Bike traffic skills class

Do you have a friend or family member who would like to ride more places but lacks confidence in traffic? A Traffic Skills 101 class might be just the thing.  There's a class starting Monday night.  Click here for more info.

Chicago Cycling Club meeting - social night

Our March meeting will be a social night.  Please join us at Jaks Tap at 901 W. Jackson - Tuesday March 12 at 7:00 p.m.

bikes and travel

Thanks to all who attended our February meeting.  The exchange of questions and answers enhanced the value of the presentation.  Having a healthy mix of familiar faces, new members and guests also added to the experience.

I promised a follow-up post with informational links.

Bikes on Amtrak

Avoiding excessive baggage fees on flights

I'd also like to offer a thank you to REI for hosting our meeting.   If you joined us for the first time this month, I hope you'll come back again and make it a regular habit.

    - Anne Alt

Chicago Cycling Club meeting - bikes and travel

Please join us for our next club meeting on Tuesday February 12.  Social time starts at 6:30, and our presentation starts at 7:00 p.m. Our topic is a panel presentation/discussion on bikes and travel. Would you like to learn a bit about what's it's like to take a foreign bike tour, explore a city using bike share or take your bike on Amtrak trip? Come and find out.  You'll find us in the upstairs community room at REI, 1466 N. Halsted (just south of the North/Clybourn red line stop).

Anyone is welcome to attend.

coming TODAY: Dearborn

Many of you have been following the installation progress of the new Dearborn protected bike lanes, as I have.  As signage has been installed this week and new bike stoplights have been activated and tested,  anticipation has grown.

One of the challenges with the introduction of these protected lanes and many others is public resistance by people who don't understand how the new road configuration is supposed to work and don't necessarily get the idea of bikes as transportation.

We can help overcome that resistance by showing public support for improvements that make bicycling easier in Chicago.  This can include thanking our aldermen, CDOT and the mayor, writing letters to the editor, or explaining new bike facilities to friends, family and co-workers who don't get it.

Today you can show your support in a very visible way for this innovative and controversial project.  Come to the CDOT press conference planned for the official opening.  It's happening at 1:00 p.m. today at 700 S. Dearborn (small park/plaza halfway between Polk and Harrison).

    - Anne Alt

getting the word out

You may have noticed that publishing here has been a bit sporadic.  It's a case of me wearing too many hats and not having enough time to do justice to all the projects at hand.

Are you a current club member with an interest in social media?  Do you have a little editing experience (at least with your own work)?  If you'd be interested in helping out with even a portion of the club's publicity work, we'd be grateful for that assistance.

We'd like to build a team to share the work.  One member has expressed an interest in helping with some of the work.  If we could get several members who are willing to work as a team, that would be ideal.

Experience in blogging, Facebook and/or Twitter is a plus, but not required.  If you're interested, please contact me for more info.  It would be great to have you as part of the team.

   - Anne Alt

after the party

I'd like to thank everyone who came to Saturday's club holiday party at Mars Gallery.  It was a great mix of people and a fun time.

The biggest thank you goes to Julie Sherman for all her hard work in handling all the details to make the party a reality.  Julie - You deserve our thanks for a job well done.

    - Anne Alt