Hi there,

I'd like to get more involved in bike advocacy, and could help organize Kiddical Mass. I live out on the edge of town, and haul around my 7 & 3 yr old in a trailer (they are heavy! time for a tandem?) I do know a few biking families in Fall Creek... please keep me in the loop as planning commences. We hope to be at the Earth Hour ride this saturday. clairehopefox@yahoo.com

Couple of thoughts revolving around cycling for kids:
1. I read Andrejs post on Kiddical Mass. I think this is a great idea and agree that Fall Creek would be a great place to start. I don't live in Fall Creek and don't personally know any cycling families that live there. Does anyone have a contact? Are there others interested in helping to make this happen? Maybe we could use part of the March 22nd Sunday seminar time to get together and discuss ideas? I'll also be at the FLCC annual mtg and would be willing to talk during the social part of the mtg with anyone interested in helping out.

2. Our gym teacher at Caroline elementary is interested holding a Bike Clinic/Rodeo for 3rd/4th graders and is looking for parents to handle the organization of volunteers. I've offered to help, yet have no experience with these events. I've been reading Lois Chaplain's excellent paper on Organizing a Bike Rodeo http://www.bike.cornell.edu/pdfs/Bike_Rodeo_404.2.pdf. Are there people out there interested in helping with this type of event? If you help at our school, I'll help at your school!

Thanks,
Holly

Are old bikes cluttering your garage? Want to give them away to a good cause? Cornell University students, Anne-Lise Cossart and Liz Bageant, received a grant from the Cornell Community Partnership Board to send 500 recycled bicycles from the Ithaca area to rural communities in Ghana. Once the bikes are collected, The Village Bicycle Project (www.villagebicycleproject.org), a U.S.-based non-profit organization, will distribute the bicycles in Ghana to those who need them.

A bicycle can dramatically increase the mobility of rural Ghanaians and can especially help to empower women who have little access to other modes of transportation. Cossart and Bageant are asking students and community members to donate their old, unwanted bikes and/or volunteer to help store and load bikes. So far, one hundred of the targeted 500 bikes have been donated by Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBS), a program of the Southside Community Center.

We are in need of mountain bikes and road bikes in reasonable condition. Please, no horribly rusty bikes or very small children's bikes. Donations can be left any time between February 28 and April 3 at the following locations:

o Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles, 530 West Buffalo St., Ithaca
o 708 East Seneca St, in backyard (between Eddy and Stewart), Ithaca

Teams of volunteers are invited to help "flatten" the bikes for better packing on February 21 and March 28 and help load the bikes into a shipping container, scheduled for April 4.

If you have any questions about how, what or where to donate or if you would like to volunteer, please contact:
Anne-Lise Cossart (609.571.7235/acc64@cornell.edu)
Liz Bageant (607. 216.5341/erb32@cornell.edu).

Please add a "Share the Road" campaign to the info table at Chili Cookoff Winter Fest. Can you get lots of the SHARE bumper stickers to remind car drivers to leave us healthy road space?

I am a big fan of the Talking Heads and particularly of David Byrne, who has collaborated on albums with some of the most talented artists from around the globe. He too is a cyclist. I dug this out of the NY Times, it's from August 08.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/arts/design/09bike.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

It occurs to me that if we present information to the public, we should produce separate summaries for cyclists and for drivers. Somewhere I saw a card as a handout that had one of these on each side. Anybody know where we can pick such a thing up? Or, let's make one.

Wish I could join you, but I learned about this too late to save the date. Biking in Ithaca is really lots of fun year round. Hope the salt slush isn't too sloppy for your solstice ride. Keep your chains oiled! Let all Ithaca know that bicycles share the roads.

Weather is looking ideal for the solstice ride on Sunday -- cold and snowy -- hopefully the sun will be totally obscured. Have we decided on a meeting time? How about high noon? Or maybe we should call it low noon.

I don't think that's a candidate for the "shortest ride" for the shortest day, Juan! We're shooting to start off this thing with camaraderie and socializing with a bit of cycling thrown in. At the last stop, anyone who hasn't had enough riding can continue with "Act Two" and add 10 or 15 miles.

I share Wayne's excitement about the winter rides. It would be nice if the Solstice Ride could tally some 20 miles. Being an adept of randonneuring, this kind of ride fully embraces my cycling spirit. I would go as far as to suggest the following route that I have mapped:
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ny/ithaca/530540578145 (Note the long link, when pasting everything must stick together). This route is about 18 miles and starts at East Hill Plaza. It goes by the following establishments (in order): Ithaca Coffee Company‎, Buzz Drive Thru Coffee‎ (we could suggest Buzz Bike Thru Coffee), Farmer's Market, Gimme Coffee, Smart Monkey Cafe, Mate' Factor Cafe, , ABC Cafe and even... I hate to say this.. Starbucks! I am willing to scout the route and elaborate a cue sheet for those who need one. The idea would be for people to stop where they like and stay for as long as they wish.