Bike to Work Week April 9 to 13

For you bike commuters, this is your week to enjoy your ride to/from work, as well as festivities & freebies at various businesses in town. And for those of you not yet commuting via a bike, here’s a great way to ride for the first time & learn more about Bike Week.

See http://www.livingstreetsalliance.org/bike-fest/bike-to-work-week/ for a full schedule of events, including the following in alphabetical order:

APRIL 9TH – 13TH, 2012 BIKE TO WORK STATIONS

Ajo Bikes
1301 East Ajo Way
Monday – Friday
April 9th-13th, 9am – 6pm
Ajo Bikes would like to thank you for riding your bike with a free water bottle. Stop in and say hello!

Antigone Books
411 North 4th Avenue
Monday – Thursday
April 9th – 12th, 10am – 7pm
Friday April 13th, 10am – 9pm
Ride your bike to Antigone Books, show your helmet and say, “Bike Fest,” for a free bike sticker.

Beyond Bread
Central 3026 North Campbell Avenue Between Glenn & Ft. Lowell
Northwest 421 West Ina Road SE Corner of Ina & Oracle
East 6260 East Speedway Blvd. Monterey Village at Wilmot
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th, 6:30am – 8pm
Ride your Bike to any Beyond Bread location wearing your bike gear and receive a free fountain beverage, regular coffee, or tea with any purchase.

Brooklyn Pizza Company
534 N. 4th Avenue
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th, 11am to 6pm
Mention Bike Fest and receive two free scoops of Italian ice (one per person per day). Feel free to fill your water bottles and don’t forget to show your helmet.

Building Health: Energy Medicine and the Arts
1720 N. Dodge Blvd. (just north of Pima)
Wednesday
April 11th, 7am – 9am
In honor of Bike to Work Week, Building Health is supporting local commuters by offering up treats for the body and soul. Stop in on Wednesday April 11th between 7am and 9am for the following:

Free bottle of water that you may choose to energize with a local desert flower essence
Sore muscles? Free packet of The Desert Heals bath salts
Clean Air Discount coupon for a healing session

Cartel Coffee Lab
Campbell Ave: Tucson
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th
Stop by the Cartel Coffee Lab on your bike and get a free large iced toddy with the purchase of a meal. We hear they are super bike friendly in their new location just a few doors from their original.

Christy’s Corner Cafe and Defenders of Wildlife
La Placita Village
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th
Stop by Christy’s Corner Cafe during Bike to Work Week and enjoy a free cup of Arbuckles local, Fair Trade, Organic Coffee with the purchase of a bagel. Defenders of Wildlife will be giving away 5 reusable bags each day at the cafe to the first 5 bicyclist who stop in. They will also have their calendars and stuffed animals for the kiddies! Christy’s Corner Cafe is located in La Placita Village just south of the footbridge and next to the Arizona Hotel. Learn more about Christy’s Corner Cafe on her Facebook Page, and check out Defenders for Wildlife on their website at www.defenders.org.

Law Office of Eric Post, P.L.L.C.
Eric-Post-Law-Office.png
FOOD STATION
3256 East Speedway Boulevard
Thursday
April 12, 8:30am – 5:30pm
On Thursday morning stop by the Law Office of Eric Post for some refreshments and food on your commute to work. Turn North on N. Camino Miramonte off of the 3rd Street Bike Blvd. and look West for his refreshment station on the corner of Speedway and N. Camino Miramonte in the parking lot.

Food Conspiracy Co-op
412 North 4th Avenue
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th
Anyone who rides their bike to the Food Conspiracy CO-op during Bike to Work Week will receive a free 12-oz dark roast Conspiracy Coffee. Don’t forget to mention Bike to Work Week!

The HUB
266 East Congress Street
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th
Saddle up and bike on over to the Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery for a buy one get one HUB Scoopon when you mention Bike To Work Week and show your helmet.

Keeling On The Move
FOOD STATION
Fontana Avenue/Blacklidge Street
Wednesday
April 11, 2012, 7am – 8:30am
Ride your bike along the new 4th Avenue/Fontana Bicycle Boulevard and stop by the Food Station just south of Blacklidge for food, drinks, and free water bottles to the first 25 people who arrive. Pima Association of Governments + Tucson Department of Transportation are to thank for this special Bike To Work Week Treat!

