AnnArbor.Com has two articles on cycling in the Ann Arbor Community that might interest you:

• Plans in the works for a new Saline to Ann Arbor Bike Path: If you live in Saline and would bike to work if it didn’t feel so dangerous, you may be in luck.  There are plans to build a pedestrian and bike path that would span Textile and Lohr roads from Saline to Ann Arbor, “nearly” connecting the two cities.  Read more here.
• Bicyclists and Drivers sharing the road: In many parts of Ann Arbor, bikes and cars share the road together.  As the weather warms up, expect to see a lot more cyclists out there.  Semper Cop Rich Kinsey lays out some rules of the road that both parties should follow.  Read more here.

In the spirit of Google Maps now having bike directions I thought I’d create a Google Map with some suggested bike routes to downtown Ann Arbor.  You can view the bike routes here.

Suggestions for bike routes to add?  Email us info@getdowntown.org

This just in: now when you search for directions in Ann Arbor on Google Maps you can choose to see suggested bike routes!  This is great.

I did see what it might say for my normal bike commute, and it was pretty good.  I come from the West Side and normally bike on Washington, which is the first suggested route it gave me.  However, what Google doesn’t know is that there are some non-motorized paths I take that make the trip a little nicer for me.  Still, it’s really cool that these directions are now available.

The past two days in Ann Arbor have been a great reminder that the winter doesn’t last forever around here.

If you are a downtown employee, you might be considering dusting off your bike, filling up the tires and getting some exercise on your way to work.

If you like to bike to work, or are considering it for the first time, here are some resources from getDowntown (and others) that can help you on your way:

• Guide to Bike Commuting in Ann Arbor: For a comprehensive overview of biking to work in downtown Ann Arbor, check out our Guide to Bike Commuting in Ann Arbor.
• Have a question about bike commuting to downtown? Ask getDowntown your Commuting Question.
• Bike info at getDowntown.org: Info on Bike Safety, Advocacy organizations and Bike Shops can be found on our website at getdowntown.org/bike.
• Need a Bike Map? Contact getDowntown and we can get one to you.  It’s $2 if you are not downtown, free if you work downtown.
• Request Bike Parking: The DDA has a new Bike Parking Request Form that let’s you tell them where you’d like to see more bike parking.

And Don’t Forget! Follow us on Twitter and become a Fan on Facebook to stay up to date!

FYI:

Want to get together with like minded folks to talk about issues related to biking and walking?  The WBWC is planning to have periodic social gatherings in various places and times to let people get together to talk about issues that concern them and help them find ways to work to improve those conditions if so inclined.

Or just show up to talk about issues of the day, such as sidewalk snow clearing, street maintenance, best routes for commuting from point A to B, recommendations for equipment, the list of possibilities is endless!  We will have at least one WBWC board member in attendance to help answer questions or provide information on projects we are working on.

To start off these meetings, we will have an informal gathering this Friday afternoon at 6pm at the Full Moon bar.  It is a smoke free location with inexpensive food, lots of beer selections, and quiet enough in the early evening to have decent conversations without yelling.  Look for the bike helmets and reflective vests.
Some of us should be there until at least 7:30pm, longer if good discussion is happening!

Full Moon is on Main Street between Liberty and Washington, used to be called the Monkey Bar.

We will try to give more notice before future get-togethers, we would like to have these happen every few weeks if people enjoy them.

Pete (WBWC Board Member)

if you find yourself biking, busing or walking in the wintertime, congratulations!  You, my friend, are a Winter Warrior.

Come celebrate your Winter Warrior-ness with other like-minded folks during Downtown Ann Arbor’s Winter Warrior event!

Winter Warrior will be happening on Saturday, Feb 6th from 12-6pm.

Restaurants and cafes will have outdoor seating and there will be discounts to downtown stores.  Restaurants and cafes will be bringing out their sidewalk furniture, and those guests who sit outside will enjoy specials such as $2 draught beers and $1 hot drinks (tea, coffee, soda, etc.).  Restaurants and cafes will be bringing out their sidewalk furniture, and those guests who sit outside will enjoy specials such as $2 draught beers and $1 hot drinks (tea, coffee, soda, etc.). All you have to do is grab a drink, get your receipt stickered and then visit one of the following stores for your discount.  These stores should have balloons outside them to let you know they are participating.

