Bike education classes? I'll take two...

So we've leaked the word about USU Bike week but we failed to tell you that Bike Week isn't the only great thing Blue Bikes is doing this fall, weekly community education classes is something of equal coolness that we will have as well.
What are our community weekly classes about? Educating you on things we doing normally get the chance to educate the community on, such as bike touring, air quality education, and specific over hauling of parts on your bike.
Community weekly classes will be every Wednesday or Thursday evening, but not all classes are inside at Blue Bikes. Some classes will be a bike picnic where we meet at Blue Bikes with food on our backs and ride to a nearby park to enjoy the company of other cyclists and ride our bikes.
We want to keep the serious business going to it won't be all fun and games. Bottom bracket overhaul, Air quality, and basic bike maintenance are also on the list of classes that are reclaiming cool and recycling it into a blue bike.
Long standing favorite classes like Ladies Night and Bike Movie night will also find their way onto the schedule, ladies night being the third Wednesday of Every month, unless otherwise noted.
We are hoping to see you all this upcoming fall in the shop fixing your bike or in for one of our classes. We leave you with this parting shot of Japans bike parking tower. So it's in Japanese but it's not to hard to figure out what they are doing and why it is so cool. May the bike parking revolution begin!

Blue Bikes update and the 2 mile challenge

"Bicyclists fare best when act and treated and drivers of vehicles"

It's been a long but great summer here at Aggie Blue Bikes. The shop is hoppin', our bikes are moving, we've been able to do some great community out reach with the L@s Abejos group, and we've been braining storming up the wazoo to make this upcoming school year the most cycletastic year to date.
This fall we are hosting the first ever USU Bike week on campus. One week of pure cycling joy and bliss, we are planning on having fundicational (fun+educational) activities that will help you become a more responsible and aware bike rider. If you are reading this blog that you probably already know and think how great cycling is, and we love you for that. But bike week is aimed not only at you but at every student and faculty member on campus who might ride a bike, thinks about riding a bike, commutes just to class, or doesn't ride a bike at all. We know that's a broad spectrum of people but we want to educate everyone on the laws of cycling. Why? Because it is everyone's responsibility to keep the roads safe for everyone and we want to help instill that knowledge with the campus community.
With that being said, What kind of mind blowing activities are we going to have going on at bike week? Well, we want to keep things focused around the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge and encourage everyone to try to ride within two miles of home. More details are to come but we can promise you these activities so far.

Moon light and Pedal Powered Music- A twilight concert at the Amphitheater featuring local musicians with their musical stylings amplified on the pedal power PA system. It is of course FREE to everyone.

Bike to School day- Modeled after bike to work day, we are encouraging all of you, students and faculty to ride your bike and pack the bike racks on campus. Blue Bikes will also have feed stations set up around campus and will be handing out FREE breakfast everyone who rides their bike to school that day.

Baked goods for blue bikes- We know the power of good food to keep you fueled while you are riding so we are bringing you baked goods that are worth the price. Oh and we might just have a pedal powered smoothie maker as well. No two things go better together than bicycles and great food.

Spandex dance party- The 80’s were an awesome time for all things stretchy and bike worthy. Why not celebrate those on a Friday night of fun. The spandex dance party will also have a raffle attached to it. All those who buy a ticket are automatically entered into a drawing for bike commuting accessories, such as bike lights, water bottles, socks, and t-shirts all donate by local shops and bike companies. The price for admission to the event is $2. Proceeds go to support bike week and Aggie Blue Bikes.

Thats just a taste of all the goodness that bike week will have to offer. Be excited, be VERY excited because you won't be disappointed. Not at all.

In the mean time, stop by the shop and fix up your sweet ride. If you are intimidated to stop by, don't be. Aggie Blue Bikes is where you should come to be educated on bikes, just like you would go to class to become educated US institutions...if you went to class.

Wednesday closure

Hey cyberspace, Blue Bikes has a new summer schedule for when we are open.
Due to the high demand for our one-on-one tutorials we have been so busy helping you all with your biking needs that we haven't been able to get all of our semester check-out bikes out to all the folks who have signed up for one. So we will be closed on Wednesdays for the month of June. If you have a biketastic emergency hit up one of the shops in town and they can help you get your ride up and running, or you can just wait till we are open on Thursday.
Our business hours are as follows 9-5 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Stop by any time during those hours and we will welcome you with open arms, give you a pat on the bike, and help you with whatever your bike problem is.
If you are wondering what kinds of great educational classes and bike rides we will have this summer check back next week and we will have our class schedule up. We hope you all are having a great summer and that you were able to stop by the Cache Valley Bike Festival last month. It was a lot of fun and a success. We will have pictures up soon. Ride on....

Cache Valley Bike Riders: Your Input is Needed! Read Bellow For Details...

