Great SUCCESS! with Early Season Bike Swap

0201140954peepsWith several hundred people in attendance, many items were sold.  The day, aided by Mimmo Espresso coffee, was a great opportunity to talk with old friends and make new ones.  People were socializing, catching-up and making cycling plans for the spring.

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But we shouldn’t forget that the first purpose of putting this event on for DCW was to raise money for the work we do at Noon Day Ministries, fixing bikes and making them safer, for homeless or near-homeless bicycle riders.

To that end, we raised $440.00 from bicycle sales fees and table space rentals.

Big “Thank you” to some special supporters of the ESBS scalo bikesmithScalo Veloce Cycling Team & Bike Smith

Thanks everyone who came out.

Mike Humphries, Trek Superstore Manager, was happy with the event too and we are already making plans for next year!

trek

Bike Swap February 1st

Early Season Bike Swap

9:30 am Saturday, February 1, 2014

 

All cyclists welcome!

Proceeds will benefit bicycle riders from

Noon Day Ministries

Sign-up for a table – bikefunsafe at gmail dot com

from NDM website

There will be a bike swap at Trek Superstore on Saturday February 1st.  Tables will be available for $20.00 and you can sign-up by emailing me.  There aren’t any other fees or service charges to sellers or buyers.  Sign-up is only necessary so that we have enough tables for everyone.  Doors open for sellers at 9 am and for buyers at 9:30, continuing till 1:00 pm.

trek

Proceeds will benefit the outreach of Duke City Wheelmen, together with the folks from Trek, to bicycle riders who receive services at Noon Day Ministries.
You will need to be ready with your own cash box and all the unwanted bike parts you can find in your garage.  Trek is helping me publicizing this Bike Swap but we can always use your help getting the word out to as many cyclists as possible.
If you end up with items that don’t sell, you can consider donating them to DCW.  Previous donations like this have been used in two main ways.  We use what we can to fix and improve bikes the come to us at Noon Day and items that don’t work for that use are sold.  Funds from these sales help to purchase the lights, reflective stickers, tires, tire liners and other items we use at Noon Day.  We have been working once a month at Noon Day since July 2012.
Our next day there will be January 20, 2014, from 9:00 am to about 12:00 pm.  Stop by to check it out if you are in the neighborhood!
Thanks everyone for all your support of this and other DCW efforts.
Ride On!
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abqjournal.com-Bike_Safety_for_the_Needy

Extra attentiveness can help keep you holidays happy

This time of the year traffic always seems to get a little crazy.  As I worked on freshing up the flowers on Michael Ryan’s ghost bike today, I noticed the traffic.  Mike was riding in a bad place, but as we know, that doesn’t always matter.

Just stay alert out there, car, bike, truck, two feet, etc.

locationJust think if Albuquerque had spent 1% of its traffic infrastructure investments on alternative means of transportation….IMG_20131204_153408_733Michale Ryan

 

IMG_20131204_161714_581Matt Trujillo

IMG_0559Paula HigginsIMG_20131204_141048_710Chris Ore

 

IMG_20131204_110901_826Adam Hollander

 

Paseo del Norte/I-25 interchange reconstruction project

Members of the Greater Albuquerquer Bicycle Advisory Committee and Duke City Wheelmen have been speaking up with their concerns over the way that bike/ped facilities are being incorporated into this project.  Jennifer Buntz, Steve Mathias and Scott Hale were at the November 18 City Council meeting to share our concerns with the Councilors.  We spoke during the General Public Comment period, agenda item #9 which starts at about 51 minutes and our collective exchange with the Councilors lasts about 20 minutes. 

Click here:  November 18 City Council Meeting

Look for more details here soon.  This project may or may not result in a better situation for motor vehicles, but in its current form it will not be a good thing for cyclists.

A very interesting article in the New York Times from November 9, 2013.

“Is it OK to kill a cyclist?”

