LexRides

[politicalhero]

Yup, that does say 2009. Earlier today the Bike Lexington Ssubcommittee of the Mayor's Task Force met to discuss bike lex 2008 and to begin planning for 2009.

In planning 2009 and looking to improve the actual family/race weekend the following was a proposal and I/we wanted to get some feedback from folks.

Here is it, this is not anything finalized but just a rough idea to start trying to figure out so we can begin to plan the weekend and the month earlier instead of waiting until Feb and trying to make it all happen.

Based on feedback from various groups (noted and anecdotal) the following was thought of a way to increase local and regional support for the family/race weekend.

The main change would be to move the actual weekend to Memorial Day Weekend so we could continue to build on the energy of the Horsey, out of town visitors, and a large opening in the regional race schedule. Additionally, this would give more local folks an opportunity to plug in since it is a holiday weekend.

Friday would be the Time Trial as it was this year. The various neighborhoods have shown interest in having block parties on the side streets since they are already closed. Additionally the Ave of Champions would be closed earlier and be a designated "Car Free Zone." Prior to the races the street would be cleared so people can start to warm up.

Saturday, would be a downtown Crit race. This closure of new streets would also remained closed for a large portion of the day making downtown a "Car Free Zone." Additional activities would be planned to fill in this space. Some ideas thrown out today were to host a 5k (we need to add more ped stuff), the largest spinning class (The Y would secure 100 bikes and place them in one area and host the largest spinning class), image a polo tournament on main street, an industry/public velo swap, bands, and anything else that could be planned by various groups to fill and use the space accordingly. Having vendors and bands during the "Car Free Zone" including more carni stuff and working with DDA, DLC, Commerce, etc

Sunday, Down town road race instead of using cold stream the race would be downtown on a larger course that is to be determined. "Car Free Zone" again with various activities including second day of some of the activities listed above.

Monday, Bike Lex family fun ride in the morning as usual. Lexington's first mountain bike race at Veteran's Park.

What do folks think about this "general idea" of moving the weekend and trying to work with other groups to put on various events?

[elzie5000]

The events and activities sound awesome. Well, the spinning class is lame, but I'm sure it'd be popular.

My only concern would be that a lot of people leave town on memorial day weekend and that might cut down on participation.

[brokebike]

I agree with Logan about whether or not it will actually attract more or less people because of the holiday... but, if gas is as expensive then as it is now, which I'm sure it will be, perhaps people would rather stay close to home and do something local and fun.

Either way, I'm all for the changes. It spreads it out more, and also by placing it closer to the end of the month gives Bike Lexington month more of a crescendo... goes out with a bang. Anytime the streets are closed to cars is a good thing! I wanna see more of that!

[jkizzle]

the only thing i would worry about is that in fact so much of the bike community would be be at the horsey, but it would be cool to get all the bike tourists in town to come out too.

i love the idea of making it more of a festival than a few races and events. i think this would help people ease into the bike festivities that arnt avid cyclists. Having other attractions would introduce people who might not care otherwise into the cycling lifestyle. It would be cool to do a polo tournament invitational too - more teams might show up if its like a bike festival.

The urban race could be a problem though. i felt that the fact that the omnium didnt have a true road race when we have amazing and very challenging routes could be changed. this could considerably reduce the amount of time the race went on, staggering starts by 15 minutes rather than having to wait for the entire race to be over as in the circuit races. it would probably attract more spectators that way.

I think it would also be cool to turn the family fun ride into more of a bike parade, getting community groups involved might help bring more sponsorships in and get even more people out on two wheels.

Overall sounds great though, I thought this years bikelex was great, and cant wait until next year.

[bryant]

mtb race at veterans??

[chadwick2wheels]

I think having a 5k is a great idea. I think that would draw in a ton of more people.
_________________
The sound of a car door opening in front of you is similar to the sound of a gun being cocked. ~Amy Webster

[brokebike]

I have to ask though... what does a 5K run have to do with Bike Month, and specifically Bike Lexington? I mean, I know that from a transportation standpoint, bicycling and pedestrian issues are usually lumped together, but it's called Bike Lexington, and we celebrate bikes during that month...

sure, a 5K will draw lots of people. They always do because they're so popular... but I'm just wondering how staging another run will benefit the cause of bikes and getting more people interested in them? Would it be to raise money?

if it truly is the case that they want to push more pedestrian issues during Bike Lexington, then it seems like something a bit more creative and inspired could come out of it, rather than just another 5K.

