Bike Week= SUCCESS!

We want to start this blog off by thanking all of you who participated, spread the word, and were supporters of the first annual USU Bike Week. We also want to give a shout out to our sponsors, Caffe Ibis, Shaffer House Bakery, Paradise Valley Orchards, Sunrise Cyclery and the UCC.

With that being said, why was bike week so great? We were able to reach out to lots of people through each of our activities that we had throughout bike week.
Monday, the 19th, when we kicked off the week with our chain lube and bike adjustment station we were able spread the good word of Blue Bikes to the unbelievers and lube a couple chains while we were at it.
Tuesday was a great day to learn bike maintenance and we had a great turn out to our class that was taught by Sunrise Cyclery. If you missed this bike maintenance class but you are dieing to know how to fix your bike, worry not. We will have more of these classes coming up.
Our pedal powered concert went off with a few hitches, like our inverter in the pedal powered system kicking the bucket. But it wasn't long till we had a new inverter and we were up and running with audience members pedaling their way to slimmer bums and carbon free music.
Bike to Campus day was our biggest event and we had lots of participants. Einstein Bagel's gave us so many bagels we were afraid we wouldn't be able to give them all away. But alas, the number of people who showed up shocked us all and we were able to give away all the food that was donated by local businesses. We were also able to spread the good word our pedal powered music making machine.

It was inspiring to see so many people on bikes supporting the effort to clean up Cache Valley's air. Seeing students, faculty, men, woman, hipsters, commuters, jocks, preps, and people from pretty much every walk of life, was a great experience. Everyone has the potential to be a bike rider, it's not just one type of person, it is everyone. If every person changed their mind set just a little bit and said, "from now on I will ride my bike instead of driving to the gym" or, "I will ride my bike to the bus stop and take the bus, with my bike, up to campus.", or "I will walk to the store that is 4 blocks from my house, instead of driving there every time I need a jug of milk or a loaf of bread." or, "I will car pool to church, school, and if possible work."
Small changes make the biggest differences to future generations, our own lives, and maybe even our pocket books. There is a lot to be said for riding your bike, a lot that is good.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and contributed to the first annual bike week. We look forward to next years bike week, which will be bigger and better, no doubt about it.

check out our photos from the bicycle breakfast. All photos are courtesy of Caroline Shugart



















Local apples! They tasted so good! mmm...














Just a few folks enjoying bagels and such














Our boss Adam was pretty happy about the bagels.

Bike week October 19-23

It's almost here! We can feel it! The one week of two wheeled excitement and education! It's (drum roll please)... USU BIKE WEEK!!!!! So what exactly does bike week entail? Well, we are glad you asked.
Bike Week is the one week we triple our efforts to show why pedal power in all forms is so important to us and to air quality in Cache Valley. During this week we also strive to show students the importance of bike maintenance and riding bikes year round.
So this is what we have planned to make bike week phenomenal.


Monday- FREE chain lube station outside the TSC from 9-1 with carbon free tunes via our pedal power system.

Tuesday- Bike Maintenance class taught by Sunrise Cyclery. This is something you don't want to miss. One of the master mechanics at Sunrise cyclery will be teaching about basic bike maintenance and it's importance to you as a commuter.

Wednesday- Pedal Powered concert! 7pm, TSC auditorium, $3. We love music and bikes and when we get the chance to put the two together it is complete bliss. We have a killer line up for the night, Julia Mecham, Ryan Morse, and the Angels share will be playing on our Pedal Power PA system. FREE Hot Chocolate and Coffee if you bring your own cup. mmm....

Friday- BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY! We ride our bikes every day and we know you do too, but for the few that don't we have an insentive for you. We want to get as many people as we can on bikes for a day to feel the benefit of bike riding and for doing so we will give you a free breakfast. Yes, thats right. FREE FOOD. All you have to do is ride your bike by our feed station outside the TSC anytime from 7:30-11:00 and we will give you breakfast.

We hope to see you all at these killer activities. Bring your friends, your mom, your sister. Everyone is welcome to attend! Be there, you won't regret it.

Want to know what a pedal power PA system looks like? Check out the video below shot at the San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival.

