Details:

Meet us at Little Kings on Thursday, February 23 for some pizza and a chance to meet 4 Cross-Country Cyclists traveling through Athens!  We’ll be there from 6-9pm, so come grab a slice of pizza and meet four amazing women who are riding cross country from Key West, FL all the way to San Francisco, CA!  This trip is not just for fun, this group of two sisters, a mom, and one close friend are making their way across America on 2 wheels to benefit bicycle safety advocacy efforts, and BikeAthens is excited to hear about the first leg of their journey!

Dubbed “Ride America for Safe Routes” (RASR), their ride traverses 13 southern states and 20 major cities, logging over 5,000 miles.  RASR’s mission is to raise $50,000 for the League’s Bike Friendly America program and for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs in local communities.  http://www.rideforsaferoutes.com

 RSVP on Facebook!

 www.bikeathens.com/give

Here’s a quick list of what we accomplished in 2011:

• Our Bike Recycling Program refurbished 140 bikes and logged 2300 volunteer hours!
• Assisted Athens-Clarke County in achieving the Bronze level Bike Friendly Community designation, only the 2nd community in the state to achieve it.
• Our Transportation Policy Committee wrote a Complete Streets policy and is building a coalition by partnering with
  other local non-profits and businesses.
• Monthly Group Rides, from April to October, continue to teach safe riding practices.
• Bike to Market Days assisted Commuters, Errand runners, and Social Cyclists in building alternative transportation travel plans.
• We helped citizens stay informed about public input opportunities and state and national policy Action Items.
• Submitted productive comments on TSPLOST project criteria and lists.
• Hosted this year’s Georgia Bike Summit October 7-9, 2011.
• Moved the Bike Recycling Program to a new shop.
• Refurbished and donated over 50 kids’ bikes to various ACC schools and social service agencies for our Holiday Bikes 4 Kids drive.
• At every First-Year Student Orientation session in the summer, we were there distributing maps and teaching students about bike commuting in Athens and UGA.
• Joined community partners in hosting the Bike to Work Day Rally to encourage community members to try and succeed in commuting by bike.
• Worked with Athens Transit to create a new bus map design.
• Wrote a city-endorsed Traffic Calming Manual, the guide for neighborhoods in need of Traffic Calming infrastructure.
• Supported other local nonprofits by participating in the Charity Chili Cookoff.
• Were chosen by New Belgium to host the annual Clips of Faith fundraising event, an honor for only a select number of
  cities with transportation choices organizations.
• Assisted the University’s MPA program in creating a Bike Project Manual for ACC.
• Sponsored the Tour de Farm for 30 riders over 100 miles and 7 local farms for 3 days.

By joining or rejoining now, you will receive a BikeAthens membership card, good for discounts from several local businesses including:

Ben’s Bikes, Blockader Homebrew Supply, Dondero’s Kitchen, The Healthy Gourmet, The Hub, Georgia Cycle Sport, Sunshine Cycles, and Athens Atlas Chiropractic Center- plus the satisfaction of knowing that your money has supported sustainable change.

Please join, renew, or give online today!

Thanks, as always, for your continued support of transportation choices in Athens.

Sincerely,

Mike Ely                                             BikeAthens

Chair                                                   P.O Box 344

BikeAthens                                         Athens, GA 30603

Meet us on Dougherty Street, up the hill from Pulaski Street, at 6:15. The parade starts to roll at 7pm.

Parade of Lights Route in Downtown Athens, 2011

The BikeAthens Bike Recycling Program (BRP), a cooperative venture with local social support agencies, distributes reconditioned bikes to individuals in the Athens community who are underserved by private and public transportation. We rely exclusively on volunteers to recondition the bikes. Proceeds from the bike sale help cover the costs of this program.

Visit our Facebook page for photos, bike descriptions, and pricing on most of the bikes.

Bring a helmet, water, LIGHTS, and your friends!

7:00PM SHARP – Group Ride will depart from City Hall.

8:00PM – Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!  (Corner of Clayton Street and Pulaski Street)

Here’s the route we will be taking:

I am a graduate student in the Master of Environmental Planning and Design program at The University of Georgia. I invite you to participate in a research study entitled Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Bike Route Plan that is being conducted under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Pratt Cassity and the ACC Department of Transportation and Public Works. The purpose of this study is to create a Bike Route Master Plan for the South-East quadrant of the county. The primary objective is to identify and evaluate existing bicycle routes and propose a series of new routes to be established based on bicyclists needs.

You must be 18 years of age or older in order to participate in this study.

Your participation will involve completing a survey and should only take about 5-10 minutes of your time. Your involvement in the study is voluntary, and you may choose not to participate or to stop at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you complete the survey on paper, your participation and responses will be anonymous. If you complete the survey online, there is a limit to the confidentiality that can be guaranteed since internet communications are insecure. Once the information is received by the researcher, standard confidentiality procedures will be employed. The results of the research study may be published, but your identity will not be associated with your responses in any format.

The study will not benefit you directly, but the findings from this project may provide information that could be used to improve transportation choices in ACC. There are no foreseeable risks or discomforts associated with this research.

If you have any questions about this research project, please feel free to call me at 706-247-6311 or send an email to annagore@uga.edu . You may also contact my advisor, Dr. Pratt Cassity, at 706-369-5868 or pcassity@uga.edu .

Questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant should be directed to The Chairperson, University of Georgia Institutional Review Board, 629 Boyd GSRC, Athens, Georgia 30602; telephone (706) 542-3199; email address irb@uga.edu.

By completing this survey, you are agreeing to participate in the above described research project.

Thank you for your consideration! Please keep this letter for your records.

Sincerely,

Anna Gore
University of Georgia
Master of Environmental Planning and Design Candidate

Click here to take the Southeast Athens-Clarke County Bicycle Survey!

The first step of the project focuses on Southeast Athens, and your input will be used to help determine where bike routes should be placed in order to best serve the greatest number of people.  Please take a moment to read this Informational Letter, then fill out the survey below!

New Belgium Brewing’s traveling beer and film festival, “cLips of Faith,” returns to Athens GA’s Hot Corner (Hull and Washington) on Friday, October 7 beginning at 7pm. Come join us!

The national tour showcases short films made by New Belgium’s fans accompanied by tastings from the brewery’s popular Lips of Faith series as well as New Belgium favorites. While films cross the genre divide, they highlight New Belgium’s main follies: craft beer, sustainability and whimsy.

Each stop along the tour features a free outdoor screening of the collected films, a full tasting of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith beers and food from local vendors. In Athens, all proceeds from beer sales benefit BikeAthens. Recycling at the event will be handled by ACC.

Then Saturday, October 8th, 8-5pm is the Georgia Bike Summit, a statewide conference for bicycle advocacy, education, and outreach.  You can still do walk-in registration.  $45/student and $75/non-student.  And don’t miss the SORBA movie night at Cine’ from 7:15-9pm, where you will see 3 excellent short films.

10-11AM Group Ride departing from City Hall (Downtown Athens, corner of Washington Street and College Ave)
Here’s the route we will be taking.

Don’t forget to bring your helmet, some water, and your friends!

RSVP on Facebook!