STOLEN: Specialized Rock Hopper, red 18″ steel frame, smooth tread Continental “Avenue” front tire, “Town and Country” rear tire – both with tan sidewalls, Ritchey rims, amateur-made leather saddle and handlebar grips, “Eclipse” rear rack with single “Eclipse” red pannier bag (I have the other one). Frame serial number PX638729. Was locked onto bike rack in front of Catalina pool on Dodge (behind Catalina High School) and stolen on Friday, January 29, around noon. Cable lock was cut. “They” left the cable and my helmet. Tucson Police report #1001290371. Please call Kurt at 529-8707 or cell 269-8364 if found.

AND

STOLEN: GREEN SPECIALIZED P2 (UofA)

Friday the 29th of January, my Green Specialized P2 was stolen from a bike rack on the UofA campus. This bike doesn’t really have sentimental value or anything but I paid good cash for it and more than anything I want to find the spineless scumbag who stole it. Here are some of the specs:
-2005 Green P2
-White Geax Tires
-White Marzocchi Dirt Jumper fork
-Deity Accessories (Bar ends, Seat clamp)
-Hussefelt stem
-Truvative cranks
-Hayes 6in. disc brakes
If you have any information please call me, Alex, at (520) 909-6560. I am happy to reward those who can help me out.
Remember, there is no honor among thieves.
…

Check out this audio slide show I created from the UA Crit.

The final results should be posted on this page later tonight or tomorrow.

Ian posted this link http://www.tweedpdx.com/ in one of the site’s comment section hoping someone would start a tweed ride here in Tucson.

I’ve been thinking that it might be cool if Tucson had its own tweed ride, but didn’t know where to start.

What do you think? Should we start one? Should it be associated with the Tuesday Night Community Bike Ride, or should it be its own event?

Where does one even get tweed these days?

Let me know what you think in the comment section.

UPDATE: Scott, in the comment section if this post, lamented that the bikes can’t be checked out after 4 p.m. I emailed Bill Davidson who says that because they don’t provide lights for the bikes, they want to have the bikes checked out during the day. He did say they are planning to extend the hours.

Of course the no lights thing does not actually prevent people from riding the bike at night. A bike could be checked out at 4 and ridden all night without lights.

I also asked about how many people have checked out the bikes and Davidson said since school has resumed on average between six and seven bikes are being checked out each day.

The University of Arizona launched a small bike sharing program in November. The aim of the program is to encourage people to ride rather than drive when making short trips from campus.

The program started with 10 bikes, but, “I think there are plans to expand,” Bill Davidson the UA Parking and Transportation marketing manager said.

Check out the video I shot of the checkout process and the bikes:

TucsonVelo.com: University of Arizona bike sharing program from Mike McKisson on Vimeo.

The program is open to UA students and employees.

The bikes are located in the Tyndall Avenue and 6th Street parking garages. They can be checked out by filling out this form at the cashier’s office in the garage.

There are no fees associated with the program unless you keep the bike longer than 24 hours or if you lose the lock, key or the bike itself.

Davidson said the project cost between $3,000 and $4,000 to start, which included the bikes, locks, racks and other miscellaneous items.

They don’t yet have a solid figure on how often the bikes are being used because of the month-long holiday break. But according to the cashier I checked the bike out from, they have gotten a lot of use.

“The people that have used it, love it,” Davidson said. ” Seems like we have a lot of repeat customers.”

A Parking and Transportation employee is responsible for checking the bikes each day to make sure they are in good shape.

According to Davidson, they haven’t had any bikes stolen or had any major mechanical issues.

They are also considering making the process more electronic so users will no longer have to fill out the form each time they want to borrow one of the bikes.

More details about the program here

Got this flyer in my mailbox earlier today. (Click the image to blow it up)

Notice that it says $10 donation plus the race license, which is $5. They will gladly take additional donations.

I just created a new page for reader-submitted photos. You can find the link on the top right of this page.

If you have a bikey photo you would like to share, please send it to me at TucsonVelo-at-gmail.com and I’ll post it in the gallery.

Currently, there are a few photos of me and my family.

