Women Only Event - Shifting Gears Interactive Clinic August 10th, 2013

This Saturday Big Poppi Bicycle is hosting a women only event. This event is a learning opportunity all about gears on a bike. The official name of this event is the 6th annual Women's Only Liv/Giant Event.

The hands on portion of the event is completely filled. Only ten slots were available and it took only a week for all the slots to be taken.

Big Poppi's is still encouraging all the ladies to come out to this event. Even though the slots are filled, the opportunity to learn through observance is still there.

Taken from Big Poppi's Facebook Page

The current plan of events is to first have the class starting at 7:00pm. In this class they will be teaching What gears do? What happens when you change gears? and What gear should I be in?

After the class a ladies only group ride will take place. This is a great opportunity to see Manhattan and to meet fellow Manhattanites who enjoy biking.

With the group ride everyone should bring there bike and hydration. Also wear comfortable clothes that you can bike in.  

Here is the link to the event on Facebook: Women Only Event - Shifting Gears Interactive Clinic


If you have any events coming up that are bike related please let us know through  Facebook, Twitter, and email.

August 6, 2013 - Manhattan Infrastructure Improvements

Today if you were outside at all and near the Aggieville area you might have noticed something new on the streets. The Manhattan Traffic crew were hard at work today painting bike sharrows. These sharrows are part of the bicycle boulevards that are going in for this year. The new bicycle boulevards are on Laramie Street and Humbolt Street. Moro Street bicycle boulevard is going to extend into the Aggieville area.

Taken from the Bike Manhattan Facebook Page

Another part of the improvements happening in Manhattan today are the bike lanes being marked on 11th Street. Currently this bike lane will be between Poyntz Avenue and Anderson Avenue.

Yellow - Old Bike Boulevard; Blue - New Bike Boulevards; Purple - New Bike Lanes

These improvements are part of a strategic five-year plan that the City of Manhattan has produced for bicycles. The city is into the second year of this five-year plan and soon will complete the 2013 improvements. To see more of what the city is plan click on the 5-Year Strategic Plan.

Also a reminder, a new north bound bike lane is in the works on N Manhattan Avenue between Anderson Avenue and Moro Street. This is part of the intersection improvements currently happening on Bluemont Avenue between North Manhattan Avenue and 11th Street. As of now this project will not be completed until October of 2013.

Update: August 7, 9:00am - Big Poppi just posted pictures of the new improvements in Aggieville. Click Album to see more photos of the New bicycle boulevards going on Facebook.

What are these things mentioned above?

A bike sharrow is a pavement marking placed on the road to indicate where a cyclist should ride. Another intention of a bike sharrow is to alert drivers that the road is to be shared with cyclists. Below is a video from Ontario, Canada explaining a bike sharrow.

Bicycle boulevards are light traffic areas intended to provide a safe route for cyclists. These routes are designed to give cyclists the priority on the road. A common format for a bike boulevard is to lower the speed limit for motorists, add bike sharrows, and provide a near continuous path without many stop signs. Provided below is an explanation from the city of Portland and their bicycle boulevards.

If you have any suggestions please let us know. You can contact us through Facebook, Twitter, and email.

August 5, 2013 - Linear Tail Report

In the past week Manhattan, KS has received much needed rain. However with this increase in water going to the local rivers parts of Linear Trail are impassible. An important section to the trail is closed of because of high water.

Barricades are posted at the Poliska Ln and the Richard Dr access points. It is advise to not go around these barricades, for the risk is high for being swept away and drowning.

Red - Closed; Green - Localized Flooding/Passible

Only other part of the trail that is seeing some problems is between Pecan Cir access point and the S Manhattan Ave Trail Head. Localized flooding was covering the trail but most of it has dried up. There is still potential for more flooding in this area when we get more rain. It is advised to use caution in this area.

*If you would like to report Trail Conditions please email us at mhk.bikenews@gmail.com.

Welcome

MHK Bike News - Cycling to a better future.

Welcome to our new way of reporting news about bicycles in Manhattan, KS. We hope to fill the need of reaching out to the community and providing a tool for people to become involved. Please bear with us as we continue to get this idea off the ground. If you have any suggestions for us please reply to this post or email us at mhk.bikenews@gmail.com.