Posts Tagged ‘biking’

Route 11 Bus Party Recap

2010-06-05

Today’s Bus Party had five riders for Route 11. We checked out the south side of Cedar Rapids and talked about the development projects going on in the area. Route 11 covers a lot of the industrial areas, as its main backbone is 6th St. SW. It is also the route that goes to the airport, Community College school campus, and the southern tip of Kirkwood. It wasn’t too busy this Saturday afternoon, but I bet it’s pretty well used during the work week.

Topics discussed were the potential purchasing of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, who the three bidders might be for the old public library, road construction projects, potential road closures, and what downtown might look and feel like as these projects finish.

Four of us traveled on to Sykora’s Bakery in Czech Village for some delicious sub sandwiches and then went our separate ways. My husband and I biked down to the bus party and then biked back after taking a bus closer to home. The weather cooperated for biking and made the ride nice and cool for a perfect car-less day.

Next month is Route 12 and the last of the CR Transit routes. See you then!

Free Bus Rides for Bicyclists

2010-05-12

Have you heard about the great bike-bus collaboration next week? May is National Bike Month and Cedar Rapids bicyclists and city staff have been busy preparing lots of activities to spread the word about biking. I love biking to work, but I’m definitely a fair weather rider, so with all of the recent rain we’re getting I was giddy to see that CR Transit is getting involved in Bike to Work Week!

You can read the full announcement here, but the summary is that they are providing FREE bus rides for anyone who uses the bike rack on the front of the bus. This perk is available during Bike to Work Week which is next week, May 17th – May 21st.

Ok great, but why am I so giddy? Well, being a fair weather rider means that I prefer to ride when it’s “nice”. In Iowa, it can be nice in the morning and turn ugly by the afternoon, so I understand why many people don’t choose bike transportation if they aren’t equipped for weather. I also work downtown and live on the north side. This is great riding downhill most of the way into work, but a bit more challenging uphill on the way home. A little lift for part of the climb can be welcome after a long day! And lastly, we’ve had to modify my morning bus stop drop-off routine due to the Council construction and I guess I just needed a carrot to finally give the bus bike racks a try.

As a last word of encouragement to take advantage of this opportunity, don’t be concerned about how to work the bike racks! The bus drivers are able to help if you need it and the announcement has good instructions. For those of us who learn better visually, you can watch a video with good, well paced instructions and demonstrations on using bus bike racks here. The rack is not exactly the same as what CR Transit buses have, but the setup is.

May is National Bike Month, but take it a step further and use two alternative modes of transportation with CR Transit!

Interested in more Bike Month information? Check out the Bike Iowa site and announce your participation by registering for Bike to Work Week.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.