Winter is not only a tough time for those of us who like to ride bikes but also on those who make a living repairing and selling them. Like all bike shops Tom Sawyer Bicycle Shop is in the middle of the slow season. Unfortunately for them during last year’s peak season they had months of construction at their intersection of Broadway & Mt Vernon that no doubt deterred or detoured business. Bike shops generally depend on the good seasons to get them through the bad.
This time of year is always a good time to have your lbs (local bike shop) tune up your bike(s), have wheels built, hubs repaired etc… The bike shops need the business and you’re probably not riding much anyway. You could even have them sell you a new bike in anticipation of Spring!

Lee Engler has been a bike fanatic for a long time, and now he?s making his hobby his business.

Engler, a former landscape architect for WDM Architects, is opening Lee?s Bike Shop at 135th West and Maple.

Full story here.

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.

From Kansas.com

Several public works projects expected to be completed this year include West Street from Maple to Central; Oliver between Harry and Kellogg; Meridian from 31st South to 47th South; improvements to the 21st and Broadway intersection; and a new bike path along the I-135 corridor, from McAdams Park to Grove Park.

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.

From KWCH.com

More improvements are planned for the east bank of the Arkansas River. The Wichita City Council approved a $2.2 million project Tuesday.

The improvements will take place from the Keeper of the Plains to Douglas Street. The city will add new bike paths, lighting and landscaping.

Full story here.

In a previous post I mentioned how the City of Wichita had plans to use federal stimulus money to add bike racks to busses. It has now become a reality. From Wichita.gov…

The Wichita Transit Department has added bike racks to all of the Transit buses to accommodate the needs of riders. Each bus is equipped with one bike rack which can hold two bicycles. The bike racks increase transportation options by allowing a bicycle trip to be incorporated with public transportation. There are 48 City buses which travel 18 fixed routes.

?Transit riders have been asking for the bike racks and we are excited to better meet their needs,? Wichita Transit Director Mike Vinson said. ?We are now able to connect these two important modes of transportation. We believe the racks will increase ridership and help reduce pollution by encouraging the use of public transportation and bicycles.?

There is no extra charge to riders who use the bike racks. An ARRA Stimulus fund grant of $24,000 paid for the racks. For more information about Transit services, visit wichita.gov or call the information line at 265-7221.

I actually seen one in use earlier this week.

From the Wichita Bicycle Collective website…

We’ll be back open tomorrow 12-6 for open shop, come by and help us finish getting the shop set up. The address is 553 N Fountain. We made a lot of progress last week but there’s plenty left to do. We’ll be installing lighting and power, building wheel shelves, making signs and posters. if you’ve got bikes, parts, or tools to donate, it’ll be the best time to bring them by.

While at the Courageous Cog benefit we also learned of this.
Their website wichitabikepolo.blogspot.com

Kansas.com report on trial bicycle lanes in Wichita.

A project to see whether bicycle lanes would work on Wichita streets is focusing on First and Second streets.

City Council members expressed interest at an August workshop in painting bike lanes on streets to encourage bicycling for transportation and recreation.

First and Second streets are the primary areas of study because they offer a variety of conditions that would allow the city to see how bike lanes would work, said Joe Pajor, assistant director of public works.

Read the entire story here.