New York Times is it ok to kill a cyclist 

Cyclists, I think you know Duke City Wheelmen as a group that wants only the safest conditions possible for bicycling.  With that in mind, consider the image below.tram white line picture

This is Tramway Boulevard NM Highway 556, on the westbound side.  There is a six (6) to eight (8) foot shoulder up and down all of Tramway.  And, as some of you know, NMDOT District 3 is repaving the entire shoulder of this east/west portion in an ongoing project (as of 10-27-2013).

With the goal of maximum safety in mind, PLEASE stop to consider your choice of where you ride on Tramway Boulevard.  If you are one of the many cyclists magnetically drawn to the white line, I’m asking you to reconsider that choice.

Instead, I would suggest putting the width of this shoulder to use for safety.
Your safety.

Here, on a road like this, we can choose to have a buffer – space between ourselves and passing motor vehicles.

I know, you are just riding along (JRA) and not really thinking too much about your position on the road.  You find your groove and it is as if you are magnetically drawn to the white line (even though you are riding a carbon bike).

What you aren’t thinking about is probably working against you.

One of the most frequent comments I get from motorists is their negative reaction to cyclists riding the white line.  These folks get upset and angry about cyclists riding the white line, and frankly I do too.

I’m the first to defend a cyclists right to move left when there is an obstacle or the shoulder is too torn up to ride.  There are many situations where we need to move left (see below).

But when this isn’t the case,  THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING and move right.  It is better for you and it is better for us all – because it avoids irritating motor vehicle drivers when we don’t have to.

I’m all for being seen and for taking the lane when necessary.

Bicycles are
vehicular road users
according to City of Albuquerque and New Mexico traffic code.

When you stop and think about it though, riding right when safely possible doesn’t diminish our status as vehicles on the road at all.  It could be considered our way of making “Share The Road” a two way street (pun intended).

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I send pictures like these to motorists who email me to complain about cyclists riding the white line, or moving left.

 

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But on highways like Tramway, NM556, it is much harder to talk to motor vehicle drivers about what cyclists are doing.  I don’t have a defense for the behavior and I don’t really think there is a good defense on a road like Tram.

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If you would like to add your voice to the call to NMDOT to provide safe shoulders on ALL New Mexico Highways, for cyclists, pedestrians and any driver who needs to pull off the road, contact the New Mexico Department of Transportation

New Mexico State Cabinet Secretary, Designate Tom Church
P. O. Box 1149
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-1149

or

tom.church@state.nm.us

or at

(505) 827-5100

t-sleeve

Donate for Mike Ryan

I am thrilled to report that more than enough funds have been raised for Mike Ryan’s ashes to be claimed.  Due to the generosity of Burqueños, we received enough additional funds to purchase tires and additional reflective gear for the bicycle riders we help at Noon Day Ministries.  Our next morning at Noon Day will be August 22 from 9-12 in the morning.

Thank you!

If you want to help friends of Michael Ryan, 1953-2012, put his remains to rest properly, please donate using this PayPal link.  Your donation will be forwarded directly to this effort (less the processing fee).

We will place his ghost bike June 29, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Lomas NE at the Pan American frontage road, just east of I-25.

Thank you!




Ride of Silence, May 15

On Wednesday May 15 Duke City Wheelmen hosted the Ride of Silence.  This was an especially somber ride with many out to remember Rob Oakes, a New Mexico Touring Society member, who was killed by a driver who crossed the center line on NM15, near Silver City, NM.  It was very brave of the Oakes family member to join us at the start of the ride, with some cycling with us as well.

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David Anderson Ghost Bike

A new ghost bike has gone into the painters, JTC Coatings.

We will be replacing this ghost bike soon.  Watch for details.

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Everyone, please keep your eyes open when you pass by this ghost bike descanso.  Someone is vandalizing it and these acts need to stop!  Thanks to KRQE reporter Lysée Mitri for giving this problem wider publicity.

Watch for notice on when we will be out to fix the ghost bike.  Thanks!