Maynards
400 North Toole Avenue
Friday
April 13th, 7am-9am
Maynards supports Bike to Work Week by hosting Bike to Work’s grand finale event – the Downtown Celebration. Enjoy live music, free food, awards, and more. Sponsored by the City of Tucson and Living Streets Alliance.

Oro Valley Bike to Work Day
FOOD STATION
Rooney Ranch (NE corner of First Avenue and Oracle Road, commonly known as the Home Depot Plaza)
Thursday
April 12th 7am-9am
Stop by Rooney Ranch on your bicycle and you can enjoy a warm cup of coffee, bagels + snacks, and raffles for prizes from local bike shops!

O2 Modern Fitness
186 E. Broadway Blvd.
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th
Receive 10% off any lunch time or 4:15pm classes the entire week if you show up on your bike.

Pima Community College – Downtown Campus
FOOD STATION
Corner of Stone/Speedway
Friday
April 6, 2012 7am-9am
The Downtown Campus will be hosting a bike to work station. Members of the student Sustainability Club will be offering water, homemade granola, and chatting with riders. Information about Pima will be available for those who would like to learn about classes. We will be set up at the corner of Stone/Speedway under the Pima College marquis.

The Campus will also be hosting a Ride to Work contest through April to encourage the use of alternative means of transportation. Bikes will be the focus of this event, but all transportation methods are included. Participants should register with the Rideshare website to track their mileage. Prizes will be awarded to the winners!

Sky Bar
536 N. 4th Avenue
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th, 9am – 6pm
Stop by Sky Bar for a free cup of coffee (one per person per day) to get your day rolling.
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th, 5pm – 8pm
When you bike home from work, why not pop into Sky Bar for $1 off wells and drafts. Water refills available. Don’t forget your helmet.

Sparkroot • coffee bar + fare
245 E Congress St
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th, 7am-9am
Ride to Sparkroot any morning during Bike To Work Week and get an Espresso + Homemade Granola Bar for $3. Fuel up on a quick, tasty, and healthy treat to energize the rest of your morning commute!

Spoke6
FOOD STATION
439 N 6th Ave, #101
Tuesday
April 10th, 7am – 9am
Spoke6 will be hosting a free commuter breakfast for all who ride their bikes to work on Tuesday Morning! Enjoy a spread of bagels, coffee, and tea, and have breakfast with other Tucson commuters. Stop by and check out Tucson’s professional co-working office space located on the SW corner of 6th Ave and 6th Street in heart of our local arts district.

Tucson Community Acupuncture
2900 East Broadway Blvd Suite 170
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th 9am – 7pm – Don’t forget to make your appointment!
Bike and Relax!
Take a break from your commute and bike in for an affordable acupuncture treatment at Tucson Community Acupuncture. New patients can get a relaxing treatment in our community space for $15, return patients for $10, when you show your helmet and mention Bike Fest. Appointments are required and offer is available Monday-Friday 9am-7pm. Call 881-1887 or schedule online at http://www.tucsoncommunityacupuncture.org.

Bike parking available outside, be sure to bring your lock!

Tucson Yoga
150 South 4th Avenue
Monday – Friday
April 9th – 13th classes start at 7am
Rejuvenate your mind and body at Tucson Yoga. All 7am classes are free to bike commuters who show their helmet and say, “Bike Fest”.

UA, Fairwheel Bike Shop, BICAS, UA Cycle Club
UA Mall in front of the science library
Wednesday
April 11th, 9am – 2pm
We will have a lot going on for bicyclists – free bike registration with a free bike light kit and free bike bell (while supplies last), free minor bike repairs/tune-ups, free nutritional bars from Clif bar, and free maps, brochures, and giveaways.

Xoom Juice
245 E. Congress
Monday – Friday
April 9-13th, 7am – 9am
All week at the Downtown Xoom Juice, show up on your bike and get a $2 Smashing Strawberry Smoothie with a protein boost, the perfect breakfast smoothie for a quick in and out morning blast of healthful energy on your ride to work!