Yesterday, a TucsonVelo reader sent me a link to his blog with a photo of a downed tree blocking the Aviation bike path. Check out the photo

I happened to be attending a meeting with several city officials so I mentioned the email. They said they would notify the proper people, but it got me thinking about resources for cyclists to report obstacles and safety issues.

All of these numbers are listed in the Share the Road publication, but I suspect most people don’t ride around with it in their pocket. Putting some of these numbers in your cell phone’s memory  might be useful.

Arizona Department of Transportation Street
Maintenance ……………………….838-2800 or 838-2810
Marana Streets Department …………………….382-2500
Oro Valley Street Maintenance …………………229-5070
Pima County Street Maintenance ……………..740-2639
Sahuarita Public Works …………………………….648-1972
South Tucson Public Works ……………………..792-2424
Tucson Street Maintenance ………………………791-3154 This is the number that is often referred to in the TPCBAC meetings.
Report polluting vehicles to the Pima County Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality Smoking Vehicle
Hotline ……………………………………………………..622-5700

According to Jim Glock, who is the directory of the Tucson Department of Transportation, the street maintainence budget has been reduced to about $500,000.

The result is that only serious safety issues will be addressed into more funds become available.

An island on Mountain Avenue, which is designed to calm traffic.

The Mountain Avenue construction project should be just a few months away from completion.

Diahn Swartz a traffic engineering project manager for the Tucson Department of Transportation told the Downtown Subcommittee of the Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee there is one additional layer of asphalt to be added before the final bike lane striping is done.

But according to Swartz, the final layer of asphalt can’t be laid down until the temperature is consistently above 40 degrees at night.

The road, which connects the University of Arizona to the Rillito River path and runs between First Avenue and Campbell Avenue, currently features several islands. (See photo above).

The islands were designed to slow traffic along the corridor.

TPCBAC member, Dave Boston, raised concerns about vehicles  driving into the bike after maneuvering around an island.

Swartz said when the final striping was finished there would be buffer zones placed between the bike lane and car lane in areas without an island. She said the buffers should help with traffic movement.

The TPCBAC also requested that when the buffer disappears, the lane be striped at 8 inches rather that the standard 6 inches in the hopes it would be more visible.

According to City of Tucson Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator, Tom Thivener, the bike lanes will be a little tighter in the section north of Ft. Lowell than they are south of Ft. Lowell.

Between Speedway and Ft. Lowell there is a six-foot bike lane and a three-foot buffer. The portion from Ft. Lowell to Roger will have a five-foot bike lane and a two-foot buffer.

The subcommittee also began discussing a report documenting concerns about the Aviation bike path.

Much of the discussion concerned the intersections where the bike path crosses heavily trafficked streets.

Ann Chanecka a planner for the Pima Association of Governments said drivers don’t expect cyclists to enter traffic because of the separated nature of most of the bike path.

One of the options that the committee decided they would like to investigate is creating a raised crosswalk similar to a speed table, which they thought might slow down the traffic turning off or onto the Aviation Parkway.

If you haven’t already, take a look at Tucson Bike Lawyer’s photo of the new bike crossing at the intersection of Church and Franklin.

This crossing was discussed at a recent Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting and the general consensus was that it worked quite well.

Have you used? What do you think?

Check TucsonVelo.com tonight for an update on the Mountain Avenue bike-lane construction and Aviation Bikeway safety and signage concerns.

Apparently, local car-free photographer, Martha Retallick has started a new stock images website completely devoted to bicycles. Check it out at http://www.BicycleStockImages.com.

According to her email the site includes photos from. “Tucson’s semi-annual Bicycle Swap Meet, a criterium race around the University of Arizona campus, El Tour de Tucson, and the free valet bicycle parking that the city provides at major events.” It’s worth a look to see if she caught you in any of her shots.

Retallick also spent several years cycling though all 50 states and wrote a book about it. Check it out: Discovering America: Bicycle Adventures in All 50 States.

Speaking of books, I just checked out Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities from the library. I’m only a few chapters in, but think it is great already. Anyone read it? Thoughts?