It's Bike to Work Week!

This whole month has been a celebration of biking in Baltimore. Last week we wrapped up Baltimore Bicycle Week, with rides almost every night hosted by Black People Ride Bikes, Baltimore Bikers, and many more riding and advocacy groups.

This week is the 25th Anniversary of Bike to Work Week, another full week of rides and pop-ups to visit. We’ll be at the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Commission Ride and Safety Popup at Eager Park on Wednesday as well as in front of our office with free coffee from Sophomore on Friday Morning.

A full list of events this week is below. Join us!

ACTION ALERT: Greenway Trails Network Meetings

Greenway Trails Network Northern Segment community engagement in Druid Hill Park in 2016

Virtual meetings to discuss the Northern Segments of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network are being held March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.

Please register to attend by clicking here.

The Northern Segments of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network would create a new trail connection between the Gwynns Falls Trail, Jones Falls Trail, and Herring Run Trail, allowing people to safely and accessibly walk, bike, and roll between Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park, Druid Hill Park, Wyman Park, Lake Montebello, and Herring Run Park.

The Northern Segments are the largest unconstructed gap of the full 35 mile Baltimore Greenway Trails Network, which when completed will connect a majority of neighborhoods and nearly every large city park, transit hub, cultural institution, hospital, and university to one another through a walking, biking, and rolling trail.

Bikemore began conducting community outreach around the Northern Segments of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network in 2016, meeting residents through our Mobile Bike Shop and other programming in partnership with community associations and residents. We have consistently heard a desire for safe and accessible trail connections along the corridor.

You can learn more about the full project by clicking here.

Like any project that has the potential to reclaim or repurpose space from motor vehicles, the idea of a safe trail connection along Gwynns Falls Parkway and 33rd Street faces opposition.

It's important that you show up and make your voice heard.

Giving thanks for our 7th Annual Cranksgiving

Photo credit: Azania Rizing Photography

This year's Cranksgiving was happily a mixture of the “old” and “new”.  Last year, after rethinking how such a dynamic event could happen safely admist COVID-19, we were grateful to combine some of the elements for this year’s 7th Annual Cranksgiving. And our community showed up in large numbers!

• 210 riders participated in 56 teams

• 43 volunteers checked riders in, and counted & organized food

• $2500+ of groceries donated

• 1400 pounds of fresh fruits from Hungry Harvest donated

• $440 dollars raised directly for Moveable Feast & the Franciscan Center

• 4 checkpoints run by partners

• 22 local businesses donated prizes

• 6 sponsors provided funding for the event

Last year gave us an opportunity to be a little more creative with how Cranksgiving would logistically happen. We adopted a two manifest arrangement of stops so riders could end directly at one of our food partners - The Franciscan Center or Moveable Feast. Manifests were sent out virtually, and participants rode home after dropping off their food.

This year’s Cranksgiving allowed us to keep what worked last year; we kept the two manifests, meaning that we had a total amount totaling 17 checkpoints across the city — we'd like to believe that this is just one minute contributing factor to having more exposure and visibility of cyclists of all types on the road across the city for such a valuable cause.

This also meant this year’s event needed more support than ever to make possible, and we are so grateful for the volunteers, businesses, and their creativity that really made the event. Hungry Harvest joined us for a second year to set up a produce pick-up checkpoint, REI hosted a cornhole at the Washington Monument, Cutlass Velo hosted a ringtoss checkpoint at St. Mary’s Park, and A Few Cool Hardware Stores set up a checkpoint at Waverly Ace Hardware to promote their PPE Drive for Moveable Feast. Volunteers stationed at parks ran challenges from guessing a word in American Sign Language to naming parts on a bike.

Cranksgiving is truly a community event. It was an idea originally planted in a Facebook group, planned by friends, filled with support from Baltimore businesses — all to benefit those facing food insecurity this winter, and done by people on bikes. Bikemore is really grateful we get the chance to harness your energy into a positive force for Baltimore.

Check out photos from the photobooth on Facebook!

Love community events like Cranksgiving? You can keep them going by supporting our work Bikemore and making a donation today.

