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Chapin Park Trails

Located at 3800 S. Hydraulic and sitting atop the former Chapin hog farm and landfill is the new Chapin Park. The park has multi-use trails (bike/walk) surfaced in crushed rock and singletrack dirt mountain bike trails. The trails meander over the grassy hilltop and down along the Arkansas river. The park also contains a dog park and model airplane field.

2008 Bikes For Tots Plaque

The Bikes For Tots campaign gave us this plaque for our 2008 contributions. It was also accompanied with a couple of nice thank you letters from Mr & Mrs Charles Williams (founders of Bikes For Tots) and the Salvation Army. These documents will go in the Coasters scrapbook. Thanks to Dan for picking this up as I never got around to it.

Man Attempts To Cross Frozen River On Bicycle

Story from KAKE.com

Intense moments for Hyatt Hotel employees who rushed into action to save a man’s life in downtown Wichita Tuesday afternoon.

Hotel workers saw the man heading across the Arkansas River just north of where the bridge crosses the waterway at Waterman Street.

The man apparently thought the river was frozen over enough to allow him to ride his bicycle over it but instead he plunged through the ice.

The employees sprung into action. While one called security for help, others were rushing to help pull the man from the river. Thanks to their quick thinking they were able to rescue him from the freezing water using a life buoy.

Tony Johnson was one of the employees who rushed to the man’s aide after pulling him from the water. “We just tried to get his blood moving so he could get up,” Johnson says. Employees took the man into the hotel lobby to help get him warm.

Mike Piland says he and the other employees tried to work fast. “By the time he got close enough for us to throw a buoy to him he was getting tired, Piland says.

“He was alert and everything and didn’t have any problem walking when we got him out so I think he just made a poor decision. He should have taken the bridge,” Piland adds.

“It feels pretty good to save someone’s life,” Hyatt employee Chris Campbell says, “especially in ice like that in the winter time.”

No word yet on the identity of the man or why he was trying to cross the river on a bike.

Coasters In The Delano Christmas Parade

Saturday, December 5th at 12:00pm.
The Coasters have been entered in the Delano District’s Christmas Parade. It’s the same day and just 2 hours before the Bikes For Tots parade but I think we can make both. Get double duty out of your holiday costume and/or decorated bike.
Note: For the Delano parade you and/or your bike must be decorated in a Christmas theme. No Santa’s though. There will be only one Santa and he’ll be leading the parade.

Meet at Lawrence Dumont Stadium/Metropolitan Baptist Church parking lot no later than 11:30am just as we do for the St Patrick’s parade. You may want to park your vehicle at the end of the parade route (Douglas & Seneca area) for a quick get-away to the BFT parade..

More info on the parade here.

5th Annual Bikes For Tots Parade And Party – December 5th

To celebrate the accomplishments of this year’s Bikes For Tots campaign there is a bicycle parade and party on Saturday, December 5th. The parade starts at the Bourbon Street Bar & Grill (formerly Cy?s Place) on Seneca at 2:00 pm. Line up begins at 1:00pm. There will be chili and all the fixings after the parade at the end point of Club DebRicks. Decorate yourself and/or your bike with a Christmas theme.

Don’t let the cold weather keep you at home this is a fun event! How often do you get to ride with Santa as your escort while the Wichita PD block traffic?

This is the same routine and route as last year. Here’s a map of the route. When it’s time to ride back to your vehicle at Bourbon Street I suggest this route where there is continuous sidewalk.