Public Lands Day Rim Rock Drive Junk Ride- literally a bike ride to pick up litter!

The Colorado National Monument is organizing myriad ways to pick up trash in their area in honor of Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 29, 2012.  Go to the National Monument website to see all the details. 

Grand Valley Bikes is partnering with the National Monument to provide a bike-powered litter pick-up effort along Rim Rock Drive!

The bike ride details:       Meet at 8:00am in the lunch loop parking lot for a warm-up ride along South Camp and South Broadway to the West Monument entrance.  Ride at your own pace, everyone will regroup outside the Visitor’s Center at about 10:30am and be assigned 3-mile cleaning sections.  When you arrive at your cleaning section, your bicycle will be shuttled ahead and locked at the end of your group’s section.  You then bicycle the rest of Rim Rock Drive to the picnic spot!  Lunch (hamburgers, veggie burgers, brats and hot dogs) will be provided by REI at 1:45pm at the Devil’s Kitchen Parking Lot.  Please come to the ride prepared with snacks, water, helmet, front and rear lights, etc. for your personal well-being.   All other considerations will be provided by the National Park Service and there is no entrance fee.  A map of the route can be found at http://tomorrowhillfarm.com/JohnHodgebicycleMapsCNM.html

To participate please RSVP:         grandvalleybikes@gmail.com

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Safe Routes to School 2012-2013

Grand Valley Bikes, in partnership with the City of Grand Junction, is proud to expand the Safe Routes to School education and encouragement program to include five District 51 elementary schools.  Tope and Rocky Mountain Elementary Schools spearheaded the project in 2011-2012 with great success.  Dual Immersion Academy, Fruitvale and Chipeta Elementary Schools will implement the program this school year.  Learn more about the program at www.saferoutesinfo.org.

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Three Sisters Trail Building, Saturday October 6

COPMOBA (Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association) has organized an inaugural trail building day for the new Three Sisters Park addition to the Lunch Loop Trail/Tabeguache trail network.  The trail will be an extension of the beginner/interpretive trail "Kid's Meal".  About a mile will be added to this trail!    This event is in conjunction with Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.  Some folks will ride with their kids in the morning, and build trail in the afternoon.  Others will just come to build trail!  This is a great way to introduce everyone to the joys of riding and trail building!  There will be a big BBQ celebration at 3:00pm after work and riding is finished for the day!

If you are interested in helping with this awesome project, check out COPMOBA website or email coordinator@copmoba.org.

Spring Newsletter

Hello Bicycle Enthusiasts!  There is no lack of fun things to do this spring in our beautiful valley.  GVB is participating in some activities that we think you’d enjoy - keep reading for details!

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The April Junk Ride will be held tonight Thursday, April 26th at 6pm.  Meet at the garden near the corner of 10th and Main in downtown GJ and get ready to ride your socks off to celebrate spring.

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Take Life by the Handlebars

Grand Valley Bikes (GVB) has been busy implementing Grand Junction’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program in School District 51!  The SRTS program creates a sustainable culture of walking and bicycling at each school by increasing the safety skill-set of students as well as incorporating parents and guardians to monitor routes to school.  Children in physical education classes learn walking and bicycling road-safe skills from GVB bicycle instructors and practice them in a bicycle rodeo course that includes multi-colored cones, sidewalk chalk, helmets and a fleet of bicycles.  Our time at Tope and Rocky Mountain Elementary this school year has been loads of fun and we are thankful to their staff and students for being superb hosts.  We are looking forward to celebrating Bike to School Day with over 900 students at these schools on Wednesday, May 9.  You should switch gears too and bike to school (or accompany your children to their school)!

Then on March 22^nd, 2012 the  Colorado Transportation Commission unanimously approved GVB’s second Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project  application for $30,365 to expand this comprehensive wellness policy to three additional elementary schools; Chipeta, Dual Immersion Academy and Fruitvale!  The program fits well into the system D51 currently uses with other mobile classrooms, such as gymnastics and bowling.  Physical Education teachers check-out the mobile bicycle classroom and conduct the program independently.  In this way the SRTS curriculum is adopted and sustained by each school and student instruction will continue each year. 

If you are interested in having SRTS at your child’s school or to volunteer at these educational events, email grandvalleybikes@gmail.com or visit www.saferoutesinfo.org

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Run/Walk/Bike Family Fun Day

You don’t want to miss the second benefit event of 2012 to honor the Riverfront Trail’s 25^th Anniversary on Saturday, May 5^th from 8a-12p. The fun begins at Corn Lake on 32 Rd (parking cost is covered by the registration fee) at 9a with a 9- or 14-mile bike loop led by GVB, a 5k run/walk is also available that begins at 9:30a.  The bike loop allows for a shorter and longer option:  everyone begins on the new Riverfront Trail section east of Corn Lake, turning south on the new pedestrian bridge and continuing south on 32 ½ Road, turning west on B ½ Road, THEN EITHER turning north on 29 Road to the Riverfront Trail and east back to Corn Lake (9 miles) OR continue further west on B ½, winding through residential Orchard Mesa to Eagle Rim Park, north across the river on the pedestrian bridge and east  on C ½ Road and the Riverfront Trail to loop back to Corn Lake (14 miles).  To register or for more information go to http://riverfrontproject.org/events/18-family-fun-day-5k  OR call 970-683-4333 for a registration form.

