Posted By Christopher on March 9, 2010

From the Southeast Indianapolis Communities blog:

The next public meeting for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail will be Tuesday, April 27, from 6-8 p.m. at the Fountain Square Theater Building.

At this meeting, Trail organizers will provide an update on the plans, Trail funding, and construction timeline. I strongly urge everyone who is interested in or impacted by the ICT to attend — this is the official public meeting for the southeast corridor of the Trail. Everyone is welcome. I would appreciate a quick return e-mail if you are planning on attending, so we can plan room size accordingly.

Please contact me with any questions at the numbers below. Thanks to Linton Calvert, as always, for providing the room.

See you on April 27,
Bill

blovejoy123@yahoo.com

Category: Cultural Trail | 1 Comment »
Tags:

Posted By Christopher on March 8, 2010

So, what did you guys do with the first beautiful weekend of the year? Take a ride around town? Push a training loop? Stroll the Monon? We’d love to know! Chat it up in the comments section.

Category: indycog | 18 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Benjamin on March 3, 2010

We recently received an email from a reader regarding an issue he had with an IMPD officer while commuting to work. He wanted wanted to submit the complaint to city, but he wasn’t sure who to contact directly.

About 3-4 times a week (weather permitting), I ride my bicycle from my home down near Southport and 37 to my office on 13th Street, 11.5 miles each way. I’ve got the proper headlight and taillight for early morning commuting, I’ve been doing this for two or three years now, and I can count on both hands the number of incidences I’ve had with motorists. I’d consider that a pretty good record.

This morning, while riding eastbound on West New York Street – in the far left lane as I turned onto Senate, a fellow in a Dodge rolled down his window and yelled to me, “You need to ride on the sidewalk.”

“You need to learn the law,” I yelled back.

He continued on his way, and I on mine.

About a block later a car rolled up next to me, window down.

“You need to check the uniform,” said the same fellow, who I now realized was a police officer.

“I’ve got a copy of the law in my back pocket,” I said.

“You need to get on the sidewalk. If you don’t care about your safety how do you expect anyone else to?”

With that the officer drove off.

* * *

I’ve had my share of complaints about Indianapolis and infrastructure for cycling, and I’ve heard countless people complain and share their stories — most of which don’t make it past friends and acquaintances. Fortunately, we are in a very unique position in Indianapolis as cyclists being that we have a Mayor who wants to hear from us.

The city wants to hear our opinions about the cycling infrastructure, and they want to know when we have issues or suggestions. Well, we here at INDYCOG have developed a platform for exactly this:

This graphic link will remain at the upper left corner of all pages on our site. Please feel free to use it, and we’ll do everything in our power here to make sure you are heard by those whose job it is to hear you.

Category: Action Alert | 13 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Benjamin on March 3, 2010

It’s that time of the year again!

2010 St. Patty’s Day Pub Ride
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 – 1 p.m.

1:00p
Brugge Brasserie (Monon Trail & Westfield Blvd)
Upland Brewery (49th & College)
Melody Inn (38th & Illinois)
Tip Top Tavern (13th & Capitol)
Living Room (Penn & St. Joseph)

3:00p
MacNivens (Mass Ave & New York St)
Sun King Tasting Room (Ohio & College)
O’Reilly’s Irish Bar (Penn & Maryland)
Claddaugh (S. Meridian & Jackson Pl)
Spencer’s Stadium Tavern (West & McCarty)
Vollrath Tavern (Palmer & Talbott)

5:00p
The Brass Ring (Shelby & Sanders)
McQueen’s Too (English & Keystone)
Si Green’s Pub (10th & Emerson)
Golden Ace Inn (Washington St & Temple)
Lockerbie Pub (Michigan & College)
Dorman Street (9th & Dorman)

Note: There will be a few timed stops so others can join on the ride. Other than that, anything goes!

Category: Local Rides | 10 Comments »
Tags: Indianapolis, st. patty's day pub crawl

Posted By Christopher on March 2, 2010

Written by: Anna, long-time cyclist and industry insider

My personal biggest game-changer with respect to cycling product has been the female-focused bicycle saddle.

I used to teach a class primarily for women on basic bicycle maintenance. Over the course of my limited instructional experience and my group riding experience, most of the complaints I have heard regarding cycling had to do with back pain and personal-area numbness over the course of a ride.