I hope I don't sound negative, because I don't mean to be... it just strikes me as curious.

[jkizzle]

maybe it could be a 5k that you get into for free if you ride your bike to it? i still love the fact that most people drive to work out.

[chadwick2wheels]

No brokebike I agree. A 5k doesnt really have much to do with bike lexington unless the proceeds went to benefit cycling somehow.But even then that doesnt make much sense. I just thought it would be a good idea because it would bring in alot of people. I think thats a good thing because bike lexington is starting to get kind of boring.And the more people that show up, the more money to invest into the event.Not boring thats a poor choice for the word. Maybe repetitive would be best. Dont get me wrong. I look forward to it every year and wish it was longer than a month. I'm very happy that next year is already in the works. That shows how important bikes are not only to us but our city.
_________________
The sound of a car door opening in front of you is similar to the sound of a gun being cocked. ~Amy Webster

[politicalhero]

This is going to sound stupid and hippy shit but I think it is good to be negative because if everyone always says yes but thinks no then we end up with a stupid event. The more we can brainstorm and think of the positives and the negatives the better. If you don't like something then everyone should feel comfortable to talk about it on the forum. I mean what would the Center Pointeeeeeeeeee discussion look like if no one spoke up about the dark side of the project.

So this is what the thought process was behind the 5K. I am not defending the idea just want to explain what was being said in the room. Yes, the simple idea of the 5K is to increase pedestrian activities during bike month. It does sound weird to do that during bike month but really bike month is also celebrating the freedom of removing the car and looking at alt transportation like the bike. Additionally, when we pitch bike and ped ideas to the govt at all levels (Fed etc) it makes it easier when they are tied to health benefits, economic benefits, etc.

With the 5K the idea was that in order to get the city to agree to the cyclovia style of closing down the downtown area that we would really need to have a lot of stuff planned and not just say, "the streets are closed, come downtown and walk or bike in a car free zone." Hosting events like the 5k helps the city justify to the nay sayers that closing down the streets to motorized traffic is a good idea.

The YMCA suggested the 5k and to make it something festive like their reindeer ramble which was held in Dec and had 700 people dressed in costumes and tied together in teams race in 20 degree weather. Doing a themed 5k would hopefully make it a more festive 5k and not just a super duper race.

So those are some of the things that were discussed during the meeting. This is not a final idea but just a brainstorm to come up with various events to start planning for next year.

What are some things that we (lex rides) would want to plan for next year?
-Polo tournament on main st? If the area is considered a festival area we might be able to use the city's insurance and not have to deal with all that crap like we did this year.

-Bike sprints down mill st?

-Bike jousting?

-Chariot race?

-Bike sculpture building

-People's Velo Swap as a part of the larger industry show?

-Bike powered smoothie sales?

-etc

[elzie5000]

Thinking about utilizing existing infrastructure to its best advantage...

Usually the skate park in Woodland is closed to bikes. A BMX competition there during bike month would get a different set of kids more involved.

A trials event in one of the parks, maybe involving playground equipment, swinging bridges, etc would expose people to another aspect of biking. Or there could be some stacks of pallets and cable spools in/around the boulders in Phoenix Park. If it hasn't been bulldozed by then.

If a 5K is kosher, why not add a pedal-boat race in Jacobson park? Its almost a triathlon. Seriously, though, human powered boating would be a fun event.

A unicycle...something. Still working on that one.

[jkizzle]

[DHB]

what if you had some sort of relay foot race during which each runner picks up a bike part, like wheels, handlebars, etc, and had to put a a bike together and ride it to the finish?

[jkizzle]

or a checkpoint run from pedal the planet, to schellers woodland ave to pedal power for bike prizes

[brokebike]

might as well add Schellers on Harrodsburg Rd. in there too...