Ohio City Bicycle Co-op

We'd like to invite you to a  free presentation on social equity issues of cycling by Elly Blue this Friday at 11am to 1pm at OCBC.  Apologies for the short notice, but since her public presentation tonight at Old Stone Church is sold out, we want to give folks another chance to see her.  As it turns out, we have space available at tomorrow's  lunchtime program, which is primarily for staff of community development corporations and other civic leaders.  So even if you can't make it, please pass this invite along to your councilperson, mayor's office, or planning department, and urge them to get some free education on the value of cycling to improve society!  (And there will be one more chance for you to meet Elly and crew Friday night at Joy Machines, where she will be signing books.)

Unlike tonight's event we won't have a social ride, but we will have a vegan meal; though it will be prepared by yours truly, instead of Elly's traveling vegan chef Joshua Ploeg; but it will be free, though donations are always appreciated!

There are more details and registration (which is free, but required) here.  We hope to see you (or your councilperson!) then.

After lunch tomorrow we will certainly be inviting the audience to join us for a Traffic Skills Intro class: advocating for safe, practical bike lanes and other facilities is always more effective when advocates have a cyclist's perspective in addition to good intentions:

May 11th or 25th, 9am - noon: Intro to Traffic Skills -- and Bring a Friend For Free during Bike Month!

Learn how bike crashes happen and how to avoid them over breakfast and a short, easy bike ride.
$25 (breakfast included!) or free with purchase of an OCBC bike or membership; and Bring a Friend For Free!
(registration required: use discount code BAFFF for your friend's registration on MAY 11th here, or on MAY 25th here)

Wondering why you might want to take this class when you already know how to ride a bike and have been doing so since you were a kid?

I did too, when I had to take it before getting certified to teach it -- but I ride differently now: for the reasons why, see this article in the May edition of the Great Lakes Courier.

OCBC Shop now open for volunteering on Tuesdays, 11am to 6pm.
If you want to help out (and earn shop credits) but can't make our Wed. Apprentice evenings, we're now open for volunteering on Tuesdays. Sorry, no retail sales, though, except by appointment -- we'll be busy helping volunteers!

Have a happy Bike Month: ride safely, legally, and often!
Jim

To commemorate Bike Month, this month's Social ride will visit engineered bike facilities in the downtown area, both existing and proposed.  We'll also learn a bit about Cleveland transportation history in the process, and get a vision of the future from local experts.

We'll visit local bridges like the Abbey Ave. and Hope Bridge improvements -- the "pinch points" for cross-town cycling routes -- and examine their history, engineering, and "bike-friendliness."  We'll also discuss upcoming, bike-related plans, like Detroit Rd., and evaluate past ones, like Euclid Ave.

  We'll certainly also look at our nearby neighborhood: The new Metroparks Rivergate reservation "Riverwalk"; the Columbus Rd. bridge, slated for renovation in 2013; and the Center St. bridge, at the narrowest point in the ship channel, near where Moses Cleaveland allegedly landed on the bank of the Cuyahoga River.

The optional extra-mileage ride after noon will visit the nearby Transformer Station for the closing day of their Bridging Cleveland photo exhibit, and then perhaps visit the Cleveland Velodrome in Slavic Village, to commemorate the opening of their first season.

Held on the first Saturday of every month, the Social ride is a short, easy, sight-seeing bicycle ride in Cleveland's Flats and Downtown neighborhoods. The ride is free (donations are welcome!), and loaner bikes are available. (More general info on our Saturday Social Ride is here).