Bike, Bike in Shapes, Eugene, OR

January 25th – Block Hole

Jump into an inescapable spacetime pull of the “Block Hole” — a whole block, that is. That’s right, we will cycle an entire block loop before being sucked into the Cascadian Courier Collective Falling Sky X CCC Release Gathering for after beers. Meet at the Falling Sky Brewing Pour House & Delicatessen (790 Blair) at 7:00pm this Wednesday, January 25th for our .28 mile winter cupcake ride.

Route Map  | Facebook Event

block-hole

Advertisement
Bike, BikeInShapes, Eugene, OR

May 17th – Prancing Piggy

This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy went weeeeeeee as it pranced throughout Eugene! Let’s meet this Thursday, May 17th at Falling Sky Brewery at 7:45pm and ride the Prancing Pig. This is a 7 miler, so we will leave at 7:50pm to enjoy the beautiful sunset along the river!

Bike, BikeInShapes, Eugene, OR

March 28th (not 21st) – Periodic Table

Due to the weather, we’ll meet same time, same place, next Wednesday for the Periodic Table. Enjoy the snow! See you at the Bier Stein at 7:45pm on the 28th.

–  –  –

“Fe” your lab coat and “O” your tires as we geek out to the Periodic Table shape. We’ll start from The Bier Stein this Wednesday at 7:45pm. If it’s too crowded afterward, we’ll migrate over to The High St. Cafe. Be there or be [an element] square!

Bike, BikeInShapes, Eugene, OR

July 30th (Bonus) – The Cello

What about supporting a cello band that tours….by bicycle! Indie-celloist Ben Sollee is coming through town on 7/30 (Sat), and we’re going to do a bonus-July BikeInShapes in the shape of a cello. Let’s meet at that Saturday at The Vintage at 6:30pm  for the ride. We’ll grab a bite afterward before the show starts.

Thanks to Larisa for mapping the ride and providing the blurb below.

http://www.myspace.com/bensollee
http://www.wowhall.org/events.php
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3705695

Armed with a cello, Ben Sollee often tours the country by bicycle, imploring folks to rediscover the connections between music, art, dance, their community, and personal relationships.  Beyond bridging genres and demographics with earnest, dynamic songwriting and passionate performances, Ben Sollee seeks to intertwine his music with art and life.  “Ben’s songs speak worldly wisdom and stand on their own, and he is out there in this world with those songs and that cello, riding his bike and fighting the good fight and doing all he can to help make the world right.” ~ Yim Yames

In 2010, Ben embarked on the “Ditch The Van Tour.” Ben and his band abandoned the comforts of a motorized vehicle and hauled their gear and instruments (yep, the cello too) across the country on bicycles. Ben’s mission was to engage a greater sense of community involvement at every performance. By huffing it on two-wheels between cities, instead of driving or flying, Ben and his crew were able to discover people and facets of our country in ways that traditional touring could not allow.  “It’s not about being green or even sustainable… we want to exploit the limitations of the bicycle to slow down and experience the rich communities and people that I’ve spent years flying-by and driving past.”

Bike, BikeInShapes, Eugene, OR

June 21st – Skinner’s Spiral

It’s BikeInShapes first birthday, and she’s inkling to celebrate in a Eugenean manner. What better way than to spiral up the basin of our town’s roots, Eugene Skinner’s Butte. We’ll start at the David Minor Theater (180 E. 5th Ave) at 7:45pm next Tuesday and glide down the butte to The Bridge Bar & Grill (444 E. 3rd Ave.) for a cold one. Beer only squatters are welcome too. Be ready for a butteful evening!

T-shirts: Want a BikeInShapes t-shirt full of this year’s shapes? Scrounge up a plain shirt to bring with you on Tuesday. We’ll screen print it off for return at the July 21st ride. If you can chip in a couple bucks for the Emerald Green ink, that’d be lovely. :)

Bike, Eugene

September 9th – Alfalfa

Who’s got big ears, a crackly little voice and a spiked hairdo? This Thursday, it’s time to trace the face of The Little Rascals’ Alfalfa. We’ll meet outside of the Ninkasi Brewing Company’s tasting room in the Whitaker at 7pm. Also, we’re hoppy to announce Ninkasi is offering our group discounts on pints. Thanks Ninkasi!


Bike

Bike Route feature on Google maps

The NY Times’ Practical Traveler had a piece this week on Google’s ongoing effort to include biking routes in Google Maps.  Thankfully Eugene is one of the 200 cities included. For the purposes of BikeInShapes, we have continued to use the walking function for two reasons. (1) The biking function cannot be embedded in links yet and (2)  it is still easier to draw a specific shape accurately in the walking function. However, this ease derives from Google programming the biking function to prefer routes with non-traffic bike paths, even if it is not quite as direct. Below is an example comparing a straight walk (above) and bike ride (below) on 11th Avenue. The bike route veers south to capture some of the Fern Ridge path. Generally, this preferable for a biker:

So the message to Google Maps: great start but add embedding capability to the biking function.

Also the article lists several good map route creation resources which we will link to on the right panel.