Columbus Rides Bikes!

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." -Mark Twain Every year I try to find something that pushes me further or at least gets me out of my comfort zone for a bit. This year I finally convinced/found a friend who would bike the Pittsburgh-D.C. 334 mile Rail Trail! I've been intrigued by the idea for the past 3 years or ever since I got back from my European adventures. However, life, work, and not wanting to do the trek alone delayed it until now. Planning : We honestly did basically no preparation. We got the  TrailBook . I looked up restaurants and good snack food because biking an average of 60 miles a day and going through many small towns, we had the opportunity to try local restaurants and pack fantastic snacks. My friend picked the walk-off campsites for us as a loose estimate for daily mileage. Then we met once to at least pretend that we were being formal about it all, packed extra tubes, met in the morning and were off for our 6 day Jail Rail...

REQUEST TO BUY THIS PHOTO JONATHAN QUILTER | DISPATCH Sam Tinianow, lead station technician for CoGo Bike Share, repairs a docking unit at the system’s City Hall station. CoGo has 30 stations and plans to add eight to 12 outside the Downtown area in the next year. By  Rick Rouan The Columbus Dispatch    •    Monday August 25, 2014 2:34 AM CoGo Bike Share patrons have taken more than 60,000 trips since the service launched last summer. The service is expanding outside Downtown and  landed a sponsorship from Medical Mutual  this summer to help pay for operations. City officials and CoGo representatives say they’re pleased with the bike share’s first year. However, CoGo has suffered from some of the same problems that have hit other U.S. bike-share systems, including falling short of ridership projections. [Keep reading at The Dispatch]

The car-free Tilikum Crossing is being hailed the "bridge of the people."  (Flickr/TriMet) PORTLAND, Oregon—It's an early-summer morning at the construction site for Portland's first new bridge in a generation, the  Tilikum Crossing , and Dan Blocher is feeling good about its progress. Completion is still a year away, but since the two ends of the bridge were connected in the middle several weeks ago, public response in self-described Bridgetown (when it's not, say, the Rose City, Stumptown or Rip City) has been positive. "Most people can sort of viscerally recognize an inherent beauty when the bridge is properly designed for its need," says Blocher, executive director of capitol projects for TriMet, the city's transit agency. "I think you know when you've got it right when the completed product just seems to fit, just like it belongs there. And we feel very good about the feedback we're getting on this bridge now that you can see what...

Online registration ends August 29th at NOON. Register today. Event management for Bike the Cbus 2014 powered by Eventbrite On-site registration ($40 cash or credit card) and packet/tshirt pickup Friday, August 30, 2013 5:30PM – 8:00PM Where:  Zanzibar Brews  (740 East Long Street) Ride: Saturday, August 30, 2014 7:00AM: On-site registration ($40 cash or credit card) and packet/tshirt pickup 8:00 AM:  We ride! Riders can head out on the route Ride begins and ends  at:  Zanzibar Brews  (740 East Long Street) Parking Options No rain date, ride will take place rain or shine! Bike the C-Bus is celebrating our SEVENTH year! The ride is a fun way to check out a few of the neighborhoods in and around Columbus. Experience segments of the King Lincoln District, Woodland Park, Olde Town East, Downtown, Short North Arts District, Italian Village, Harrison West, Victorian Village, Arena District, Franklinton, Brewery District and German ...

The aftermath of a collision in eastern Oregon. (Photo: OSP) There have been four (officially recorded) rear-end collisions involving a bicycle rider in the past week. One of them resulted in a fatality and the other three resulted in serious injuries. The incidents have occurred throughout Oregon and nearby southwest Washington. While the incidents are unrelated, the uncommon frequency (two happened on the same day) led to a response by the Oregon State Police earlier this week. In an official statement published on August 17th, they said: “OSP urges all drivers to be alert for bicyclists and other vulnerable highway users. When approaching from behind, make sure there is adequate room to safely pass on the left of the bicyclist(s).” [Keep reading at BikePortland]

This 'Mad Men' writer doesn’t just want to beat traffic What's an Emmy nominee to do about downtown traffic on awards night Monday? Well, one could limo-pool, depart at 2:30 p.m., or use the valet at a nearby hotel — or hail an Uber or brave freeway gridlock like an average commuter. Then there's  Tom Smuts ' way: bike it. The writer, who is nominated for Outstanding Drama Series with the rest of the producers of  Mad Men 's seventh season, will lead a 15-person bike ride to the awards ceremony. The Television Academy has granted permission for six riders to cycle up to the carpet, a group that will include Smuts' wife, Homeland  executive producer and two-time Emmy winner  Meredith Stiehm . The route will run 17 miles from their Santa Monica home to the Nokia Theater in about an hour and a half, Smuts says, and forget the spandex — he will arrive in bike-friendly evening attire (pictured) by  Rapha . Continue reading at The Hol...

Ohio Dominican University East Campus . 2600 Airport Drive  The end is in sight. On Tues., Aug. 26, a groundbreaking ceremony will mark the final phase of the ALUM CREEK TRAIL. Starting at 10 a.m., on the Ohio Dominican University’s east campus, 2600 Airport Drive, join Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus Recreation and Parks Department and community leaders as we kick-off construction on the remaining 1.5 miles of the 22-mile greenway. From Westerville to Obetz, the trail will provide easy access to over eight parks, and connections to over 90 miles of regional pathways throughout Central Ohio. Visitors will experience natural areas, neighborhoods and one of the most scenic river corridors the state has to offer. 

REQUEST TO BUY THIS PHOTO STEVE WARTENBERG | DISPATCH Chris Haydocy says plans for a Wilson Road hub on the Cleveland-Cincinnati bike trail will help revitalize the West Side. Chris Haydocy looks at the West Side and sees a future in which young people are buying houses and businesses and returning to long-shuttered vacant properties. The catalyst for that resurgence, the auto dealer says, is what he hopes will be the “crown jewel” of a 330-mile bike trail between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Planners the city hired are designing a hub that could be the center of activity on the Camp Chase Trail, a path that will connect the West Side to Downtown and link the Ohio-to-Erie trail through Columbus. [Keep reading at Columbus Dispatch]