Monday, June 27, 2011

Bike Night: Red, White & You!



Greetings,
It must be summer because there's a LOT going on in Old Town this week.

First lets jump ahead to Wednesday. Bike Night will meet at 6:30 at Roosevelt Park in front of the Senior Center - 910 Longs Peak Avenue. This week's theme will be Red, White & Blue, because it's the Fourth of July and all.

We're sticking to the Old Town as most of the Greenway underpasses are under water.

So please join us. Like I've said before - Bring a friend, Tell a stranger, and we'll see you at Bike NIght on Wednesday.

If you're looking for more to do this holiday week here's a run down of things I'm into:

Tuesday - Concerts at Roosevelt Park, Kutandara will play. They are described as fusing ancient African music traditions with Latin, jazz, gospel, classical, and world folk influences.

Wednesday - Bike Night! But you already knew that...

Thursday - Morning Concerts at the Library - 10:15 to 11am. Get your Kilt and the family plaid and enjoy some Celtic Music

Friday Night - Ride your bike to the Downtown 4th Avenue Concert Series. We'll be rockin' the Bike Valet. This weeks band is "The Receders" described as playing Funk -Jazz - R&B. Should be a good time. If not - Lefthand and Oskar Blues Brewing will be there. Which, reminds me of a friend's college band - the bass drum had a message for listeners - "the more you drink, the better we sound". Which reminds me of a saying my Great Grandmother told me - "Everything in moderation, Ryan J."


Sage advice.

Fourth of July don't forget to dust off the picnic basket you got at your wedding and bring the family to Thompson Park for the Longmont Symphony. Nothing like 76 Trombones under the elms.

Have a great week -
Ryan

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fantastic Bike Night

Lastnight we had an amazing turnout for our post Bike to Work Bike NIght. Counts ranged between 144 & 150. Either way a lot of Longmonters went for a ride. We had a special surprise lastnight when the City of Longmont Police Volunteers showed up riding their mountain bikes, plus the Longmont Emergency Unit was back too. It was great having these teams of people helping out.

Thank you.

Like I said we had a great turnout. Next week, should the flood waters subside, we will tour the St. Vrain Greenway and Golden Ponds. So until then - tell a stranger bring a friend to Bike Night next week.

See you at the Farmers Market or Downtown Concert Series.

RJ

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Last Minute Theme:

Wear your G'Knight T-Shirt- Woohoo!

Ryan

Bike Night Tonight! 6:30p

Happy Bike To Work Day,

Anna and I are readying ourselves for our big commute downtown Longmont for PANCAKES!

I hope everyone can get out and ride today. Bike Night tonight will meet tonight at 6:30p and get rolling about 6:40. We will stay in Old Town.

See you tonight and enjoy Bike To Work Day!

Ryan

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Thank you!

Awesome! I think that word is used far to often for far to many insignificant situations. However, the G'Knight Ride on Saturday night was, truly, awesome. Or, for all of us who remember "Valley Girl" - totally awesome!

From the organizers to the volunteers to the sponsors to all of you, THANK YOU!

More later, I'm a bit exhausted and there's only three days til "Bike Night!".

Thanks for the love.

Ryan

Thursday, June 16, 2011

T-Minus......

Hey all,

G'Knight kicks off in less than 48 hours. Can you dig it?

We had an excellent turnout tonight for packet pickup - over 250 folks nabbed their registration bags tonight. Tomorrow we'll be hanging out at Oskar Blues on S. Hover Street 1555 between 11 & 1pm. Drop by and pick up yours, then.

I had a great day nailing down the details for the ride on Saturday. I think you're gonna have a great time. We're really shaping things up and pulling things together. Looks like we'll have a few neighborhood parties going on, and we're going to have a lot of fun and energetic marshals rocking the corners!

Tonight we had our volunteer meeting at Oskar Blues. I am impressed with the number of folks interested in marshaling and generally helping out. If you're interested in volunteering drop in to OB Liquid & Solids tomorrow between 11 & 1p. We'll hook you up.



Lastly - Bike Night on Wednesday rocked. We had nearly or maybe a little over 150 riders. Great turn out. Wednesday was the first night we ventured to the Greenway. We are pleased to report no flooding. If you haven't joined us for Bike Night yet this year or you've taken a few years off, join us next week when we return to 6:30p. Also - July is coming that means theme nights so get your requests in early.

The first will be "Favorite Children's Book" come dressed as your favorite story book character.

See you this weekend and if not then, then definitely on Wednesday.

Happy Fathers Day and to all the mom's congratulations on enduring your dudes.

Ryan

Monday, June 13, 2011

New Promo for Bike NIght

Longmont's Channel 8 has a new TV show they're broadcasting, Around Town. Check out the latest episode here. Josh and the guys at Channel 8 tagged along with Bike NIght a few weeks ago and shot some footage. BIke Night kicks in at 5 minutes, 29 seconds.

Enjoy!

See you tomorrow night at 7pm. If you've got friends who commute home later, let them know. We're starting late to let them catch up with us!

Our route tomorrow will go to the Greenways. I'll check in the afternoon for flooding, if the Mighty St. Vrain runneth over, we will be back in Old Town.

One thing to do with your kids between now and then is make sure they know how to use their brakes. We will tackle the Bowen Hill. Don't worry we'll rock Martin Street back into Old Town. We will pass by the Lefthand. Feel free to stop, I will lead the remaining group back to Old Town.

See you Wednesday.
Ryan

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Wednesday - 7pm & Latest on the G'Knight Ride

Don't forget, Bike Night will start at 7pm this Wednesday and we'll be rockin' the St. Vrain Greenway. Should be a lot of fun.

Also - We surpassed the 400 mark on the G'Knight ride with a week to go. Are you registered? If not get in gear.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

See you Wednesday!