So much to do at 2nd Saturdays Downtown on 11/12/11

Every month on the 2nd Saturday of the month, our dilemma is what to do downtown on Congress Street. Should we go to a concert the Fox Tucson Theatre, or listen to music at the Scott Avenue Stage, or watch a Cinema La Placita movie at the big empty lot on Congress Street, or, or, or….

There’s so much to do that the choices are overwhelming. Sometimes it’s just fine to walk along and about Congress Street between the Hotel Congress and the Fox Theater, and just enjoy the Parasol Project mute performers, the street minstrels, the circus folks on stilts, the food wagons, classic cars, the children enjoying their world of fun. And don’t miss the monthly athletic acrobatics of Les Avenge (this month at the SW Corner of Congress St./Stone Ave. 6pm-10pm).

Since August, 2011 a group of independent film makers have been showing free films on 5th Avenue:

The Short Film Showcase is a major event in Tucson, Arizona and will be a revolving event that will take place on the second Saturday every month on 5th Ave between Broadway and Congress on the south end on the Rialto Building Patio. Several local talents from Tucson, Arizona will have their shorts screened at this event. It is free to the public and will take place on November 12th, 2011 outside and will start at 7pm and last till 9:00pm. Short Film Showcase Facebook contact –TucsonSFS@groups.facebook.com or Daniel Geffre, geffreap@live.com/520-271-1026 or Yuri Machado, authenticproductions@live.com/520-331-2451.

Right up the street from this Short film Showcase is a brand new urban coffee bar, Sparkroot (for more photos, click here).

Also new to downtown is the Mars & Beyond exhibit in the Rialto building (catercorner from Sparkroot), which opened on October 22. Here’s the description from the 2nd Saturdays Downtown website:

Mars & Beyond 300 E. Congress St. 622-8595. 9am-9pm. The wonders of Earth’s neighborhood, our solar system, in stunning color and clarity, with an emphasis on Mars, including some of the latest cutting edge scientific work by UA teams on NASA’s HiRISE Mars high-resolution orbiting camera, the Phoenix Mars Mission science lab lander, the upcoming OSIRIS-REx, and more.

For the entire event schedule for Nov. 12, click here. And as for food, most of the restaurants are open, plus there’s all types of inexpensive food at the wagons parked along the south side of Congress Street between Scott Avenue and Stone Avenue. There’s even a booth on Scott Avenue selling delicious-looking, decorated cupcakes.

Enjoy 2nd Saturdays Downtown in November!

Sparkroot: gorgeous new urban downtown coffee shop (photos)

Sparkroot's Congress Street entrance

In August, 2011 a new coffee bar + fare establishment opened up on the NW corner of Congress/5th Avenue (245 E. Congress) called Sparkroot.

What is a “sparkroot” I asked? The definition is from their website, www.sparkroot.com: “we hope to spark the burgeoning creative energy of downtown, while being rooted in the lovely community around us.”

Here’s some photos I took recently of this uber-urban coffee bar, with an attractive upstairs loft (with a view), steel beams & metal staircase, and even a bamboo plant in the middle of the downstairs area, with lots of different types of seating. It’s chic, upscale, and cool at the same time, with colorful local artwork throughout.

I sampled a few unusual salad offerings – quinoa kale (with lemon avocado dressing), and roasted beet (with baby arugula, orange slices, sherry shailot vinaigrette). Then I selected a chevre cheese sandwich on ciabatta, made with herbs, spinach & artichoke hearts.

These are creative, unique offerings, along with their delicious-smelling artisan coffee by Blue Bottle Coffee Co. of San Francisco, teas, sodas, juices.

This place must be hopping on 2nd Saturdays Downtown with the thousands of people who walk by on Congress St. Check them out soon. Hours are M to Sat. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. As you can see from the photos below, this is the urban coffee shop that downtown was missing. And you can even call/text-in orders at 520-272-8949. And check out their weekly specials.

And yes, there is free parking (for the first hour weekdays) at the underground parking garage 50 ft. north of this coffee bar on 5th Avenue. Parking is free on the weekends. Walk to it from 4th Avenue, or catch the Sun Tran bus to Ronstadt Transit Center, which is just west of this area.

I like this bar’s unusual name & food: let’s hope they continue to spark more creative community energy & the growing of roots downtown. Welcome Sparkroot.

5th Avenue entrance/exit next to One North Fifth apartments