October 15-17, 2015
UNCC Center City, Uptown Charlotte.
Please save the date for the next Bike Summit! Planning is well underway.
Tour De Fat
Bikes, Beer, and Bemusement! Music, bike parade, beer and food sales.
June 20, 2015
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Diamond View Park @ American Tobacco Complex, Durham, NC
Schedule:
10 a.m. – Parade Registration
11 a.m. – Bike Parade Launch
12 p.m. – Best costumes of TdF show
Printable poster in PDF format: Tour de Fat 2015
Executive Director Appointed
BikeWalk North Carolina (BWNC) is most pleased to announce the selection of its first Executive Director, Lisa Diaz Riegel, a graduate of Duke University and resident of the Town of Cary. Ms. Riegel competed against stiff competition in a national search, but her track record in North Carolina was the decisive factor in her unanimous selection by the BWNC Board of Directors.
For nine years, Ms. Riegel served as Executive Director of the Natural Heritage Trust Fund, a grant program housed in the Secretary’s Office of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). In that role she interfaced with four state agencies and numerous non-profit organizations as they worked to identify and conserve the state’s most important natural and cultural assets. As DENR’s Interagency Sustainability Coordinator, she served on many collaborative efforts such as the steering committee for NC Department of Transportation’s statewide pedestrian and bicycle plan. As an appointed member of NC’s Climate Action Plan Advisory Group (2006-2008) she led the Transportation and Land-Use Work Group’s transit-oriented development mitigation option. In 2011 she chaired the work group looking at how the built environment impacts health as part of the Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative with participation from the private sector, academia, non-profit organizations and government. Relationships built as DENR’s representative on regional planning and economic development efforts such as Piedmont Together, will continue to be important in her new role as we work to make sure that infrastructure in North Carolina is built to meet the needs of today and in the future.
Ms. Riegel is a proven collaborator and fundraiser; she is expected to raise the visibility of BikeWalk North Carolina and its message that bicycling and walking are essential to the future prosperity and quality of life in the Tar Heel state.
In Ms. Riegel’s own words: “Young and old alike want the option to walk and bike to work, school, and many other destinations. A growing number cannot afford car ownership. I’m excited to work with BikeWalk NC to help communities provide for safe, low-cost, healthy travel options and put less stress on our already over-burdened roads.”
Media Contact: Roger Henderson, President of BikeWalk North Carolina, president@bikewalknc.org
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REMINDER ! The 4th annual NC Bike Summit takes place in Charlotte NC, Oct.15-17 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte – Center City campus. BikeWalk NC is a major sponsor for this event. Registration and other information will be available via the BikeWalk NC website (www.bikewalknc.org) very soon!
Traffic Skills 101 certification
Traffic Bicycling for Transportation Professionals: An All-Day Intensive Workshop
Thursday October 9, 8am-5:30pm at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Oriented toward transportation engineers, planners, and police, but open to all adults, this on-bike training course presents an evidence-based concept of operations for safe, efficient, and lawful bicycle driving in urban traffic. Participants enhance their bike handling skills, increase their capability and confidence in real traffic, and improve their understanding of how state traffic laws support successful bicycling. Bicycle crash data and crash causality are examined. Implications for transportation planning, facility design and law enforcement are discussed. Students receive certification for completing League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101, a prerequisite for LCI certification. Total class time is 9 hours. Inexperienced bicyclists are welcome and encouraged to attend. Students must bring their own bicycle in good working order, a helmet, water bottle, and clothing comfortable for bicycling.
Instructor Steven Goodridge has been an avid commuting and recreational bicyclist for 30 years and is a League of American Bicyclists certified Master Instructor. As a board member of BikeWalk NC, Steven developed the Bicyclist Safety and Law Enforcement in-service training program used by police departments in North Carolina. In his day job, Steven develops forensic video technology for the law enforcement community.
Testimonials
“This course is a good starting point for transportation design professionals to actually understand what it is they’re designing for. Once cannot deliver a product without understanding the needs of the customer.” – Eric J. Lamb, PE, City of Raleigh Public Works Dept.
“As someone who has cycled for fun nearly all of my life, this class provided insight into utility cycling for transportation that has given me a new confidence to operate my bicycle as a vehicle. I particularly enjoyed the on-bike sessions and highly recommend this class to anyone interested in honing their cycling skills, learning about the rules of the road and experiencing on-road cycling the right way.” – Juliet Andes
“I appreciated the focus on road safety in traffic conditions. The messages that are reinforced through classroom exercises as well as on-road segments are worthwhile for bicyclists at any skill level. I have been riding a bicycle since I was a kid, but only recently have become interested in knowing more about “driving” a bicycle as a responsible operator on public streets, which I have been doing for several years now in Raleigh, North Carolina. I learned in the class that, while I am experienced and not fearful in traffic, I have some bad habits that I need to break, and that even a fairly experienced on-road bicyclist can still learn a surprising amount about control and proper positioning on the street to improve my skills and increase my safety factor in different situations.” – J. Scott Lane
Course Agenda
8:00-9:00 Classroom Session 1: Getting Started
Introduction to objectives and concepts
Bicycle equipment and fit
Lighting and visibility
ABC Quick Check
Starting, stopping, shifting
Looking back, signaling
Emergency handling skills
9:00-9:10 Break
9:10-10:50 On-Bike Session 1: Bike Handling (parking lot and quiet street)
10:50-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 Classroom Session 2: Bicycle Driving Fundamentals
Rules of the Road for Drivers
Special Considerations for Bicyclists
12:15- 1:15 Ride to Lunch
1:15-2:15 On-Bike Session 2: On the Road (two-lane 25 mph roads)
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30-3:30 Classroom Session 3: Dealing with Challenges
Crash data analysis, common crash types and causes
Traffic hazards, surface hazards, obstacles
Bike lanes and multi-use paths
Traffic signal detectors
3:30 – 4:45 On-Bike Session 3: Traffic Cycling and On-Road Testing
(busier, faster and multi-lane roads, various lane widths, turn lanes)
4:45-5:00 Break
5:00-5:30 Classroom – Written Test, Graduation, Course Evaluations
$50 fee, limit 30 participants
Register online at https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1579576
2014 NC Bike Summit in Greensboro October 10-12
NC Bike Summit registration is now open. Please use the link below to register online:
https://www.regonline.com/
Read the full agenda here.
The $100 registration fee covers three days of the NC Bike Summit — Friday 10/10 through Sunday 10/12.
There is an additional $50 fee for the optional 9 hour traffic skills workshop on Thursday 10/9; limit 30 participants max.
Optional beer tasting session on Friday afternoon is $10 per person; limit 40 participants max.
Questions? Please email NCBikeSummit@gmail.com.