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Bike Rodeo Course for Everyone!

GVB has been taking the rodeo course, a sampling of bikes and helmets to the streets.  We set up the rodeo at MOG Fest on April 14^th with great success-people ages 8 to 60 years old were taught hand signals and proper helmet fit among other things.  We look forward to educating with fun at more summer activities including Earth Day on Sunday May 6^th from 11a-5p.  Come out and see us!

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Colorado Bike to Work Day & Month

June is Bike to Work Month and Wednesday, June 27 is Bike to Work Day!   Mark your calendar and get pumped up for breakfast, prizes and amusement on your bike commute to work!  Email grandvalleybikes@gmail.com to get involved or for a Bike to Work Day poster to hang at your workplace!

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Bike to School Day is Wednesday, May 9^th (in case you skipped the SRTS article).  Switch gears and bike to school, or accompany your children on their ride to school!

True confessions of a bicycle scofflaw (Grist.org)

Nice article on how many of us really commute by bike:)From grist.org

The Grand Valley Receives Federal Safe Routes to School Funding

The City of Grand Junction in partnership with Grand Valley Bikes was awarded $44,000 recently by the Colorado Department of Transportation's Colorado Safe Routes to School program for comprehensive projects that will engage local school children to walk and bike safely to school.

The Colorado Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program creates a sustainable culture of walking and bicycling at each school by increasing the safety skill-set of all students as well as incorporating parents and guardians
to monitor routes to school. Tope Elementary will host SRTS November 7-11, 2011; Rocky Mountain Elementary SRTS program will be held for two weeks in the spring of 2012.
Children in physical education classes will participate in lessons that
prepare them for real-life scenarios while planting the seed for an active
lifestyle. “Studies show that kids who are regularly active tend to do better
in school and on tests because there is more oxygen going to the brain.” says
Josh Warinner, Tope Elementary School P.E. Teacher. He also noted that SRTS aligns with the Colorado State Physical Education Standard which identifies the importance of physical activities and learning many different life-long activities.

Numerous municipalities and organizations including the City
of Grand Junction; Grand Valley Bikes; Mesa County; City of Fruita; Bicycle
Colorado; The Riverfront Commission; Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail
Association (COPMOBA); Tope and Rocky Mountain Elementary School principals, PE
teachers, and PTAs have come forward to support this important program. The community partners intend to continue bicycle education and the positive effects it will have on this and coming
generations in the Grand Valley. “The City of Grand Junction is committed to accommodating all modes of transportation and believe programs that encourage children to walk and bike safely to school contribute to achieving our goal of ‘Becoming the Most Livable Community West of the Rockies’” says Kathy Portner, Neighborhood Services Manager for the City of Grand Junction and liaison to the SRTS program.

SRTS supports the mission of Grand Valley Bikes (GVB), which
is to improve safety and infrastructure for cyclists in the Grand Valley. The 501c3
bicycle advocacy organization formed from a group of concerned commuter and
recreational cyclists who believe that bicycling is a sustainable
transportation alternative with health, environmental, and community benefits. “Safe Routes to School program has been very successful in other parts of the state.
Grand Valley Bikes aims to have hundreds of school children become safe and
confident when commuting to school in the Grand Valley for years to come,” says
GVB president, Jason Wedemeyer. GVB plans to use the bicycle fleet in perpetuity and in accordance with SRTS objectives.

Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the past 30 years while the number of children walking and biking to school has declined. According to the 2001
National Household Travel Survey, less than 16 percent of students between the
ages of 5 and 15 walked or biked to or from school, compared to 42 percent in
1969.

For additional information visit www.saferoutesinfo.org

Bike-In Movie!

When: Thursday, October 13th at 6:30pm

Where: Hot Tomato's backyard at 124 N. Mulberry Street in Fruita

Why: Ride your bikes to learn more about what GVB does to make the Valley a safer and more fun place to ride; while you're at it eat some great pizza, enjoy a movie and meet new friends.

Details: We will be re-screeening Portland's "Filmed by Bike" Shorts, a movie for all ages. Door prize and silent auction! Bike ride to Fruita will leave 10th & Main in Grand Junction at 5pm. A shuttle back to GJ will be provided after the event, RSVP required. To help with shuttle or to RSVP, please contact grandvalleybikes@gmail.com

350.org

From: Carson Coates
Date: Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 6:58 AM
Subject: Moving Planet (350.org) - Sept. 24

350.org is a global grassroots movement working to solve the climate crisis. 350.org is planning a massive worldwide rally on September 24, 2011 to demand solutions to the problem. I would like to see an event in the Grand Valley, but need help organizing and planning. Right now I am thinking about a mass bike ride and need help working out the details. Anyone interested in helping shape the event can contact me at threefifty.gv@gmail.com.

For more information about 350.org, Moving Planet, and 350 Grand Valley, check out the links below.

350.org

http://www.350.org/

Moving Planet

http://www.moving-planet.org/

GJ Event Webpage:

http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/grand-junction/245

350 Grand Valley on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/350-Grand-Valley/145285102176542

Blog:

http://threefifty-gv.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Carson

World Naked Bike Ride

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