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July 21, 2007

Bicycle Museum of Fort Collins Debuts, Summer 2007

 

A long term plan is for the Friends of the Bicycle Program to cooperate with city agencies and private groups to create a regionally or even nationally recognized "vintage or historic bicycle museum" in Fort Collins. The old Trolley Barn at the corner of Howes and Cherry would be a perfect site for this. (If the Trolley Barn is not available another site will be sought). Imagine every kid in Fort Collins coming to the Bike Museum three or four times over the years as a part of school trips on the history of alternative transportation or human powered vehicles. School buses would drive up from Denver or Boulder for the same reason. And people from throughout the country would come to downtown Fort Collins to see our museum, pedal our award winning bike paths and enjoy one of the most livable cities in the US.

Presently (Summer 2007) the museum is a museum without walls, a free traveling museum.  The purpose of the museum is to educate the public about the role of human powered cycling in history, the innovations in bicycle design, and to help promote cycling as a way of life.

Our goal is to create a permanent museum that will encompass the whole theme of bicycles thus adding another feather to Fort Collins' cycling cap. 

For Bike Week in June 2007 bicycles were displayed in the following Fort Collins retail shops:

Ace Hardware
The Armstrong Hotel
The Bean Cycle
The Cupboard
Starry Night Cafe
The Wright Life

Some of these businesses continue to display our bikes while others have changed their window displays.  (Take a look at Jeff Nye's tandem track bike at the Bean Cycle if you haven't seen it yet!)  A hearty thanks to all these businesses for their interest and enthusiasm with this project.

Watch for more of our historic bicycles to be displayed in these and other Fort Collins businesses over the coming months.

If you would like to display a bicycle in our "museum without walls" program please contact us at info@BikeFortCollins.org.  Or, if you have a bicycle that you would like to display or donate contact us as well!

 


 


 

Posted by Jeff at 07:11 PM |

Coloradoan Lauds Bike Library Concept

The folowing editorial was published in the Fort Collins "Coloradoan" July 16, 2007 

 Bicycle library builds on city's current mind-set
Program is example of power individuals have to help air quality

 

This idea has legs ... well, wheels.
Beginning next spring, the city of Fort Collins and BikeFortCollins.org will launch a bicycle library, where residents and visitors can check out bikes for free up to a week. All that is needed is a photo ID, although donations will be accepted to help bolster the program.

 

This isn't the first time such an idea has been attempted. The city operated the Free Wheels bicycle lending library in the late 1990s with 250 bikes that had been donated or recovered from the landfill. That program focused on providing bicycles for people to commute to work.

 

This new library will be broader, with bicycles available at three to five locations around town, including Colorado State University and Old Town. Eighty percent of the $165,000 funding comes from a federal grant, while the Downtown Development Authority kicked in $15,000. Other matches and donations also have been contributed. The library will open with 50 bikes and expand from there each quarter according to need. Several bike stores are joining in the effort by donating money or bicycles.
Details about check-outs, including penalties for late returns or no returns, are still being worked out. Program supporters should seize the opportunity to distribute information on bicycle rules of the road and bike maps along with the check-outs.
Such efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled and boost air quality, as well as the health of participants, are sensible. Fort Collins has already embraced bicycling, but more can be done. By focusing on voluntary measures and offering broad access to all kinds of bicycles, this project is a worthy example that individuals can carry great power - even on their bikes.

Posted by Jeff at 05:51 PM |