Ryan

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Bike Night Sets New Firsts



Lastnight was a night of firsts for Bike Night.

Until this week I had never thought anyone would be married on Bike Night. I was honored when Randy Burgess and Libby Taylor asked me to “officiate” their wedding. Randy & Libby were officially married earlier, however their love for eachother, biking and Bike Night lead them to renew their vows publicly.

Congratulations to Libby and Randy - may you ride many miles together!



Last night beat our biggest ride ever. The largest ride prior to lastnight was 110, on the same night one year ago.

Will it be the same next week? I hope so!



Next week the ride will start at 7pm. This is to let those folks who commute home have a chance to get to the ride. Our next 7pm ride will be July 20th. If you have friends or co-workers who can’t make 6:30p let them know we’ll meet at 7pm, start at 7:15, and will be going to the St.Vrain Greenway – unless it’s flooding.

Thanks for a great week, see you next Wednesday at 7pm. I see you on the greenways, at the Farmer’s Market or around town first!



Don’t forget to register for the G’Knight Ride, too! I’m excited that such an amazing event is coming to fruition. Check out www.gknightride.org for more information!

Hasta!
Ryan

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Wednesday Bike Night - Theme: Black & White

Happy Sunday!

What a weekend - finally - the first "Warm" almost down right hot weekend. Summertime for sure. Let the DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince play!

Speaking of all things Jazzy & Fresh - Bike NIght will be back on Wednesday. Something special is going to happen this week. So, please, wear black and/or white. It's gonna be cool!

It's been a heck-uva-week. I spent Thursday cruising the streets of Boulder. Riding the Boulder Cruiser ride was a lot of fun and somewhat intimidating. I hadn't ridden with them since we raised money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

I heard from multiple cruisers they'd heard of Longmont Bike Night and were impressed with the cycling options we had here. Several people were there who were regulars with the Boulder ride and had done our ride, told me they said Longmont's ride reminded them of Boulder's ride in the '90's prior to it's explosive growth.

Boulder now draws nearly 500 riders, regularly. From a ride leader's perspective it was interesting to see how 500 people can move organically through a city like Boulder. It's really something to behold. I encourage you to check it out.

Both are very fun, but in different ways.

The most interesting thing i witnessed was the "Rave in a Box". Something to behold, for sure.

Congrats to the folks who make Boulder's Ride very unique, and very Boulder.

Ryan

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Times Call Article - G'Knight Ride, too

G'Morn!

There is a great article in the Times Call. The article covers the excellent turn out last night.

I hope everyone had a good time. I wanted to take a minute and give a shameless plug to the G'Knight Ride.

What are you doing on June 18th? Those of you with fathers in the household, what are you doing for Dad on Fathers Day weekend? Another tie? Grilling on the patio? Nascar?

Might I suggest - Bikes, Live Music and Beer? Trifecta - I think so.

Bicycle Longmont and Oskar Blues present the first annual G'Knight Ride. There will be two routes that will begin and end in Prospect. The first is a short 3 mile loop, ideal for the younger riders, relatively flat, and scenic. The longer route is 10 miles and will loop around South Longmont to the Historic Eastside Neighborhood, Downtown and to the Westside neighborhood, then back to Prospect.

We will have family friendly events between 4pm & 6pm. The first waves of the cruiser ride will depart at 6pm. The bands will hit the stage at 7:30pm and continue until 11p. Oskar Blues will open the beer garden around 6:30pm. Food will be available at Prospect businesses and the Denver/Boulder Gourmet Trucks will be there, too.

How much does it cost? Well, comparable rides require upwards to a $35 for registration. We're not. Our registration is $10 for individuals and $25 for families. The day of the event these prices will increase.

Learn more by going to the G'Knight Ride website. Or you can go directly to Active.com to register.

Have you already registered? Great! Tell a friend!

Proceeds from the G'Knight Ride will go to benefit the programs of Bicycle Longmont.

Ryan

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

107! Tied 6/2/2010

Well we finished the first Old Town Century, tonight - We had approximately 107 people travel 6.4 miles - that's 642 miles, so we made it to somewhere in IA or Jackson Hole - take your pick.

Point is we had fun! Lots of first timers came out, again, tonight. I hope to see you all back out there again next week.

I want to congratulate Kelly Sanseverino on winning the one hour massage by Ms. Pati Walker, Thanks to Pati for giving BN the gift certificate! Look forward to another in July and August. I forgot to mention Bicycle Longmont members get special pricing, too.

One last thing - we're three weeks from the G'Knight Ride - if you liked our ride tonight imagine doing it with 500 others! You can find more information at the G'Knight Ride website. Registration is $10 or $25 for a family. This event will be a lot of fun for the whole family especially, Dad on Dad's day weekend. I'm just sayin'. If you're thinking about going please register soon. Thanks!

Also, don't forget to pick up your copy of the TImes-Call tomorrow, should be a good story in the paper, too!

Did I mention we had 107ish people? Nice.

Until later,

rjk

Kids Bike Safety Class, Massage, & Coolest Bike


Seems like a random title, right?

Just a quick reminder - Tonight is our Kid's Bike Safety Class. The class will be held at Central Elementary School at 4:30pm. We'll be in the activity field behind Central Elementary. You can access the field off of 5th Avenue. The class will end around 6pm. So bring a camera, your bike, your kid's bike, helmet and a snack. See you this afternoon.

Also tonight the adult with the coolest bike will get a gift certificate for a free massage! So do what you can to decorate/pimp/trick out your ride. The kids will be on the prowl, choosing the coolest ride.

Thanks to Pati Walker for the gift certificate. We will give away a massage certificate once a month!

Take Care - see you in a few!