Winter Warrior Discounts:

Here is a list of our participating retailers and the discounts they are offering:

Salon XL – 20% off products
Moosejaw – 20% off any one, regular priced item
Salon Vox – 20% off products
Schakolad – discounts on hot drinks and prebooked Valentine’s orders
Sole Sisters – an additional 10% off sale items, 15% off regularly priced items.
Cupcake Station – free regular coffee with a $2 purchase
Crazy Wisdom – 15% off one item
Acme Mercantile – 20% off regularly priced merchandise (Saturday Only)
Elmo’s T-Shirts – a FREE Michigan bumper sticker($4.95 value) with the purchase of any t-shirt at regular price (not already on sale) and a FREE tin lunch box ($9.95 value) with the purchase of a second t-shirt. 1 shirt, 1 sticker . 2 shirts, sticker and lunch box, a $14.90 value. Saturday and Sunday, Feb.6,7
Carillon Chocolates – BOGO ice cream cones or BOGO coffee (Saturday & Sunday)
Ann Arbor Art Center – 10% off in gift shop, 20% off for members

Also, there will be on-street bike parking in front of Mighty Good Coffee and Schakolad!

In the olden days, if you had a suggestion for bike parking in downtown Ann Arbor, it wasn’t very easy to figure out how to get that request considered.   Starting today, the DDA is making is easier for anyone to request bike parking downtown.  The DDA now has an online bicycle parking request form.

According to the DDA, you can use this form for the following reasons:

If you know of a downtown location that could benefit from additional bicycle parking, you have noticed a hoop in need of repair, or an abandoned bicycle – we want to hear from you. Please use the following form to make requests related to bicycle parking in the DDA area.

So consider yourself empowered to request more downtown bike parking.

Click here to check out the bicycle parking request form.

AnnArbor.com recently noted that Major Hieftje is considering a proposal to ban bikes on downtown Ann Arbor sidewalks.   The 70 some comments after the article show that this truly a topic worthy of discussion.

This is an interesting issue–no one wants to be run over by bikes when walking down the street, and there are quite a few places in downtown where you can’t see around corners, making bike and pedestrian crashes more likely (heck, I was walking around a corner at Main and Huron the other day and crashed into a pedestrian!).

Of course, the issue of banning bikes on sidewalks brings up the perpetual question of how best to solve social problems.  I think the Mayor is doing the right thing bringing a lot of people together to talk about this, including the DDA and the City’s Alternative Transportation Committee.

The question I have is, why are people biking on sidewalks to begin with?  Some of the reasons I have heard is that people don’t feel comfortable biking on the street and think the sidewalk is safer.  For others, it’s just faster to use the sidewalk than the street because you don’t have to deal with cars and traffic lights (I am not immune to this temptation–there have been times when I have ridden my bike on a one way street rather than taking the time to ride on the street to get going in the right direction).

Why else might people ride on sidewalks?  Because bike parking is located there?  Because they won’t get in trouble?  Because they want to do what is easiest for them rather than what is best for everyone?  The answers to these questions require different approaches–some punitive, some cultural.

Again, this brings up the issue of where bikes belong in Ann Arbor.  Where is their place and how do we show people where it is ok to ride your bike and where it isn’t?  And how do you deal with the fact that we have so much turnover of students?  A ban on riding bikes on the sidewalks could solve some of these issues, but what about the others?

As you can see, I have a lot more questions that I do answers.  I applaud the Mayor for bringing this issue up and will be interested to see where it goes.

Are you a winter cycling warrior?  Then snap a picture of yourself and send it to DC Streetsblog so they can put it in the slideshow.  All of the details are here: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/01/06/biking-the-freeze-where-you-live/

Here’s a short little podcast with some Winter Bike Commuting tips from Vermont Public Radio.

And for those of you in Ann Arbor who Commute by Bike through the winter, don’t forget to participate in Wheels in Motion’s Winter Commuter Challenge.