Cyclist Town Hall Meeting: Whyte Avenue Corridor Bike Paths

As Edmonton’s cycling hub, the Whyte Avenue Corridor is in dire need of dedicated infrastructure to increase safety and make cycling more comfortable for cyclists of all abilities. Come to this town hall meeting and help galvanize public support for Whyte Avenue Bike infrastructure, and form a working group to refine a proposal to make to the city. Cyclists should decide what infrastructure would best improve cycling safety and comfort along the Whyte Avenue corridor.

Agenda:

• Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society: presentation on bicycle infrastructure
• Conrad Nobert: Ideas for Whyte Avenue Bike Infrastructure
• Ben Henderson, Edmonton City Councillor
• You: open forum/town hall meeting. What bicycle infrastructure do you think would make Whyte Avenue safer and more comfortable for cyclists?

When: September 25, 2012, 7:30pm Where: Queen Alexandra Community Hall, 10425 University Ave (near Calgary Trail and 76th Avenue)

For more information, see the event page on Green Edmonton or Facebook.

Photos from Memorial Ride

Thanks to the hundreds of friends and supporters that participated in the memorial ride for Isaak Kornelsen. A number of people have posted photos from the memorial. Steven Townsend's photos are here, Andriko Lozowy's are here, and more photos from participants can be found here.

Closed for Labour Day

BikeWorks South (and North) will be closed on Monday, September 3 for Labour Day. You can find us instead providing free, supervised bike parking at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Under the Sky. Please have a safe and fun long weekend!

Memorial Ride for Isaak Kornelsen

A memorial ride for Isaak Kornelsen will be taking place on Friday, August 31, at 5:30pm. We will meet at City Hall and ride to the site of the ghost bike at 102 St and Whyte Ave. Please be aware that while EPS, ETS, and the City are aware of the ride, we will not be riding as an escorted event, but rather as simply regular traffic. Therefore, normal traffic regulations apply, and we will be riding single-file and in accordance with all traffic laws. Lane position will be determined by safety considerations.

We'll be riding from City Hall, the building where infrastructure decisions take place. The memorial will form a human bike lane as we proceed from City Hall to the site of the tragic collision that killed Isaak. In commemorating Isaak, we want the City to recognize that all citizens deserve fair access to safe and effective mobility. Protected bike lanes on Whyte Avenue would just be the first step.

If you require a bike for this ride, please e-mail [email protected]. For inquiries requiring immediate response, please call Chris Chan at 780-700-5564.

Advocacy meeting

We'll be having our monthly advocacy meeting tonight at BikeWorks at 7pm. If you have any interest in working to improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians in this city, please attend!

Annual General Meeting

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at Parkallen Community League Hall (11104 65 Ave) on Sunday, September 30, 2012 from 1pm-4pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. Hear reports from our President and our Treasurer, as well as our Annual Report, and vote on next year's budget. We will also be having elections to fill 6 positions on the Board of Directors. If you are interested in helping to set the direction of our growing organization, or know someone that can lead us towards a better city for cycling and walking, please visit our nominations page.

Submitted nominations are also now posted on our nominations page. Nominations will continue to be accepted up to and including from the floor of the AGM on Sunday.

Cyclist death

Tragic news today: Isaak Kornelsen was killed on Whyte Ave this morning by a passing cement truck, just blocks from BikeWorks. As a memorial, we'll be putting up a ghost bike today at 2:30pm at 101 St and Whyte Ave. Our condolences to the family and friends.

The Edmonton Journal reports that EPS has called the incident a "freak accident".

Collisions aren't freak accidents. They're the result of a series of decisions and events and the dynamics of traffic, taking place within a built environment and road design. We don't know the full details of this incident, but calling it a "freak accident" ignores the role that infrastructure and education play in how drivers and cyclists can share the road safely.

Vancouver & Montreal (among many other major cities) have separated bike lanes on commercial arterial roads: what if we had a separated bike lane going down Whyte Ave (like Times Square in New York City, or down Broadway, or 9th Ave)?

28-Hour Repair-a-thon

Our 28-Hour Repair-a-thon is this weekend! Visit us at BikeWorks South any time between 1pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday. Yes, even a 2am, you can come by after your Fringe play, late-night pizza, or last call at the Next Act and fix up your bike, buy a used bike (there's some beauties available right now), or just hang out in a friendly space. We'll be operating as normal; we just won't be closing!

More Maintenance Classes!

We've added a second Basic maintenance class this week. Here's the details:

Monday August 27

BikeWorks North – 9305-111 Ave – entrance through side parking lot

6:00pm – 9:00pm

Cost: EBC members $20, non-members $25

If you want to start learning about working on your own bike but aren’t sure where to start, this workshop is for you!

Learn how to fix a flat tire at home or on the street, how to keep your brakes working flawlessly and your shifting smooth. You will find out how to save money by spotting small problems before they turn into big problems and by learning how to clean and lube your bike, you’ll learn how to extend the life of your bike while improving its performance. Bring your own bicycle so you can learn specific techniques that work on your components, or learn on one of the many EBC yard bikes.

Space is limited, and these courses tend to fill up quickly and pre-registration is required.

