Sign Up For The MassCommute Bike Challenge!

Win free stuff!  See below for details:

The MassCommute Bicycle Challenge (MCBC) is a week-long, FREE and friendly competition amongst Massachusetts businesses, educational institutions, and municipalities. The 2014 MCBC will take place during *Bay State Bike Week* (May 10th – 18th).

This exciting corporate challenge has been hosted by MassCommute for Bay State bicyclists the last 20 years! Please join us this year for prizes, raffles, and our legendary “Bike Bash” celebration!

Participation is simple and FREE!

JOIN

Register for the MCBC here

When you register, make sure that your team receives proper credit on the Leader Board by entering your business/institution name AND the municipal location in which you work. E.g., if you work at Putnam Investments in Andover, register your company as Putnam Investments-Andover; if you work at Putnam Investments in Boston, register your company as Putnam Investments-Boston.

RIDE & LOG TRIPS

Ride as many times as you can and log your trips/total miles for all trips by bike during May 10-18. We especially encourage you to use your bicycle for transportation such as commuting, dining, going to a movie or soccer game, running errands, etc. Biking is a great way to get where you need to go!

WIN PRIZES & AWARDS

Win great prizes and awards by participating in the MCBC during Bay State Bike Week. We will be distributing daily raffle prizes throughout the week of May 10-18th, and we will also host our legendary raffle during the Bike Bash with prizes donated by some of our favorite bike-friendly businesses!

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Hubway Update

From Hubway:

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Hello Hubway riders! May is National Bike Month! Now that it’s warmed up, we’ll be celebrating all month long, and you’re invited to join the fun! Check out the events below, and join us for festivities and special events in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville.   And to make the month even more of a party, City Sports is offering Hubway members 20% off on all cycling apparel, footwear, and equipment! Just bring your Hubway key fob into any Boston-area City Sports store this month, and the discount is yours!   Make the most of National Bike Month!  Ride on,   The Hubway Team #HubwayEveryday

NATIONAL BIKE MONTH NEWS FROM YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD    BOSTON Mayor Walsh’s Bike Week Festival, Friday, May 9th, 7-9 AM, City Hall Plaza Free breakfast by Boloco, vendors, music and fun! Help kickoff Bike Week in the Boston area. Join us for one of Boston’s largest bicycle events at Boston’s Bike Week Festival. Ride into City Hall Plaza with one of our 9 convoys, or just meet up on the plaza for the festival. Get your bike tuned up, meet other wonderful cyclists, and bike home with lots of free goodies! Click here for all the details. BROOKLINE New England’s Largest Bike Parade, Sunday, May 18th, 1 PM, Amory Park Bicycle Beacon Street like you’ve never done before, with no cars to get in your way. Ride the entire length of our historic avenue – both east and west – all car free! You’ll do a 5-mile loop with Brookline Police leading the way, riding with us, and covering our backs. Like a parade! Join us for food, music, and free ice cream! Registration and bike safety checks begin at 11:30 AM, and the ride starts at 1:00 PM. Visit the Brookline Bikes website for details, and register in advance online hereto skip the line the day of the parade! Coolidge Corner Customer SurveyDo you shop, dine, or bike in Coolidge Corner? Keep Coolidge Corner a great place for all those things! Take the survey today. CAMBRIDGE Cambridge Bicycle Network Plan is beginning, and the City wants your input! Last year, Cambridge received a Bicycle Friendly City Gold Rating, and is continuing to improve the city for bicycling! Here is your chance to say what you would like the future to look like. What would make Cambridge the most bicycle friendly city on the planet? What are the ways, small or large, short-term or long-term, that would make a difference for you? Visit the Bicycle Network Plan page to learn more about Cambridge’s Bicycle Master Plan,Towards a Bikeable Future, and for details on how to share your ideas. sound + vision bicycle tour, Saturday, May 17th, 10 AM. The Cambridge Bicycle Committee, in partnership with the Cambridge Arts Council, presents sound + vision, a free bicycle tour of a city-wide sound art installation. Orientation begins at 10 AM, at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway. Ride departs promptly at10:15 AM. SOMERVILLE Bike Commuter Breakfast,Monday, May 12th, 7-9 AM, Beacon Street in the Star Market parking lot near Petsi Pies Stop by for scones, snacks, and a chat about biking in Somerville. Get your bike checked by Bike Boom and come see Bicycle Belle’s cool bikes! Hubway, Regional Bike Investments Build Community The Somerville Times, May 1st Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone “In early April I joined in the reopening celebration of Hubway, one of the smartest bicycle infrastructure investments our region has made-and one of the most telling when it comes to understanding how our city and our nation are evolving. The country is undergoing the greatest demographic shift since the 1950s when people fled cities for the suburbs. Today that trend is reversing.”

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Folding Bike Helmet

Hmmm…I never really had trouble figuring out what to do with my “old fashion” “non-folding” bike helmet. But this looks interesting.

And they claim it will meet crash test standards as well.

Before it can be sold in the U.S., it must meet safety standards set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Those tests measure the G-force of a helmet-covered fake head dropped onto anvils.

“The factory is building it to pass U.S. testing standards, but whilst we are in the preproduction stage, we can’t have official testing,” Woolf says in an e-mail. “The factory makes millions of helmets for the U.S. market each year and has the largest in-house helmet testing facility in the world, so they know the standards that they are going to need to meet.”

Read the rest here.

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I Will Be At The Bike Craft Fair May 3rd Brooklyn Boulders In Somerville

Some of you may know that I occasionally dabble in metal working (see here and here and here, as well as on the right hand side of the page).  Well I am going to actually go out into the real world, put my shingle out and see if folks like my stuff up close.  I will be attending a bike craft fair at Brooklyn Boulders Saturday May 3rd from 11am-2pm, 12A Tyler Street Somerville.  Stop by and buy my stuff!  It is my understanding you will have to buy a day pass to see the bike craft fair, but for 19$ you also get a day of rock climbing including gear rental!

Here are some of the things I will have on sale.

and more!

More info below 🙂

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Power To The Pedals Screening

From the email:

Bikes Not Bombs (https://bikesnotbombs.org/) will host a free screening of “Power to the Pedals: Wenzday Jane and the Culture of Change”(http://powertothepedals.org/) at the Hub on Tuesday May 6th at 6pm (https://www.facebook.com/events/274292362749592/).

This 30-minute film features the story of Wenzday Jane, the founder of Metro Pedal Power. Wenzday grew up in a low-income household and was able to harness her mechanical skills to build a successful business — with priorities on social justice and community-building.  A post-screening discussion with Wenzday Jane, founder of Metro Pedal Power, and other entrepreneurs will focus on skills youth can develop to move onto jobs after high-school. We encourage young people, local businesses, and community members alike to attend!

The BNB Hub is located at 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA in the Brewery Complex, next to Ula Cafe. Film begins at 6pm sharp, Q&A at 6:30pm.

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