Bike Anchorage is excited to announce our 7th Annual Winter Bike Fest!

We have tons of fun events to celebrate Anchorage as the best Winter City. This year we're celebrating the explosion of the fatbike scene with the first Fat Bike Expo put on by Alaska Ultra Sport--we'll have raffle tickets at our events for some amazing prizes (benefits for Bike Anchorage!). And don't miss Winter Bike to Work Day and more! Check out your opportunities to celebrate all things bike!

It's hard to think of our city's strongest bicycle advocates without thinking of Brian Litmans. Brian became a strong voice for making Anchorage more bicycle-friendly nearly a decade ago and has helped create even more bike advocates through Bike Anchorage.

Brian has been the Bike Anchorage board president from the start, and this year he has passed the torch. 

Your financial support is what keeps Bike Anchorage going. Thank you for supporting us to make Anchorage a more bike-friendly city!

There's Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, but there's also #GivingTuesday.

What is #GivingTuesday? It's our day for giving thanks. #GivingTuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity.

Please support Bike Anchorage on this #GivingTuesday. 

From encouraging people to go by bike, to advocating for safer streets and bike infrastructure, to sharing bike safety education, Bike Anchorage is your voice for a more bike-friendly city.

In August Bike-N- Walk Safely Alaska!, part of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Service Injury Prevention program, sponsored a two and a half day Bicycle Summit in Anchorage that covered everything from traffic safety to cycling skill drills.   

Shane MacRhodes, a certified instructor through the League of American Bicyclists, facilitated the summit with the assistance of Injury Prevention staff Maria Bailey and Jo Fisher from August 13 to 15.  League of American Bicyclists’ instructor Sylvia Craig also helped out on Saturday. 

Twelve Alaskans from around the state participated in the summit, representing a diverse range of professions and cycling backgrounds.

The weather turned out great, if a bit warm for some of the northerners, with drizzling rain holding off until near the end.  

Rental bikes were used for those who traveled great distances to attend. Before anyone could straddle their wheels, however, they got a lesson on proper helmet fitting, as well as how to do a safety check of their bikes.  Within a short time, attendees were already bike commuting back to the hotel, a long trip for some and a warm up for others.

On Friday the event continued with a Traffic Safety Class that included both classroom and bike riding skills instruction. 

One of the goals of the summit was to provide instruction on safe bike riding and the other was to assist the attendees with planning their own bike event in their communities.   Shane provided numerous resources and ideas and broke the group into smaller groups to discuss and brainstorm how to run events in their own towns. Some great ideas were exchanged and there should be some excellent bike events in Alaska in the near future. 

The weekend ended with a large group ride that included participants, instructors and other Anchorage bikers.  Sadly for some, the ride ended at the bike rental shop downtown where attendees had to bid a fond farewell to their two-wheeled steeds.

Injury Prevention is glad to report that all the attendee’s stayed upright on their bikes and no injuries were reported, despite some serious right-hook drills!

Since the summit, other events have already been held throughout the state. It is great to know that the information presented in Anchorage has already been disseminated to other Alaskans.

A trailer full of bikes that could travel to Anchorage-area schools to teach students Bike Safety was first dreamed up by Anchorage-area League Certified Instructors (LCIs) back in 2009. Thanks to the Alaska Injury Prevention Center (AIPC) and the Safe Routes to School Grant they wrote, that dream is now a reality.

Just before school started in August, ASD Health and PE teachers got to take a tour of the trailer and test ride some of the 35 Bike Friday OSATA bikes at their annual in-service. OSATA = One Size Adjusts to All and can shrink and expand to fit someone from 4’0” to 6’2”. Teachers are excited about bringing the bikes to their school. Their main concern was that sharing one trailer between all 130 ASD schools and programs will be difficult, as it will be very popular.

The trailer is a full-service, one-stop shop for bike safety that includes not only bikes and helmets, but also safety gear, tools, repair equipment and education materials to teach students how to ride safely. In addition, the trailer comes with a full curriculum – Bikeology – that leads students from bike basics to the rules of the road with the focus always on safety.

The goal of the program is teach students that bikes can be a great form of transportation not just a toy. Students of all ages need activity to promote a healthy lifestyle. In addition, junior high students who learn the rules of the road from a bicyclist’s perspective will likely be better drivers when they get behind the wheel of the car.

The trailer, bikes and gear will be officially donated to the Anchorage School District by September and students will be learning to bike safety skills soon after that. 

Teachers check out the adjustable Bike Friday bikes.

Teachers getting a rundown on the bike trailer and the Bikeology curriculum.

Some sweet Bike Friday OSATA bikes ready to go.