Sunday, April 4, 2010

We got a lot goin’ on, Spokane!

It’s starting to add up. Think about the Spokane cycling calendar now (more info and links to ride-specific sites can be found on the Bike to Work events page).

April: Bike racing season starts with Frozen Flatlands and the Twilight Series organized by Baddlands and the new Ronde Van Palouse put on by Spokane Rocket Velo. Registration opens (soon!) for Bike to Work Week. Traffic skills courses will get you ready to roll if you’re not already used to riding in traffic. A first-ever Bike Shop Swap will be held on Spokane’s Earth Day April 17, and the Lilac Century kicks off the recreational long-ride-with-snacks-and-schwag season.

May: Bike to Work Week 2010 May 16-22 is organized to encourage people to ride bikes not only to/from work but for (fun) transportation in general. Racing season continues. Bike to Work Commute Challenge starts that week and will be extended to run four weeks this year.

June: Commute Challenge results announced. Bike to Work Spokane is putting together some kind of picnic location so we can get together with friends, family and fellow cyclists—hanging out and eating is always the biggest draw at BTW events. On the racing front, the state senior road race and criterium masters’ championships will be held in Cheney this year and the Twilight Series continues.

July: The first Spokane Summer Parkway (our version of Ciclovia) will be held July 11, with Howard Street starting in downtown and heading north a ways closed to vehicular traffic and turned over to people-powered movement. Recreational rides and racing continue.

August: The second Spokane Summer Parkway will be held August 22. Recreational rides and racing continue.

September: SpokeFest—the ride for everyone! Riding, riding and more riding including the classic Tour des Lacs, kids’ races organized by Emde Sports, and more.

October:  Cyclocross racing begins.

November: Cyclocross racing continues.

Gosh, if we just put together a few rides in December, January, February and March we’d have the calendar filled year round. Oh, wait-- come to think of it, those Full Moon Fiasco folks over at The FBC Spokane have us covered there.

Check the calendar and let us know what’s missing. And don't tell us there isn't much cycling stuff happening in Spokane.

3 comments:

Jacque Hendrix said...

Good list of events Barb, thanks!

Mike Sirott said...

Thanks for the update Barb. It's interesting that with such a diverse cycling community in the Inland NW, it's quite challenging to maintain an all-inclusive cycling calendar. There must be 100's of events going on this summer!

Barb Chamberlain said...

I know we don't have all the local rides on the BTW calendar. Out There Monthly does a great job of covering it.

We stick with Spokane and a little into North Idaho--not trying to be a full resource east of the Cascades or anything--and it's only as good as what people send us or what we find by poking around a bit online. We don't want to replicate unnecessary detail so we'd rather link to sites that are the homes for the various events.

If we can transition our calendar into one where everyone adds their own events, that will be an even better resource. Hoping to work on this one of these days.

@BarbChamberlain