Find great bike items at GABA swap meet

For us bike riders and enthusiasts, we always look forward to November for two events, the Greater Tucson Bicycle Association’s bike swap meet a week before the famous El Tour de Tucson bike ride.

Coming up Nov. 16 is the GABA bicycle swap meet at 5th Avenue x 7th Street (400 E. 7th St.), and of course El Tour on November 23, starting/finishing downtown on 6th Avenue by Armory Park.

There will be safe bike parking by El Grupo at this swap meet. More info: www.bikegaba.org, gabaswap@bikegaba.org, or call Greg Yares at 520-323-9020.

Car free Cyclovia Tucson in downtown on April 7

Cyclovia Tucson is now in it’s fourth year and is a free, family friendly event for bicyclists, skateboarders, skaters, joggers, walkers, etc. who follow the street maps along the route which is closed to traffic. (We bicycled one of these earlier routes near the University of Arizona, and it is lots of fun, with activities along the way, such as arts & crafts, exhibits, puppet shows, demonstrations freebies, etc.)

Here’s the specifics below for the April 7 Cyclovia, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. It’s being advertised as “car free, and care-free”.

The North End
(Armory Park & Tucson Children’s Museum)
Axé Capoeira Tucson
BICAS Bike Rental
Jumping Castle by Cox
Safford K-8 Magnet School Band

The East Side
(Santa Rita Park & Restaurant Row)
Interactive Games by Pima County
Giant Chess Set
The Pima County Book Bike

The South End
(Arizona Children’s Association & Mission View Elementary School)
DJ Javi
Mission View Chill Zone

The West Side
Santa Rosa Park
Fur and Flower
Your Bike Station by El Grupo
Free Bike Helmets for Kids (while supplies last)
Kids’ Bicycle Obstacle Course
Pima County Loop Information
Bicycle Commuting & Safety Info

Ochoa Elementary School
Literacy Station
Dance Movement Station
Arts and Crafts Station by U of A Early Childhood Learning Center

En Route Activities:

(Near 4th Ave and 24th St)

– TriSports Activity Van: basketball hoops, FREE water bottles!!!
– Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicylist: bicycle-plate decorating, bicycle prizes, guided rides
– Sun Tran “bike-on-the-bus” demo
– REI

And save the date for the 2nd Cyclovia Tucson event this year on April 28, also 10 to 3 p.m. in North and Central Tucson. Click here for route.

“Cyclovia Tucson is a project of Living Streets Alliance, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to promote healthy communities by empowering people to transform our streets into vibrant places for walking, bicycling, socializing, and play. Living Streets Alliance is improving access to alternative modes of transportation in the region through outreach, education, advocacy and research”.

Swap your bicycle stuff at GABA Swap Meet (new location)

My husband and I are bikers and we have a lot of extra bike stuff. If you are like us, head over to the Fall 2012 GABA Swap meet on to sell or exchange some of your bicycle equipment, clothing, misc. stuff. This Fall swap meet is held annually a week before El Tour de Tucson, which will be held on November 17, 2012. New this year due to Sun Link Construction – the swap meet will be on 5th Avenue (see info below from GABA’s website):

Still the same and yet different ( new improved and old fashioned). We’re scheduled for Saturday, November 10, 2012 , from 8am through 2pm. We’ll have four blocks of the street closed off to car traffic, centered at the corner of 5th avenue and 7th Street, just West of historic 4th Avenue. This will be our second bike swap at this spot. It was good last April and it should be great this November. Even though it’s not on 4th Avenue, we still have a great partnership with the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association (FAMA).

More info at Greater Arizona Bicycling Association: www.bikegaba.org. Contact Greg Yares at 520-323-9020 or bikeswap@bikegaba.org.

8th Annual El Grupo Bicycle Scavenger Hunt

Websites for this November 13 scavenger hunt:

www.elgrupocycling.org
with information about their history by Head Coach Ignacio Rivera de Rosales.

to Register go to: http://bicyclescavengerhunt-ehometext.eventbrite.com/

El Grupo is a non-profit youth cycling team in Tucson, Arizona that affords the opportunities of cycling to local teens who otherwise would not get the chance.

Our mission is to empower youth through bicycles. We aim to instill traits such as courage, integrity, life-long healthy habits, and sportsmanship through bicycle advocacy, riding and racing bicycles. We embrace all forms of cycling from road and mountain bike racing to bicycle touring and daily commuting. El Grupo uses the bicycle as a means for positive development for at-risk youth that would not otherwise have healthy, skill-building and goal-oriented activities in their lives.

We are getting youth on bikes, and they in turn are teaching and inspiring other kids (and adults) to ride, enjoy, and love bikes, too. El Grupo is developing the next generation of cycling enthusiasts in Tucson.

El Grupo teaches safe cycling to different community groups and schools. In 2009, we taught over 500 kids bike safety and provided free bike valet parking for over 1,000 riders at 10 events.

We are developing the next generation of cyclist enthusiasts in Tucson.

Our two focus areas are:

•Educating and mentoring younger kids, especially in under-served neighborhoods, on how to bicycle safely (and letting them know that bikes are cool!)

•Hosting bike valet parking at community events, providing a valuable service to those who choose to ride and inspiring others to join them. Hire us!

This scavenger hunt sounds like lots of fun: 10 riddles to solve and 10 objects to find. Partcipants will ride (at their chosen pace) within a 2 mile radius of downtown searching for the objects, and enjoying the beautiful fall weather as well. With all the objects in hand, then they will head to the finish with a puzzle to solve. Good luck to all.