Frederick Bicycle Coalition

The Maryland Office of Tourism, Department of Transportation, and State Highway Administration are conducting a bicycle user survey to learn more about cyclists in Maryland and what products they would find most useful to help plan bicycle trips.

Take the survey [URL="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CycleMaryland"]here[/URL]

MD DNR Forest Service has sent word that there is a timber harvest scheduled in the Frederick Municipal Forest (a.k.a. the Watershed) as part of their forest management plan with the City of Frederick. The harvest was scheduled to start on May 24. The location is near Gambrill Park Road, north of Delauter Rd.

Fellow bicycle advocacy group MORE will be hosting 2 mountain bike rides at the Frederick Watershed on Sunday March 27. The first will be a moderate, co-ed ride and the second will be a women’s only casual ride. Full details can be found here.

Just a reminder, there is a final, 2 day modern firearms deer season on January 7th and 8th. Keep this in mind when planning your mountain bike rides at the Frederick Watershed and Greenbrier State Park.

The Frederick Bicycle Coalition turns 1 year old this month. In that short time we have gotten a lot accomplished. Many thanks to our members and sponsors for the support to make this happen. We hope to make 2011 an even more successful year. In the meantime, let’s take a look at all the great things FBC got done and participated in this year:

• Participated in and promoted Frederick’s Bike to Work Day 2010
• Led road and mountain bike rides including ones at the inaugural Tour de Frederick , a series of Introduction to the Watershed MTB rides and women’s rides.
• Conducted a Bicycle Usage Survey focused on Frederick City and County
• Contributed to Frederick’s annual ALTA bike count and synthesized two years of data
• Worked with Frederick City elected officials and staff to sign the Bicycle Friendly Action Plan and work to become a designated Bicycle Friendly Community
• Participated in the Maryland Trails Summit
• Helped craft a Maryland Trails Vision document for mountain biking in MD
• Hosted the first Ride with the Mayor to the Frederick Keys game
• Worked with Frederick’s Mayor McClement to establish Frederick’s first Bicycle Advisory Committee
• Held the first FBC BBQ and bike rides
• Provided housing for musician Ben Sollee and his crew on their bicycle powered tour of the Mid-Atlantic
• Held a fundraiser dinner at Agro Dolce, partnering with Heavy Seas Beer
• Helped an FBC member recover his stolen bike by getting the word out through our vast electronic network
• Contributed to and promoted the Frederick County Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning meetings.
• Assisted with Frederick bicycle rodeos promoting safe riding for children
• Hosted the IMBA Trail Care Crew visit in Frederick which included presentations to government officials and land managers, a trail building school and mountain bike rides (shout out to local MTB advocacy group MORE who partnered with us on this effort)
• Organized a pre-winter bicycle tune up Community Outreach Event
• Achieved 501(c)3 non-profit status
• Purchased an FBC branded bike rack for downtown Frederick

People are noticing not just the Frederick Bicycle Coalition, but bicycling in general in the Frederick area. Take a look at the coverage FBC and local cycling had this year:

• Aldermen take steps to make Frederick more bicycle-friendly
• Frederick Plans to Pursue Bicycle Friendly Designation
• FBC members tackle Snowpocalypse 2010
• Bicycle-friendliness could bring benefits to Frederick
• Cyclists hope to attract more bicycle commuters
• Aldermen hear Bicycle Ad Hoc Committee’s suggestions to boost biking on Frederick city streets
• Bike group prepares for presentation
• Local pastor, cyclist combines passions to help other people
• Pro mountain biker enjoys downtime at home before training begins
• Bicyclist pedals friendliness
• Golden Mile’s future gets mapped out
• Frederick Bicycle Coalition plans ride to ‘Sunday Funday’ Keys game
• Brunswick Bicycle Festival a thank you to cyclists
• Study plans for more traffic by car, foot, bike
• MacFawn’s pedals passengers along downtown streets
• Traveling Through – Mayor seeks input for bicycle
• Frederick aldermen, mayor ‘fully support’ bicycle committee’s ideas

The December newsletter is out. If you don’t subscribe, you can read it online here. If you want to subscribe for future newsletters, check the right column of this page and scroll the bottom. Only takes one minute and we won’t sell your email or bombard you with junk, just an occasional bit of news delivered to your inbox so you can keep up with what is going on.

For several years now The Bicycle Escape and local MTB advocacy group MORE have worked with park management at Gambrill State Park to bring you legal, after dark, mountain biking. This year the rides start on Wednesday Nov. 3rd. The group is limited to 20 participants and you must ride with the group and sign a release waiver. The rides take place on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7pm. Please do not ride at other times after dark as the park is closed. More info below:
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The Bicycle Escape, in conjunction with M.O.R.E., is hosting night mountain bike rides at Gambrill State Park on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month through the end of April.

Gambrill offers some of the most technical terrain in the region so these rides are for experienced mountain bikers only. It is also necessary to have a high quality lighting system. These are specialty, high powered lights with a minimum output of 10 watts or greater. Safe and properly functioning equipment is required by all riders. Helmets will be required to be worn by all riders at all times.

The ride will leave from the main trailhead parking lot located off of Gambrill Park Road. The parking is on the right as you climb the mountain, if you reach an intersection at the top of the mountain, you have gone too far.

RSVP will be required for each ride. We are in the park with special permission and space is limited. If you RSVP and for some reason cannot make the ride, please let us know as soon as possible so we can allow room for a replacement rider.

Rides will leave from the parking area at 7:00 p.m. sharp and will last approximately 2 hours. Please allow enough time upon your arrival to sign-in, prepare yourself for the ride and be ready to hit the trail on time. Liability waivers must be signed by all riders and parking passes will be issued for each vehicle. These parking passes must be displayed on all vehicles! We must be out of the park by 10:00pm.

Pace for the rides will be moderate. Speed is not as important as technical riding ability.

Because this ride exists with special permission from the Department of Natural Resources riders must follow the guidelines below in order to participate.

The group must stay together at all times
Keep noise to a minimum
Do not disturb wildlife
Respect park rules
Follow the guidelines set forth by Tread Lightly

This year Maryland DNR put forth the notion that they would like to develop a trail system “second to none”. While we have great trails here in MD, there are a lot of things which could be done to make them better. With that in mind, a group of mountain bikers put together a vision of what some of the possibilities could be to improve the trail systems in MD. Attached is a document outlining that vision which was made possible by the volunteer efforts and many hours put in by bicycle advocates including members of FBC. The document is intended to be a living document, updated as changes occur within the trail systems. You can download the document here.

The following groups contributed to its creation:

* Delaware Trail Spinners
* Frederick Bicycle Coalition
* Garrett Trails
* IMBA
* MORE
* Trail Conservancy