Logan Mayor Randy Watts announced during bike to work week that this summer (2009) the street department would not be doing any chip-sealing. Instead, they would work on repair of pavement defects, especially those that are hazardous to local cyclists. So, I am accumulating suggested hazards in need of repairs. The Public Works Director told me that if we cyclists came up with a "top 50" list, he could probably get them all taken care of. I'm sure that the first priority would be the newly designated linkage routes between downtown and campus, but other hazards, whether they are on designated routes or not could be included.

If you have a favorite pavement defect in Logan that you'd like to see fixed, please send the location and description to me at Bob.Bayn@usu.eduBob.Bayn@usu.edu> and I'll add it to the list I'm building at
https://spaces.usu.edu/display/~A00017343/Pavement+Hazards+for+Bicyclists
You can spread the word to other cyclists. I'll include favorites from anybody on a bike.

Sorry, this offer doesn't apply outside of Logan City Limits. But you can always call the other towns or county to report any pavement hazards in their jurisdiction. Be sure to tell them that Logan is fixing a bunch. ;-)

Eventually I hope and expect to have something more structured and automated online to collect this sort of information, but this will do for now to be sure that we get attention this summer to the pavement defects that are most important to the bicyclists already leading the way to more sustainable transportation in Logan and Cache Valley.

It is bike month in Cache Valley!

With spring semester over and check outs already starting for our summer bikes things have been crazy here at blue bikes but still as fun as ever, especially since bike month is here!
So whats the deal with bike month? Easy, we are encouraging people to take the month of May and start riding their bikes everywhere they go. Not just to exercise but to ride bikes to work, the store, picking up groceries, and picnics too. We want more people to ride bikes and to see how great it is when you ride a bike. To ease everyone into bike riding we have set up a series of events all through May so everyone has a chance to experience bikes in a whole new way.

Our first bike activity is over, the bike band Shake Your Peace came and played Monday at USU and Tuesday at Logan high as part of their Utopia tour. They shook our peaces and we were happy to be apart of such a great thing. If you are interested in their music check out their website by clicking here

Our next activity is the Cache Valley Bike Festival on May 16 at Merlin Olsen Park from 9-2pm. This is a great opportunity for everyone to learn about biking in every form and listen to great live music. In addition to the educational classes we will also have friendly bike competitions and a HUGE raffle for all kinds of gear, gift certificates and a commuter bike. There will also be an opportunity for boy scouts to work on their cycling merit badge.

May 22-23 is the bike tour to Maple Grove hot springs. The tour is 50 miles each way and is a scenic ride through northern Utah. The cost is $25 and includes the soaking fee for the hot springs and three meals. A SAG wagon will be provided so that bikers don't have to carry their gear and will have a place to refill on water and sustenance. There are only 10 spots available so come in soon!

May 29 is bike movie night at the shop at 7:30. Come and watch the cycling classic Breaking Away. Bring friends and family.

If you have any questions about any of the events call us at 435-797-0964 ext.3

See ya on the road!

FESTIVALS, BIKES, PA SYSTEMS, OH MY!

Good news here at Aggie Blue Bikes, Our Pedal Power PA system is working! It has had two big trial runs at events here in Logan and works like a champ (as long as there is no bio crank involved). If you want to see it in action in the next few weeks come to the "Bike for Music" concert on May 4 at the USU Amphitheater on Old Main Hill. Shake your Peace, a bike touring band, will be playing at this all green, zero carbon show that is FREE. If you want, you can also join us on the group ride before the show.It is just a casual thing so don't worry, you can leave your spandex and Gatorade at home. ;)

We are really excited that it is almost May.Why? Because May is national bike month and we have LOADS of activities planned. The Shake You Peace show, The Cache Valley Bike Festival (BIG DEAL PEOPLE! COME OUT AND REP YOUR BIKE!), and a bike tour at the end of May to Maple Grove Hot Springs. For more details on any of these activities come into Aggie Blue Bikes and pay us a visit, we love to see new and old faces

With spring finally here we hope that you are all out riding your bikes and having a good time. Remember, Aggie Blue Bikes is always here for your bicycling needs.

Good news, good vibes, good bike rides

It has been forever since we last posted, things have been very busy in the shop. Even with the passing of the students fee, which means Aggie Blue Bikes is here forever, we haven't stopped running to keep up with the demand that the we are seeing for our time (not to brag or anything). It seems that with all the advertising and press we have received our usage doubled what it was for all of last spring semester is just early March. We are seeing our numbers climb and this makes us happier than a Tour De France winner. Bikes check-out is steady and even with the frigged weather people are still in wrenching away on their bikes.
Educational classes are also going well. Ladies Night is a hit and we would love to see more ladies in the shop for April's Ladies Night class.
Next week is our Bike Movie Night. We are showing the cycling classic "Breaking Away". Breaking Away is a 1979 coming of age film that tells the story of four teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana who have graduated from high school and are not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry. It won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The movie is showing April 2 in our shop between the military science building and the Field House at 7pm. Bring a friend, room mate, significant other, or your bike. Hope to see you all there!