In Attendance: Elizabeth, Warren, Darren, Steve, Jeff and Kari.
To Discuss:
Logo ideas.
Road Rules to include in safety videos. Other ideas for videos?
Firm up some volunteers to ride with the Bike Train folks.
Firm up details of Veer Screening, so we can start promoting it.
Present rough copy of questionnaire.
Map ideas for the website (lanes, racks, shops, etc.).
Any other ideas for the website.
Talk about the recreation map that the city put out… it’s missing some routes. Darren’s including all of the missing ones on his Google map, taking photos all along the trails and lanes, so people can see trail condition, busy roads, etc. He shows us how to find the map on bikewindsor.com, and the different features.
Discussing the Transportation Department’s policy change in the US (cyclists and pedestrians are now considered in infrastructure planning just as much as motorists are), maybe Canada will follow suit.
Talking about the logo- the simpler the better. Elizabeth brought some great drawings… going with the modern, whimsical bike design, with a smile for the bike frame, and Bike Friendly Windsor written in there somwhere. Elizabeth will take it home and work on it some more. We should have a final logo by the end of April, when we’ll print up some business cards to hand out at events (we’re not allowed to hand out flyers, but we think business cards will be okay).
Veer Screening- June 12th. Steve still has to work out the details. Waiting to meet with Mark Boscariol, maybe on Thursday. Emailed the Veer guy- Greg- waiting for a response. How many posters do we need? Around 20- to put up at various businesses, Chanoso’s/Oishii, bike shops, around the university, etc.
Warren asks about an outdoor movie screening? Weather concerns. Have to wait ‘til later in the evening so it’s dark. For our first event, we want to have as few obstacles as possible, but maybe for a future event.
Events downtown (Red Bull, Art in the Park, etc.)- good opportunities to promote the group. Have business cards to hand out.
Warren asks what bike events are planned. Talk about Bike The Bridge and the difficulty for Canadians to get their bikes across the border. Organize a way for Windsorites to bring their bikes to Detroit to start the ride- rent a UHaul or something? Customs issues. At the very least- can we meet the riders on this side of the bridge, and ride with them to the different events? We will still have to pay?
Discussing Ciocaro Club’s new track. We need a velodrome in the city!
Chris Waters event- Rolling Forward. Sometime in May? June? This event is happening, more details will be shared once Chris Waters finalizes things.
Any bike issues before council right now? Riverside lanes- Darren talks about the hold up with City Hall and the residents group opposing bike lanes on Riverside Drive. The group was supposed to meet with the city on March 26th, but that was deferred for a week. The group is going to London on April 14th to have their application for judicial review heard.
Escorting the Bike Train folks from station to Greenway. Email other bike groups to get some stronger cyclists to go with us? Jeff is definitely interested, so is Darren. It’s during the day on Friday- Jeff is fine with taking time off of work. June 17th – 20th, and July 29th – Aug. 2nd.
Bike Trek, Century- 25km, 100km, 200km. I didn’t catch much of the discussion about this- can someone fill in the details!
The Lasalle bike group is also holding a bike/run. Again, I didn’t catch the dates for this- help!
MLCC wants to get another race downtown on the same weekend as the Erie Street race.
Go over bike research survey. Make an internet survey? Ask Windsor Star to sponsor the survey, run ad that points people to a website to fill out the survey? Are the students going to collect the data too? Or just write the survey. Will we be able to use the survey after the project is done? Steve will send me his input. Email the survey to Jeff and Darren. Go over it, and send Kari your input.
A nice idea would to give a momento from the Bike Friendly Windsor group for all the tourists coming on the various rides. Maybe that’s something the WBC should do. They have the funding, we don’t.
In the future, we’ll have a proper admin setup, chair, president, secretary, etc. with a budget.
Ideas for t-shirts. Reflective strips on them? Need a logo first.
Courtesy will tune up your bike for five years if you buy your bike from there.
Some area mechanics aren’t qualified. Discussion on experiences with unqualified mechanics.
Darren tells us about Bucky, and what happened to him. The charity ride will be in April.
Ideas for bike safety videos: We need more people to be in the video- would be nice to have a male and female. Quick to do- 1-2 hours. Ideas- Visibility. How to take a turn properly. Putting chain back on. Locking your bike- this can be done with just still videos and voice overs.
Talking about lights- flashing front light is illegal in Ontario. Flashing rear light is good- but sometimes they can be a bit mesmerizing.
Maps? Bike rack map- just for downtown, to start. Similar to Thunder Bay’s site (. This will show where there is a lack of racks, and then we can make recommendations. Really work on this- that could be something that really shows our effectiveness as an advocacy group. Getting more racks- email councillors, be a delegation at council meetings.
Bike rental place downtown- could work well… no shops downtown. Bike Clinic at the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market? This is a good idea for Jason, maybe!
More talk about bike lanes- with the map in front of us- and why some of the trails seem to go to nowhere. Part of a loop that’s gradually being completed as roads get resurfaced.
Group rides- good thing about them is that drivers see us as a group. On the Sundays we don’t meet, we can meet up for a ride. Even before the scheduled meetings, we can go for a short ride.
Include survey on bikewindsor.com
Another image for the header on bikewindsor.com- something better for spring. Image of maps in the sidebar?
More talk of the website… Cycling newsletter? Activity feed from other biking websites? Images for the maps? Tab for maps along top?
Next meeting- April 11th, WWAC, 3pm. Ride beforehand that will not be advertised, but Kari will send out a Facebook message to everyone in the group. Meet up at WWAC at 2pm for the ride.
June 26, 2010 is the confirmed date for Rolling Forward.
May 15, 2010 is Walk Run Roll the event in LaSalle.
http://www.4lasalle.com/Home.html
Where did you hear a front flashing light is illegal in Ontario? I’ve never heard of that and it makes me wonder since that type of light is sold here. I tend to use it at times when I really need to be seen, like in pouring rain or snow when drivers don’t see a tiny steady white light as well.
Here’s what I found when I did a Google search for “front flashing bike light, illegal, toronto” (I added Toronto, cause I thought maybe it was just a municipal by-law):
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-383626.html
And then here’s what I found when I searched for “Section 169 of the Highway Traffic Act”
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90h08_e.htm#BK252
And yes- the meeting is on 14th! I don’t know why I wrote the 11th. Sorry for the confusion!
I was looking at the wrong calendar and thought the 11th wasn’t a Sunday, but saw in april the 14th is a wednesday. So is the meeting still on Wednesday April 14th? The 11th is a Sunday and that’s when the WAC is usually free, but I don’t know if it is on Wednesday.
Thanks for the links too but still seems they are talking about automobiles. I didn’t read anything about bikes in the link even though they say any vehicle. I’ve rode by police with mine flashing and they didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Seems like the link is talking more about drivers passing radar traps and flashing their lights to warn other drivers about it.
The next meeting is on SUNDAY, APRIL 11th, 2010, 3pm, at the WWAC.
And it says, in bold lettering:
Alternating highbeams on other vehicles prohibited.
Bicycles are considered vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act, are they not?
The strobe on my bike isn’t alternating high beams though. I’ll try to ask someone who knows today. Bicycles are vehicles but the text there is confusing.
Thanks for clearing up the meeting date. Sorry you’re having a rough day too.