Pre-register by emailing [email protected]. Online pre-payment is encouraged (we’ll send you a link when you register). Please note that if you register without pre-paying but don’t attend the class or give 24 hours notice, you will not be eligible to register in future classes.

This is an introductory course. If your bike has a problem that is not covered by the scope of this course, we probably won’t have time to fix it, but you can always come to BikeWorks during regular drop-in times and one of our volunteer mechanics can help you.

Cost is $20 for EBC members and $25 for non-members.

Job Posting: BikeWorks Manager

Alex, our longtime BikeWorks Coordinator, is leaving shortly for a new opportunity. We're sad to see him go, and will miss the work, energy, and personal presence that he's brought to the organization over the last six years. It'll be a tough job to replace him, but we're looking! If you've got the experience and you're passionate about making Edmonton a better, more livable city, and you think bicycles are a great tool to push us towards that goal, please consider applying for this job.

Note that this is not a mechanic position, nor is existing in-depth mechanical knowledge a requirement.

The full job posting, including application process, is here: Job Posting - BikeWorks Manager - August 2012

Good luck on your travels, Alex!

Learn How to Maintain Your Bike

Second date added!   Monday Aug 27th, 6pm at BikeWorks North Want to learn how to maintain your bike? Here's a great place to start! Get to Know Your Bicycle - An Introduction to Bike Maintenance is a popular 3 hour introduction to the basics of keeping your bike in tip-top shape. We will be offering it again on Friday, August 24th. Full details are here:

http://edmontonbikes.ca/courses/aug24

Cost is $20 for EBC members and $25 for non-members. You can register by emailing [email protected]

Old website

Our old, archived website is back online (mostly). You can access it (including the bike registry) at http://edmontonbicyclecommuters.ca/ The old site will remain available for reference, but we'll be moving content and services, such as the registry, to the new site over the coming weeks.

Holidays

We'll be closed Monday for the holiday, but you can still find us at the Heritage Festival in Hawrelak Park from noon-4pm, doing free minor tune-ups at the main bike lock-up. See you there!

Website

Hey everyone, Sorry for the recent website troubles. Our host updated their software, which caused our ancient website to break. We weren't quite ready to launch our newly re-designed website, so many things (especially images) aren't working, and a lot of the information on the site you're looking at now is out-of-date (it was copied from the old site a long time ago).

In the meantime, please contact us on Facebook or by e-mail to confirm anything you'd like to know.

Thanks for your patience!

Easter Holidays and BikeWorks North opening

BikeWorks North (9305 111 Ave, entrance on the west side, next to the garage) will be open this Saturday from 1-5pm! We’ll be operating in a limited capacity through the month of April, as we complete our renovations (contact us if you’d like to help out!), so we’ll have repair stands, tools and a few new parts available, but won’t have any bike sales or used parts available. You can bring in donations of used bikes and parts, though.

BikeWorks South will be open on Saturday from 1-5pm as well, and offering our usual services, including bike sales. We’ll be closed on Sunday for Easter.

March Newsletter - support 2012 bike lanes - attend a Public Consultation

Read the full March newsletter. Enter your email address in the right sidebar to subscribe. 1. Welcome back Chris Chan, our new Executive Director. 2. Bike lanes to be built this summer (image), please attend a Public Consultation in your neighborhood. 3. Bikeworks North is coming soon 4. Volunteer Orientations and classes 5. Re-launch of the Spoke 6. Upcoming talks on human transit and urban design, plus a new run/bike/walk. 7. Vancouver in June: Velo-city and Bike!Bike! conferences 8. Hiring students this summer 9. Special needs learn-to-ride course

February Newsletter

Job posting, bikes for sale, reno wish list, complete streets, and more! Read the full February newsletter!

Sign up to receive the newsletter by entering your email address in the right sidebar under ‘subscribe.’ Read past newsletters here.

Check out the BikeWorks North blog!

Are you as excited about our new BikeWorks North shop as we are? If you’d like to keep informed on all the exciting goings on, check out , for information on the progress of renovations, how you can help and upcoming events!

Job Opportunity!

It has been a dream working with the EBC crew for the past two years. So many inspiring people, creative projects, dedicated volunteers, spontaneous bike rides, and meaningful connections to other organizations and people making the city more accessible and fun. As EBC prepares for it’s exciting expansion this spring, it’s time to find someone who can take the lead!

The Executive Director is a full-time position and is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing the projects, staff, and day-to-day operations of EBC, while working with the Board of Directors to create and pursue the organizational vision. The full job posting has complete details.

Apply by February 28, 2012!

Second Northside BikeWorks On The Way!

EBC is very pleased to announce that long-time plans for a second BikeWorks community bike shop are now becoming a reality.

An excellent space at 9305-111 Avenue has been acquired and work is set to start in February in preparation for the April grand opening. The second shop, BikeWorks North, will bring the valuable services offered by EBC north of the river. We’ll also be operating The Spoke program from this location.

Robert Drinkwater, a longtime EBC volunteer, has written an article on the new space and you can check it out at Gig City.

We’ll need lots of help from volunteers and the community to get the space ready and to keep it running. If you’re able to lend a hand, we’re holding a meeting on Thursday, February 9th to plan and organize renovation and setup efforts. We also need donations of equipment, tools and supplies. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.