. Fargo had made great strides in becoming more bicycle friendly over the past few years. According to a couple of riders I met during the Great Northern’s weekly “Fargo Family Bike Night” A lot of this is due to advocates in the community and an increasing number of organized rides led by community volunteers.

The night Anna, my Dad and I rode with them  there were upwards to 40 people riding along. It reminded me of Bike Night 4 or 5 years ago.

Cruising Broadway!

Having been born and raised in the Fargo-Moorhead area I thought I knew Fargo backwards and forwards. After the ride I clearly understood – I have become a tourist in my hometown. It was great riding bikes rediscovering the town where so much of my life was spent.  

Prior to leaving the Bike Shop on our family cruise I remember hoping we’d return by riding Broadway. Shortly after leaving  Island Grove Park we made our turn north on to Broadway. Cruising Broadway on bikes was great, something I hadn’t felt since riding bikes for the first time down Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis shortly after graduating from college in 1994.

I took away several things from my time in Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota. 1 is getting people together to ride bikes is truly a community building event. 2. We really want to do good for other people. 3. Exploring new and new-to-you places is more fun when there’s bikes and free Gelato involved. And, finally, eventhough my family got a brief mention here, they are a super-fun bunch of people!

Wagons WEST!

This Wednesday is our Bike Night so please join us at 6:30pm at Roosevelt Park. Last week 158 people joined us. This week the theme will be Disco! So grab your platforms, Gold Lemay and your jump suit and join us.

Wednesday - Princesses Bike to Work!

Ok, not really. Unless you want to ride to work in a ball gown, then by all means Bike to Work like the Princess you are!

Tomorrow is the 2012 Colorado Bike to Work Day and it also happens to be Bike Night, too! Bicycle Longmont and the City of Longmont have done a stellar job lining up a total of SEVENTEEN! (17) stations for your cruising pleasure!

The list includes 13 breakfast stations and 4 after-work stations. Tomorrow morning you will get anything from pancakes (Civic Center, 350 Kimbark Street) to Santiago's Breakfast Burritos (Twin Peaks Mall, (near the RTD Park N' Ride at the SW corner of Twin Peaks Mall), the YMCA (9th & Lashley), Johnston Chiropractic (Mtn. View & Hover Road), and Ace Hardware (17th & Main Street)! Panera Bread is donating bagels to all 13 stations as well. Great Harvest will provide bread slices and other goodies at the Longmont Musuem, too! In addition to these fine foods, you'll find a variety of fruit, Lara Bars, biking information, and drinks.

1. Flight Deck @ the Airport off Airport Road
2. Vics Coffee @ Nelson & Airport Road
3. Mr. Bean - Coffee Shop near 17th & Hover
4. Johnston Chiropractic at Mountain View & Hover - Breakfast Burritos
5. Longmont United Hospital
6. Twin Peaks Mall - Breakfast will be near Dillards in the SW corner
of the parking lot - Hot Breakfast - Breakfast Burritos
7. Ace Hardware - 17th & Main Street
8. Civic Center - 350 Kimbark Downtown - Hot Breakfast - Pancakes
9. Java Stop - 3rd & Main Street
10. Starbucks at 17th & Pace
11. YMCA at 9th & Lashley - Hot Breakfast - Breakfast Burritos
12. Red Frog at Harvest Junction - Ken Pratt Boulevard
& Main Street
13. Longmont Museum - Quail Road

For your post-work ride we've got you covered. Oskar Blues Brewery will host riders at both the Homemade Liquids & Solids location (Hover & the Diagonal) as well as the Tasty Weasel. Riders will enjoy $2 pints at HMLS and the first 50 to the Tasty Weasel will get Water Bottles and stickers!

Lefthand Brewery's Tasting Room will specials for Cyclists, too!

Menchies, Longmont's newest Yogurt shop will have special deals to cool you down, too!

Following the Bike to Work day festivities run home and grab your cruiser and join us for a fun trip around Old Town. We'll meet at Roosevelt Park at 6:30pm and cruise the streets, Art Alley and the Historic Eastside Neighborhood.

Fourth of July there will be a Bike Night - however, we will need a ride leader for this ride!

I will be in Hawley Minnesota for that week.

Enjoy the day, stay cool and get ready for Bike to Work Day and Bike Night, tomorrow!

G’knight Ride Wrap Up – & - Bike Night Brings the Jammies!

Well here we are on the other side of another great G’Knight Ride. I’m sitting here eating my lunch and thinking about the fun and excitement that led up to the best damn cruiser fest in Northern Colorado

I really love the Monday after the event. This is the time where people get to ask their co-workers, “What did you do this weekend?”  I just know every G’Knight rider smiled & said, “Well…. Let me tell ya!”

So I’m askin’? Leave a comment below and tell everyone your favorite part.

I think mine was seeing everything coming together, transforming Prospect Park into “party central”.  Raising the big screen and seeing all the smiling faces shining back. Having a beer grooving to the Samples, rockin’ to Runnin’ with Scissors. Maybe it was rollin’ through Longmont’s coolest neighborhoods, seeing neighbors in lawn chairs watching the parade, or seeing lil’ kids selling Lemonade. Or maybe being just one of the masses at The Tasty Weasel & Lefthand Brewery. Of course there was 5^th & Main, too. Mmmmm. Donuts.

Anyway you look at it, the G’Knight Ride is fast becoming a hallmark event in Longmont!

Photo Courtesy Century Cycles - Cleveland

As we close the chapter on the G’Knight Rdie and begin reading people’s G’Knight stories, we get to start looking toward Longmont’s weekly cruiser ride – BIKE NIGHT!  It’s coming up fast.

This Wednesday we’ll do a destination ride – Old Town to Oskar Blues’ Tasty Weasel. As you might recall, Wednesdays in June are “Ride Wednesday’s” which means when you buy a beer at either the Tasty Weasel or Lefthand Tap House, show them your helmet and Bicycle Longmont will get a buck!

WOOT!

You may be wondering what the theme is, well being that this is our Solstice Ride – you’ll be out late, so jump in your jammies and ride to Roosevelt. Our route this week will take in a little Old Town, then make the trek to the Tasty Weasel.

For those folks not wanting to ride all the way to the Tasty Weasel, we’ll have a bail out as we pass Roosevelt a second time on our way ‘round the neighborhood. See the map for the route. 

Photo Courtesy Century Cycles - Cleveland OH

As always we’ll meet at 6:30PM in front of the Senior Center. This is also the week where we typically start at 7pm. To honor that commitment we will pass through the park again at 7:15ish. This will be great for those wanting to start at 7pm.

So bring your jammies, I’ll bring the jams, and we’ll all rock to the Weasel.

rjk