Get on your bikes and ride! There are SO many options for getting out and pedaling this year. This resource is a start, and we’ll keep the Google Calendar as close to accurate as we can.

Here’s the preview:

April 29 – Panaderia Ride 11am @ Capitol South Steps

April 30 – Cyclovia @ Crestview Shelter House
Neighborhood Bike Party & Trail Ride 1-4pm

May 17 – Bike with the Mayor and the City Manager
Time/Location TBD

May 19 – National Bike to Work Day
Bike Commuter Breakfast at the Big Train near the KS Expocentre on the Shunga Trail

May 21 – Fancy Ride
Mmeet at Washburn University Bell Tower at 2pm

May 26 – Taco Ride at 6pm

May 28 – Cyclovia @ Chesney Park
Neighborhood Bike Party & Trail Ride 1-4pm

June 11 – Cyclovia @ Oakland Santa Fe Park
Neighborhood Bike Party & Trail Ride 1-4pm

June 16 – Taco Ride at 6pm, meet at south Capitol steps

June 23/24 or 24/25 – Swift Campout – TBD
Sub-24-hour Overnight Bike Camping trip for Summer Solstice
interested parties email info@biketopeka.com

July 12 – Fiesta Mexicana Ride
Meet at 6pm at Brown vs. Board National Historic Site

July 16 – Cyclovia @ Rice Community Center, East Topeka
Neighborhood Bike Party & Trail Ride 1-4pm

August 11,12,13 – Cyclovia Topeka!
Downtown Bike Party all weekend
Friday, Aug. 11 – Glow Ride, 9pm at south Capitol steps
Saturday, Aug. 12 – 7am-2pm Rides & fun races all day
Sunday, Aug. 13 – 8am leisure ride through Shawnee County

September 16 – Topeka Mural Tour – TBD

September TBD – WU Glow Ride

October TBD – Harvest Ride
Wheel Barrell in NOTO to Ree’s Fruit Farm

November 19 – Cranksgiving
2-4pm meet at Burger Stand

November 25 – Miracle on KS Ave. Parade
6pm at 2nd & Kansas Ave.

December TBD – Winter Wonderland at Lake Shawnee

Saturday is Topeka’s annual St. Patrick’s ‘Day’ Parade! Bikes will be well represented this year, with about a half dozen crews rolling along.

The lineup starts at 10am at 4th & Kansas… so if you’re a late starter, plan to look for bikes around 2nd & Kansas at 11am or later. We’ll save you a spot.

The ride is pretty slow, and lasts a couple hours. Bring water and maybe a snack. And wear green & decorate your bike!

Is that the sound of a bike bell ringing? Or the sound of sweet success?

Three victories to celebrate this week:

First, the League of American Bicyclists awarded Topeka with Bronze status as a Bicycle-Friendly Community. Not too shabby. Ding!

Next, local cyclists fully funded the purchase of the C3FT device to help enforce the three-foot law. Ding!

Finally, it’s Bike to Work Week! Ding! Last night was the Ride of Silence, with 50+ riders, including the Chief of Police. It also opened up some critical dialogue about the statewide three-foot law with the Sheriff. Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones has failed to charge the motorist who recently struck and seriously injured local rider Paul Engler. That conversation continues.

One last note, tomorrow (and also every day) is Bike to Work Day.. make it count!

The Topeka Community Cycle Project and the Topeka Police Department are teaming up to buy a “3-ft device” to measure how close a car passes a bicycle. The device will be used to help enforce the Kansas law that requires motorists to give at least three feet of clearance when passing cyclists.

But they can’t do it alone! Can you help the campaign? The device costs about $2000, and once purchased, the Police have offered to use it in enforcement at least once a year.

Designed and manufactured by Codaxus of Austin Texas, the C3FT registers the 3 foot violation, indicates the distance the car is passing, in inches, and is recording this information the whole time with a HERO 4 GoPro Silver. The device has been used with great success for almost a year now by Officer Robert Simmons of the Chattanooga Police Department. “Our primary goal is not to write citations; our primary goal is education, [and] behavior modifications,” states Simmons.

Campaign contributors will have the benefit of knowing that they are contributing to safer streets here in Topeka – educating riders and drivers, and preventing collisions. Contribute to the GoFundme campaign now to help purchase a C3FT for Topeka.

It’s Friday and Topeka is crushing it in the biking and walking game lately, so some shoutouts are due.

First: Topeka Planning Department.

Bikeways Plan is happening, being implemented, and we have tons of sharrows and bike lanes on the road now. The City put out a great video on rules of the road to go along with these efforts.

Pedestrian Plan was approved and passed through City Council and will be implemented over the next ten years. (Only a few decades overdue, but hey, it was recognized as a problem and is being addressed.)

Sharrow on SW 4th St. looking west.

Honorable mention to the Planning Department’s “Land Use and Growth Management Plan 2040” which was also finished within the last year. It’s a toned-down version of Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary. (Basically, the further you spread out your city, the harder it is to maintain your infrastructure.)

Next: Visit Topeka, Inc.

They’ve taken the reins to host a Cyclovia (bike fest) this summer, a bike party for all!

Finally: Topeka Metro Bikes

Well, this one should be obvious. Metro launched the first bikeshare in the state of Kansas a year ago today. A year later and no other city has jumped into the game – and in two weeks the TMB system doubles to 200 bikes! Eat our dust, Wichita! 😉

Kansas is in the same boat. We can’t maintain all that we currently have. In no way should we be considering building more.

The state’s top transportation official, Paul Trombino, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, has been candid in his assessment of the road system here.

Source: Iowa DOT Director: State’s road system will shrink | The Gazette