Frederick Bicycle Coalition

Join the Frederick Bicycle Coalition for our first annual Fall Picnic and Bike Rides taking place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. The picnic will take place at Cunningham Falls State Park in the large pavilion in the Manor area. The road rides will leave from the same location, the mountain bike rides will start at the Sand Flats Parking area of the Frederick Watershed.

FBC will provide burgers and hot dogs (veggie versions too). You bring a potluck dish to share. We’ll have some adult beverages as well.

Members and non-members are welcome. You can RSVP by posting to the web site, our Facebook page or emailing communication@frederickbicyclecoalition.com
The picnic is rain or shine, check the web site for ride information if the weather looks questionable.

A map showing picnic and ride start locations can be found here.

When: 12:30pm Picnic;
9am MTB rides , 9am road rides

About the rides:
Helmets required. The rides will start at 9am. Road rides will leave from the picnic area. We’ll have a road ride doing rolling hills and covered bridges which will cover around 35 miles at a moderate pace. A second ride will head up the mountain and on some of the nearby dirt roads, 25-30 miles at a relaxed pace.

The mountain bike rides will consist of two moderate rides, one will be a women’s only ride and the other will be open to all. The terrain ranges from smooth to rocky and technical with some decent climbs. The start location is approximately 7 miles from the picnic location. Following the ride we’ll head over to Cunningham Falls.

All rides will return in time for the picnic start.

Where: Cunningham Falls (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/cunningham.asp) for the picnic and road rides, Sand Flats (http://tinyurl.com/sandflatsparkinglot) for MTB rides

Questions? Contact communication@frederickbicyclecoalition.com

From the Rails to Trails Conservancy:

The president of AAA Mid-Atlantic recently advocated for the elimination of existing federal dollars that help build bicycle and pedestrian trails and sidewalks. These funds have helped create more than 19,000 miles of trails, walking and bicycling facilities across the country—likely including your favorite nearby trail.

AAA encourages its members to get outdoors and explore the country—including by bicycle—so why do they support cutting programs that help their members do precisely that?

On September 1, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy President Keith Laughlin sent a letter asking this question to AAA. Robert Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA, was quick to respond yet he did not address our central concern.

AAA Mid-Atlantic suggests that an $89 billion annual highway fund shortfall can be blamed on investments in walking and bicycling. But those investments total less than $1 billion annually and produce tremendous benefits for everyone, including drivers.

The reality is that many bicyclists drive, support AAA, pay gas taxes and want balanced transportation systems that provide the choice to get around in a variety of ways—for commuting or daily errands, or for fun and exercise.

If AAA’s false ideas take root, America’s transportation future—one where communities are more livable and people have safe and convenient choices for getting around—is in jeopardy.

Help us show AAA that trail, walking and bicycling programs actually benefit everyone, very much including their own members!

Sign the petition

The Frederick Bicycle Coalition is excited to welcome Ben Sollee and his Ditch the Van Tour at Café Nola on Thursday September 23 at 7:30 pm.  For their 2010 The Ditch the Van Tour, Ben Sollee and his crew will complete four regional tours by bicycle without the use of support vehicles.  Ben Sollee will arrive in Frederick this afternoon after playing a show in York, Pennsylvania. We hope to provide them with a warm welcome to Maryland’s aspiring Bicycle Friendly Community!

Hope you can make it!

Fall hunting season is getting underway in Maryland. Bow season has started for deer, so riders should be aware of this when riding in locations such as the Frederick Watershed. You can download the full schedule here.

Stay safe out there.

Want to ditch the car? Car Free day is September 22nd. Full details here

Frederick, MD — On Wednesday, September 22, TransIT Services of Frederick County celebrates Car Free Day by providing FREE rides on the Connector and Shuttle routes. International Car Free Day is organized in 1,500 cities in 40 countries throughout the world to encourage people to use more environmentally friendly transportation modes such as transit, ridesharing, bicycling, walking, or teleworking. Thousands of area residents pledged last year to get to and from their various destinations without a car on Car Free Day.

Our friends at MORE are doing a fund raiser camping trip to Douthat State Park, a place that commonly described as “Disneyland for Mountain Bikes”. It’s a great location and there will be lots of fun people around. Space is limited, but a few slots are left, so sign up here. The trip is next weekend, Sept 24th – 26th.

October 10th is the Frederick Bicycle Coaltion picnic and rides. We’ll be riding in the morning and cooking out at Cunningham Falls State Park in the afternoon.

The IMBA Trail Care Crew is coming to Frederick, MD in October for mountain bike riding, education and trail building. Stay tuned for a full schedule of activites soon. Mark the dates of Oct 21st – 24th on your calendar and stay tuned for a full slate of activities.

Make your voice heard, attend DNR’s Maryland Trail Summit and tell the state what you would like to see to make Maryland’s trail system “second to none”.

Registration is limited, sign up here.

Save the date, October 10th, 2010 will be the Frederick Bicycle Coalition’s first potluck fall picnic and bike rides.

Open to members and non-members alike, we’ll provide food for the grill and you bring a dish to share.

There will be organized road and mountain bike rides before the picnic, then we’ll grill out at Cunningham Falls state park.

Full details coming up, stay tuned.

South of Frederick in Montgomery County is a great collection of mountain bike trails in several parks with terrain a bit more forgiving than our collection of trails on the Catoctin ridge. By string together the parks you can put together a lot of mileage and cover a variety of terrain.

If you’ve never done it before, it takes a bit of work and some map reaching skills. But, what if someone laid it all out for you and they offered support along the way? That’s exactly what the MoCo Epic supported ride will be. It’s a fund raiser for local MTB club MORE which contributes much work here in Frederick as well as the rest of the region. The ride takes place on October 17 and has 3 options: 25 miles, 40 miles and 62 miles (metric century).

Fall will be a great time to do this, so sign up now or consider volunteering. This will be a great event to support local mountain bike advocacy and riding.