Bike Calgary directors will be meeting in the near future with Calgary Transit management to discuss the state of bike-transit integration in Calgary. (i.e. bikes on buses and C-Trains). We think it's great that CT is encouraging motorists to leave their cars at home and use their bikes instead, with help from CT to extend their ride at no effort, or get home if the weather turns sour after their ride to work.

The directors have been canvassing cyclists for their opinions, but now we'd like to throw it out to commuters on this forum for your input.

For the first time that we're aware of, Parks has reopened one of the Bow River pathway bridge underpasses after previously closing it for the season. In response to a BikeCalgary request, Parks has reopened the pathway underpass on the north side of the Bow River. Why is this important? Because this Bike Calgary initiative started four years ago!

Tom Camac from Parks pathway maintenance (left), and John Alliston from BikeCalgary (right), at the re-opening yesterday:

Coming out of the Alps is a new design concept for bicycles: a foldable, transportable downhill bike exclusively focused on getting the avid hiker back down the mountain without that nasty load on the knees.

The bike has dual suspension, but no pedals: you can stand or kneel. And it comes with its own carrying pack.

You can see it at the bergmoench.com website, or in the video below.

Just the thing for the Sulphur Mountain fire road?

If you like to ride fast at night on the snowy streets on a bike with no brakes, this might be just the event for you!

Local courier group CBMA (Calgary Bike Messenger Association) is organizing a Christmas Alley Cat that starts at 18:30 on Friday December 19th at The Distillery Pub, 839 - 5th Ave SW. Entry fee is $15. Will you be there?

Alley Cats are informal races in an urban environment usually involving fixed-gear bikes, often taking place at night, and with checkpoints at several locations along the route.

Alley Cats take place in most major cities where bike messengers operate, and sometimes are very serious events. There's even a World Messenger Championship taking place in Japan next year (more info on the CBMA site).

A video about alley-cats follows (click on the Read More link).

Are you a person with a passion for the pathways? The City of Calgary is looking for a volunteer to join CPAC, the Calgary Pathways and Bikeways Advisory Council. You need to get your application in by November 23rd. More information is available in an advertisement appearing in both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun.

(click to enlarge)

Mark your calendars for November 8th for the World Indoor Cyclocross Championship of the World! (yep, the world is in there twice on purpose). Organized by a knowledgeable cyclocross racer, this event will feature live music, indoor cyclocross racing, and of course beer. How much fun is that?

As the Christmas Season approaches, The Hub Bicycle Shop at The Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre is busy refurbishing bicycles to be given away to needy Calgary kids. This will be our third “Christmas bikes for Kids” project, and our most ambitious one yet: our goal is to triple the number of bikes we gave away our first year, by giving away 100 bicycles! This will mean that of the over 500 bicycles that will have come out of our bike shop since The Wheels of Self-Reliance Program began two and a half years ago, over 35% have been given to children!

This past Sunday, Sep. 28/08 I finally did go for a test ride on my commuting-to-work-to-be path. It took me a while to decide since I knew it was about 30km each way (I live in NE corner of Marlborough Park area and work in Midnapore). Without going into too many details: CALGARY DOES NOT HAVE ROADS READY FOR COMMUTING AT ALL. Point.

Surely we have nice, picturesque Sunday trails but for daily to/from work biking one has to be either totally sucked into biking or just simply crazy.