Though many of these issues can be corrected with appropriate frame geometry, I have personally found the cheapest solution for improving riding comfort for women is through the adoption of appropriate saddles. Ladies’ sit bones are further apart, which generally translates to a preference for wider, flatter saddles.

Most readily available saddles on the market are made for men, so most trendy saddles (at least from the perspective of road bikes, which is the context with which I am most familiar) tend to be minimal in terms of width and padding, designed for racing. If you’re a lady, this makes the riding experience doubly unpleasant: not only is your saddle ill-fitting because it is so skinny, but it is minimally padded.

This can lead to pain from overcompensating the load in your legs and wrists and numbness in your personal areas. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Here are a few saddles I have extensive experience with, which have greatly improved my riding experience.

The Terry Damselfly:

When I was at my road training peak, this saddle was amazing. It was wider than my previous racing saddles (designed for men) and much more comfortable. The saddle is softer in the front and middle of the saddle which prevented personal numbness. The saddle is also somewhat padded, which helped with shock absorption. I would not recommend it as a street riding saddle, but it was fabulous for road-riding.

Terry Bicycles is a company started by a woman and represented primarily through women-sensitive individuals. I am generally a big fan of their mission and of their product.

The Fizik Vitesse:

This saddle has minimal padding, but I found it to be the most attractive racing road saddle I have encountered. I do not generally appreciate padding in a saddle when it comes to road riding, as I wear shorts that give an appropriate level of support. Instead of physical padding, the body of the saddle flexes as you ride. I have never felt uncomfortable on this saddle while in lycra.

N.B.: I typically do not ride with this saddle on my commuter bike. It is not as friendly to Indianapolis city streets.

The Terry Butterfly:

This is my favorite overall saddle. I love this thing.

I ride this saddle every day when commuting the seven miles to work in plain clothes. I never think about this saddle, which is probably its best attribute. Indianapolis roads are terrible, between the pot holes and the general neglect of the bike lanes (where they exist). I have hit literally hundreds of potholes on this saddle, but have never been overly uncomfortable.

This saddle is especially wonderful because I use it on my ill-fitting 1983 Peugeot (the top tube and stem is entirely too long for me) which confirms its effectiveness. Because it is so comfortable, I do not find myself physically compensating due to discomfort, even without bike shorts.

* * *

I should emphasize that these evaluations are based on my personal experiences. As a lady, saddle appropriateness will vary depending on riding style and personal physical characteristics. It is important to be true to yourself when selecting a saddle. Choose one that is comfortable and appropriate to you and the way you ride, it will make you want to ride all-day everyday. Any lady on any bicycle is a good thing for all of us.

Fortunately, because the hip geometry on women is so varied, some shops have memory-foam or sand-based hip evaluation systems for sizing saddles (BGI & BikeLine). Also, many shops in town now carry female-specific saddles (Joe’s Cycles has some very appealing products at the moment that I am looking forward to trying).

And if your local shop does not carry lady-specific saddles, I highly recommend you suggest they do.

For a woman, an appropriate saddle can completely change your riding experience for the better. So make the investment; it is the single easiest and best improvement you can make to your ride.

Category: Gear, Women & Cycling | 4 Comments »
Tags: Fizik Vitesse, Terry Butterfly, Terry Damselfly

Posted By Christopher on March 1, 2010

Written by: Anna, long-time cyclist and industry insider

The cycling community is, unfortunately, not particularly accommodating to women.  This is especially disappointing considering women were such enthusiastic early embracers of the sport and make up more than half of the potential market.

Re the first point: women were early and enthusiastic embracers of cycling.  In the early days of the safety bicycle, almost all companies made both a female and male model.  Though the prevalent female bicycle model at the time usually consisted of a step-through frame and often featured a skirt-guard of some kind (usually woven), the ladies’ option was always present.  Even tandems typically featured female- and male-specific components, whether they be side-by-side, male-forward or female-forward.

Further evidence of female embrace is the role cycling played in the women’s rights movement.  Susan B. Anthony is quoted as once saying:

I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.  It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled  womanhood.

Unfortunately, the industry has not evolved to accommodate women in the same way it has to accommodate men, despite this early enthusiasm.  Though I could argue the industry has moved in this direction because it is run by a predominately male racer community that is insensitive to the different physical needs of women, that is for another discussion.

Fortunately, the situation for women has lately improved greatly due to an influx of women designers and cyclists to the industry, and large presences in the industry have finally recognized the buying power of women.