Cranksgiving Sponsors

Prize Sponsors

cranksgiving benefits

Special thanks to

Charm City Meadworks for hosting our after party, Hungry Harvest for donating produce, Cutlass Velo for hosting a checkpoint, REI for hosting a checkpoint, and a Few Cool Hardware Stores for hosting a checkpoint. Thanks to Brian O’Doherty for taking Cranksgiving photobooth pics!

A night at Druid Hill Park, and a movement to make it equitable

We’re are grateful to all of those that came out for our latest Friday Night Lights. These nights been a really fun way for Bikemore to bring people together and connect to Baltimore’s beautiful outdoor parks.

We believe in a city that connects people to people and opportunities. And a key piece of what creates a healthy, livable city is connection to our parks. We’ve been working in Reservoir Hill and Druid Hill Park since the start of Bikemore, and it’s been exciting to see some big changes afoot led with a vision of Complete Streets and restoring relationship between surrounding neighborhoods to Druid Hill Park.

• DOT released a study on the Big Jump. The big takeaways? There is virtually no impact on car travel times and 87% of survey respondents wanted some version of it to stay.

• ... which is why we're excited that the Big Jump is getting an upgrade to concrete barriers in Spring 2022! The water-filled orange and white barriers will be replaced by concrete Jersey Barriers. And, Graham Projects is leading public art to go on the barriers. We’re taking your input on what that art should look like: draw and share your design ideas.

• All of the work along Druid Park Lake Drive & Druid Hill Park is coming to the final planning stages. RecnParks will hold a meeting the week of 9/28 to show their plans for the redesigned park once the DPW work on the lake is done. DOT is leading a Complete Streets design effort on Druid Park Lake Drive to reconnect surrounding neighborhoods to the park, and will host a meeting on 10/7 to present plans. Check out the articles in Next City and the Baltimore Sun that highlights the advocacy of neighborhood leaders to increase accessibility and equity in the area.

• DOT has begun community meetings and gathering input on the Northern Segment of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network, which includes Gwynns Falls Parkway and Wyman Park Drive, roads that would be connected through the Jones Falls Trail within the park. We suggest you continue to keep an eye on the project, and join community meetings to advocate for the trail and share your ideas of what it could look like.

To follow along, make sure you follow us on social media (links below), and please continue support the work of Divayogi, Black People Ride Bikes, and TAP Druid Hill.

Also, mark your calendars for the big Charm City Cross race on October 2&3!

If you have ideas for the next Friday Night Lights, let us know.

 Want to support Bikemore? Help us out by starting a small monthly donation. Even $5/month helps Bikemore build sustainability from grassroots donors like yourself. 

#FillTheRoom at Upcoming BCDOT Meetings

This Thursday, Baltimore City Department of Transportation (BCDOT) is hosting two meetings that will affect bicycle infrastructure connectivity. Bikemore staff will be joining to hear updates and provide input on equitable design. We hope you can come too, especially if you’re a resident of the areas where the infrastructure will be built.

Harford Road Bridge Meeting 

Thursday, January 21 | 6pm | On WebEx

Construction on the Harford Road Bridge over Herring Run began in 2018. The original design for the bridge included standard bike lanes next to four lanes of high-speed traffic, despite widespread community requests for the new design to slow down cars and provide safer space for biking and walking. 

We have been advocating alongside District 3 Councilman Ryan Dorsey for a Complete Streets redesign of the bridge that includes space in which people of all ages feel comfortable walking and biking. BCDOT will provide updates on the design changes under consideration during this meeting.

Details + Meeting Link

Wolfe/Washington Cycle Track Meeting

Thursday, January 21 | 6pm | On WebEx

As part of the Separated Lane Network Plan released in 2016, a North/South connecting separated bike lane is planned to be built on either Wolfe St. or Washington St. This meeting will kickoff discussion on a design and selection of which street would serve as the best connection.

A separated bike lane on Wolfe/Washington St. would be a critical route through East Baltimore for people of all ages and abilities to feel comfortable using. It would connect the Promenade and Monument Street for East/West travel and to a planned trail connection on St. Lo Drive that would provide access through Clifton Park to future separated lanes on Harford Road and the future Baltimore Greenway Trail Network on 33rd Street and Herring Run.

Details + RSVP (Required)

If you are able to join and show your support for biking and walking infrastructure on these corridors, please sign on to fill the virtual room. 

Have questions? Feel free to email us at info@bikemore.net.