Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Ice Bikin

Two CCBA admin notes first:

1. Tomorrow's board meeting has been cancelled
2. No Ice Bike To Work this month. Day after T-Day!

So, as I rode in with the first really bitter breeze in my face this morning I got to thinking about Ice Bike to Work in general and getting more folks to give cold weather biking a try.

Chicago has www.bikewinter.org which has some pretty cool resources and illustrates a pretty neat setup to get people to ride through the winter. Of course for tips there is the ubiquitous icebike.com as well. We have had an Ice Bike to Work series the last few years and have had some new folks show up from time to time which is certainly a good thing. We usually get around 8-10 folks and maybe a few less when it really starts to blow and freeze. What are your thoughts on expanding and doing more events in the winter in and around the beat? An ice bike demonstration has been suggested, but no one has grabbed it yet to make it happen.

Also, we need a new sponsor for Ice Bike to Work. The contact at our old sponsor has moved on from the Beat and we have had a hard time finding someone to pick it up. We meet the last friday of every month at JoJos on Pratt Street right in the heart of the Beat (http://www.cafejojo.com/) from 7-9, October through March. Typically we don't meet in November. I think the cost runs around $50-$75 and we provide a fantastic winter bike presence. JoJo's is pretty busy in the mornings and we get a lot of questions, have had a couple newspaper interviews and have even been on TV. If you know anyone, please pass along their info quickly. We could maybe even work up a t shirt or something warmer this year to sell or giveaway to participants.

2 comments:

Karma said...

Im in favor of other winter biking events in general as I work in West Hartford rather than Hartford and rarely get to attend the bike-to-works. If I had an afternoon shift or the day off to do library work id definitely be at the ice bike. I know the outreach bidget is frozen at my job but ill ask around about sponsors.

Brendan said...

Ben and I don't work in a place that has a lot of money to spare right now.

Those XL people seem to have money to burn. Anyone know anyone that rides a bike over there? I'd participate in the "XL ice bike to work".