USU Bike Week! Burn calories, not gas! October 19-23

First, we want to thank all of you who came to the Pedal Picnic last week. We had a really good turn out and great food was shared between everyone who came. We hope to see more of the same turn out at our future classes and events.
Also, much thanks to everyone who came to our Parts Garage Sale Fundraiser. We really appreciate the support that everyone has given us in helping keep Aggie Blue Bikes afloat.
Now to whats happening in October at Blue Bikes....
We are always looking at ways to keep people informed about bicycles and to teach the uninformed about why the bicycle is one of the best inventions for transportation. This year we are doing USU Bike Week,October 19-23, a whole week dedicated to informing students and employees of USU about what riding a bike can do for you, why bikes totally rock, and how they are changing our world everyday. Sound like fun? Yeah, we thought so too. We will be making pedal power PA systems and bike helmets part of everyday life, because to us, they are.
So keep your eyes pealed for what is going on and stop by the blog later this week for more details on whats up with bike week. Hope to see lots of you at our events either shakein' your peace at our pedal powered show or grabbing breakfast at our bike through Bike to school day book on October 23.

Don't Panic! It's a Pedal Picnic!

We've been hard at work here at Aggie Blue Bikes trying to deliver the best educational classes we can to our users. We know that learning how to fix your bike is just as important and learning how to have fun on your bike, so next week we are having our first ever Pedal Picnic.
So what is a pedal picnic? It is a simple equation really, you+your bike+ a picnic dinner+ tons of other bike riders= the pedal picnic. Everyone is invited, the more the merrier.
We will meet at Aggie Blue Bikes at 6 pm and ride to a near by park (most likely Lundstrom Park) where we will eat, talk about the bike community in Logan, and maybe play a little Ultimate Frisbee.
Don't be shy about coming. Even if you ride a huffy you are still welcome to come to the picnic. This is in no way an event that is focused around one kind of cycling, we want everyone there, fixed gears, scraper bikes and all.

Check out whats been keeping us wrenching in the shop these days. Does Logan have a future with one of these?

The Bicycle Cellar from on Vimeo.

Get Smart!...About Riding Your Bike

Bike riding is fun, lets be honest. You know it, we know it, it's a known fact. Bikes make riding to class fun, and easy. They also make going for ice cream and the store a good time. Feeling the wind in your hair and you cruise down the street is a great feeling.
On a bicycle life is slower and easier, but that doesn't mean danger isn't lurking. So what do we have to do to stay safe on our bikes and out of danger? Easy, follow the laws that have been institute for bicycle safety. On a small scale that means riding your bike like you were driving a car. It is a known fact that cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of motor vehicles. So if you want to be respected by motorists and seen as you are driving your bicycle, ride on the road, where you belong. I don't know the last time I saw a pedestrian going 15 mph down a side walk, which means you shouldn't either. You should be riding in the road.
We want to ensure that the community is well educated on the laws and ethics of bike riding so they can be productive members of society on the road and off.
To help you understand those laws we have two classes this month designed to keep you in the know about staying safe on the road.

Tonight we are having our first Ride Smart class at 6pm, right here in our shop.

If you can't make it tonight come to our class next Wednesday, September 9 at 6pm and learn the details of how to keep it real and ride responsibly.

First Class Next Wednesday!

So the semester has started and blue bikes is on its way to making sure you not only get educated in the class room but you get educated on bike safety at our shop. Our first class is Wednesday, September 2. This class will be taught by Bob Bayn, a League of American Cyclists Instructor and seasoned bicycle commuter.
The Ride Smart class will be approximately an hour and a half, starting at 6pm, and will cover the rules and laws of riding your bike. The class will take place in our shop and on the road so be sure to bring your bicycle with you so you can take the concepts taught in the class and put them to good use.
If you can't make it to the class this week be sure to come to Ride Smart part II next week. This is a great class for beginning bike commuters and experienced ones as well. It never hurts to brush up on your knowledge of road safety and your responsibilities as a cyclist on the road.
Hope to see you all there! For more details about the fall classes stop by our shop and find out whats going this month and in the upcoming months.

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!