But what does it mean to be women-specific within the context of cycling?

It has nothing to do with pink flower decals and step-through frames (despite personal preference).  It has everything to do with the different physiologies of women.  It can be said without argument that women have significantly different bodies compared to men.  Women generally have larger hips, longer legs with respect to torsos, and smaller hands/feet.  We are generally smaller, and we have very different centers of gravity.  In addition to these physical differences, women tend to put a larger focus on comfort when it comes to their equipment.

At this point I should note that I am physically tall, busty (so shock absorption is key), and hippy.  In terms of physical leg to torso proportion, I am pretty typical for a lady.  My favorite type of riding is road but I typically ride my street bike (sans lycra shorts) more than anything.  It is within this context that I discuss my experiences with product.

* * *

Tomorrow, Anna discusses saddle selection and the importance of a good saddle for female riders.

Category: Women & Cycling | 4 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Christopher on February 26, 2010

From the Indy Velonauts blog:

We will be hosting a ride from Indianapolis to Morgantown and back on Sunday March 7, 2010. The ride is approximately 50-60 miles and we will keep a pace that allows everyone to have a good time. We’ll meet up at Calvin Fletcher’s Coffee at 615 Virginia Ave in Indianapolis at 11:00 a.m. All cyclists are welcome. You only need to bring your bike, a lil’ cash for food and drink and a willingness to have fun. If you have any questions, post a comment and we’ll reply as promptly as we can. You can also call or text Jake at 317 205 2512 with any questions.

Bring as many gears as you’ll need, some I’m sure will be doing this ride fixed, but many will have road bikes, the whole point is to just have fun.

Category: Indy Velonauts, Local Rides | 1 Comment »
Tags: Indy Velonauts

Posted By Christopher on February 24, 2010

Name: Richard White

Age: 40

Main squeeze: Motobecane Fantom Cross CX2

Why: Why I ride?  Healthy mind and body. I used to ride after school as a teen to kill time and work off the testosterone.  Now my knees don’t like it when I run so I got back to biking this past fall.  Riding city trails such as Monon and Pleasant Run, and parks like Eagle Creek and Ft Ben.  Gives me time to work off some calories, clear my head, and maintain some sort of sensibility.

I’d love to get to the point of being able to commute, but its 25miles to work, diagonally across Indy, so is something I want to try, but isn’t realistic more than occasionally.

Indy in a sentence: More to offer than most people realize.

* * *

Submit your Why We Ride.

Category: Why We Ride | 1 Comment »
Tags: richard white, Why We Ride

Posted By Christopher on February 24, 2010

Sorry it’s been a bit quiet around here lately. We’ve been hustling around our own lives a bit and unable to post what’s been happening, which is a lot.

Upcoming, we’ve a Why We Ride to post, our friend Anna submitted an awesome piece concerning women, cycling, and comfortable posteriors (and she plans to contribute more in the future), and we’ve a couple rides we’re planning now and will announce here soon.

Things are brewing like storms here. Get ready.

Category: indycog | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Benjamin on February 17, 2010

It looks like funding to complete the Cultural Trail has been obtained.

Originally, I thought this grant was going towards general bike and pedestrian funding, but it seems to be directed completely at the Cultural Trail. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I would like to see this kind of grant go toward bikeways and sidewalks.

I’m not sure how realistic it would be for the the final $12 million gap to be closed by private/corporate funding, but it seems like it would have been a feather in Indy’s cap.

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail, an eight-mile trail connecting Downtown cultural districts and greenways, will get a grant from the federal government, according to information from a congressman’s office.

A federal Web site shows the Cultural Trail will get $20.5 million in funding.

A news release from Justin Ohlemiller, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, said: “The grant has been awarded as part of the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Program, which was included in the Recovery Act to spur a national competition for innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation.”

An event is scheduled in the noon hour in a park at the northeast corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Alabama Street. Carson, D-Indianapolis, will be joined by Mayor Greg Ballard and Brian Payne, trail founder and president of Central Indiana Community Foundation.

In December, trail officials said there was a $12 million gap to complete the Cultural Trail in time for the Super Bowl in February 2012 in Indianapolis.

 

Original Article

Photo:  DIG-B

Category: Cultural Trail, Indy Greenways | 8 Comments »
Tags: Cultural Trail, trail development