Category > I've Got A Bike, You Can Ride It If You Like
(Ed. note: this is a condensed version of Joel's experiences at Bike!Bike! For the full report, visit the Bike Project's blog.) Bike!Bike! is an annual conference of community-oriented bicycle cooperative shops. The location rotates from year to year; last year, I went to Minneapolis to attend, and this year it was held in Toronto. CITY COMMENTS Toronto is fairly "bike-friendly" just because of the sheer number of bikes that are used for transportation, but its bike infrastructure is nearly non-existant. …
Each of the next three weekends each have an exceptional local ride to give you an excuse to get your bike out of the garage (or the spare bedroom, or the pawnshop...), so give it a shot. Sunday, August 8: Dan Schreiber Memorial Ride Departing from the Bike Project at 4 p.m. Ride to Prairie Fruits Farm for a memorial service and return (total distance approximately 10 miles). From the Facebook invite: Many of us have ridden with Dan, and …
Have you ever been slightly saddened to see an overgrown, untended fruit tree dropping its half-rotted, bird-ravaged wares onto the ground? Have you wished that if people knew where publicly-available fruit was located, everyone could share in the harvest? If so, you might want to check out this Saturday's Tour de Fruit, which will "educate people about food in season in their community that's free," according to organizer Maggie Taylor. The Tour de Fruit will depart from The Bike Project, …
As electric-assist bicycles are becoming more common and reliable (and less expensive — heck, Wal-Mart has one for $279), it's becoming easier to make that cross-country trek you've always dreamed about. Brother and sister duo Oliver and Catherine Bock (pictured above) dubbed themselves the Green Riders and left their childhood home of Palo Alto, Calif., on April 22 with the goal of traveling to Washington, D.C. by June 22. You can see their route here and track their progress through …
It only took one year for the annual bicycle racing event formerly known as the Tour de Champaign to expand to Urbana, as well. The newly-christened Tour de C-U takes place this Saturday at the Research Park and Sunday in Downtown Urbana. You can download a pdf of the race flyer here and view the full schedule here. There's no cost to attend the event, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with kids' races and continue through Sunday at …
On Wednesday, May 19, at 7 p.m., a group of cyclists will depart from a parking lot at the junction of First Street and St. Mary's Road in Champaign. They'll make a silent loop through downtown Champaign and downtown Urbana, paying quiet respect to those who've been injured or killed while on a bicycle. Anyone is invited to participate in this Ride of Silence, which will cover about five and a half miles. No one will get left behind, as …
At tonight's Urbana City Council meeting, years of planning and contentious debate will culminate in a discussion of the Main Street Traffic Plan. The City of Urbana is recommending that traffic be calmed in a three-block section of Main Street from Vine to Race by adding bike lanes and reducing automobile traffic to three lanes. This plan is opposed by a group of downtown businesses led by Cinema Gallery owner Carolyn Baxley. Advocates for both parties have been rallying support …
A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed several non-bike commuters who are going to give C-U Bike to Work Day a shot on May 4. C-U Bike to Work Day is coming up next Tuesday, so be sure to register if you haven't already. The last Bike Commuting 101 class is tonight (Thursday) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Durst Cycle and Fitness, located at 1112 W. University Ave. in Urbana. If you feel uncomfortable with the laws, or anything …
It sure would be nice if everyone would at least give bike commuting a try, and that's where C-U Bike to Work Day comes in. The actual event is Tuesday, May 4 (if you're planning to participate, register here), and you can get refreshments and win prizes on your morning commute at Bike Stations located around C-U. There are three "Bike Commuting 101" workshops in advance, the first of which is tonight at The Bike Project: Tuesday, April 13, 6:30 …
The concept of bike sharing is attractive to most folks. Who wouldn't want to be able to check out a bike from a conveniently-located kiosk, ride it to where they need to go, and check it back in at their destination? However, the logistics of bike sharing on a large scale can be more tricky. The most well-known worldwide effort is Paris' Velib, while there have been domestic attempts in Minneapolis, Denver (check out the slick Bcycle video below), Washington, …
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Bobo was amazing; she threaded right through opponents in front of her like they weren’t there. I think the bout could have easily gone the other way if she hadn’t been skating for the Dames.
OHNO BOBO definitely made her mark with the Damgin’ Dames!! Great bout Friday night at Savoy Rec Center!!! TCDG is doing a great job bringing Flat Track Derby to the area! Keep up the good work and the crowds will come!
Mark, your first paragraph is mostly wrong. The second paragraph is true, though. Hulten has been a conflict of interest from Day One. The Champaign City Council made a big mistake in appointing him. The other two candidates were a lot better, a lot more intelligent, and far less biased.
I regularly commented at IP.com several moons ago, and I didn’t get the same impression of Gordy Hulten as the commenter above. While there were times when his conservative bias incapacitated his reading comprehension skills, for the most part he was a patient and kind moderator who…
“Glock 21, an IlliniPundit regular has described the new incarnation of the site as “dead blog walking”.“ Glock21 is an example of “brain-dead man walking.“ “The site had its strengths and weaknesses ...“ Mostly weaknesses, though. The main strength was tipping us off there are many, many…
Glock 21, an IlliniPundit regular has described the new incarnation of the site as “dead blog walking”. The activity and updates have come to a stand still. The site had its strengths and weaknesses, but was a good barometer of what the landed gentry were thinking. They…
If you liked last week’s SameSexSunday—you’ll love this week’s! http://bit.ly/91zLi0
“ChampaignPundit” is a pretty broken site—effectively, you can’t sign up for an account, because there’s no way to specify or change a password. That means you either do the email “reset my password” thing to get a temporary password every time you want to make a comment,…
I think the nutballs knew that all their crazy theories would be accepted and embraced. That parade argument was a great example. Never mind that unsafe conditions created a hazard to participants and bystanders—IT WAS A TERRIBLE DECISION TO CANCEL IT!@!!!!!!! Or at least that’s what the…
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Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.
Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is. But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…
Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…
I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get. I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library. None of those activities…
These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…
(speaking as a Savoy resident) By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc. This is how library systems work. The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…
I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?
Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…
And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.
The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.
What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
Thanks for the article, Ben. I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar. A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…
Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.
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I’ll agree that Gordy tolerated a lot of crap, but his patience wasn’t infinite—hence the banning of the nutcase übertea Wayne Johnson, exactly the kind of guy who gives libertarians the reputation for droolin’ batshittery they have. Gordy was also unwilling to pretend that gaybaiting was a…