Reminder — BWAM offers an easy way to find or offer a ride to Helena for the Bike Walk Montana Summit (see article below) March 14-15. Fill out the form and you’ll be contacted.

Mark your calendars now for the Bike Walk Montana Summit in Helena on March 14-15.   Thursday, March 14 will feature an evening reception and social with keynote presentation by Scott Bricker, Executive Director of America Walks. Friday, March 15 is a full-day program with a mix of presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities. Highlights include a keynote address from Lt. Governor John Walsh, and insight from local and national experts on funding, promoting bicycle tourism, facility design, educational programs, and much more!  In addition to educational sessions, participants will have opportunities to explore tools and resources that communities may use to improve and promote biking and walking,   learn more about MAP-21 and the Transportation Alternatives Application Process,  and network with others from all across Montana.   To learn more and join Bike Walk Montana, visit www.BikeWalkMontana.org.

BWAM has organized a Ride of Silence in Missoula for that past several years. This year’s Ride of Silence will be held Wed., May 15, 2013 at 7:00 pm. This international event was begun by Chris Phelan in 2002 to honor a friend who was killed in a bike/motor vehicle crash. Chris has now created a petition on the White House petition page.

We encourage you to sign on to this petition and participate in this year’s Ride of Silence wherever you may be. This petition needs a total of 100,000 signatures  by Feb 15, 2013 so that the White House will review and respond. Petition text:

Get on a bicycle and ride one of the Rides Of Silence with the rest of the country and the world, May 15, 2013, 7 pm

We respectfully petition the President and his staff to join The Ride Of Silence on May 15, 2013, 7pm for the boldest bike ride in history. Read the rest of this entry »

Enter the new year, and it’s time for the BWAM annual member meeting and party! We’re excited about welcoming Meredith Printz of the Missoula Community Foundation to share with us plans for the Norman Maclean Trail connecting Missoula’s forested back yard to the Seeley Lake area. Please come and bring your friends — cyclists, hikers, walkers, runners — to learn more about this great recreational trail: Friday, January 25, 6-8 pm, Downtown Dance Collective, 121 W. Main. For information about the trail talk, see the article below by our new volunteer, Saara Snow. Registration is required, please register by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, 1/23/2013.

Other annual meeting business includes an overview of BWAM’s activities and advocacy the past year, including some exciting developments on the Missoula-Lolo Trail and Grant Creek Trail, and an update on our new statewide advocacy group, Bike Walk Montana. Board members Ginny Sullivan and Jean Belangie-Nye are up for re-election, and one vacancy exists due to original member Jim Sayer having completed two three-year terms, the maximum allowed under BWAM By-Laws. He will be missed! Board nominations and applications are encouraged. Send inquiries or suggestions to Robin.

Food and drink will be free to BWAM members, but non-members will be asked to donate $10. We’ll be happy to sign up new members at the door, and if you’re a lapsed BWAM member, this is the time to renew. Sorry, we can accept only checks or cash at the event, so if you want to join or renew by credit card, you can do so in advance here. Pre-registration  for the annual meeting is required, for both members and non-members.  Preregister here.

Introducing the Norman Maclean Trail

Like many a fly fisherman in western Montana where the summer days are almost arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades into a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

Many a Missoulian can relate to this passage from local author Norman Maclean’s beloved novel, A River Runs Through it. Whether you fly fish or bike or rock climb, if you live in western Montana its wild landscape holds some part of you captive, drawing you into the outdoors again and again to explore a new trail or rock wall or part of a river. For those of us who have lived elsewhere, we know that access to a wild ‘playground’ in our backyard is what makes Missoula unique. And soon outdoor enthusiasts and explorers will have access to a new trail route through the forested backyard that connects the Rattlesnake to the west side of Seeley Lake. The Missoula Community Foundation and the Seeley Lake Community Foundation have teamed up to bring the new trail to life and are naming it in honor of Norman Maclean’s local legacy. Read the rest of this entry »

Missoula’s Downtown Bike Den

Open For Use

With the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, Nov 15, 2012 the new Bike Den at the Mountain Line Transfer Station has officially opened. This great new facility provides covered parking for bicycles, a self-service bike repair station with tire inflator and display cases for bike commuter information. Stop by and check out this facility on Pine Street between Ryman and Woody Streets.

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• Vending machine has snacks plus minor parts including replacement inner tubes.
• Convenient stand to hold your bike while you make adjustments
• Convenient stand to hold your bike while you make adjustments
• Basic bike repair tools tethered to the bike stand.
• Basic bike repair tools tethered to the bike stand.
• Air compressor with both Presta and Shrader connections and pressure indicator.

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With the new 3-bike racks on the Mountain Line buses this Den makes for biking and busing in perfect harmony. These improvements were funded through a Federal Livability Grant obtained by Mountain Line to improve transportation services for Missoula.

Tuesday evening, October 2, 2012, at Meadow Hill Middle School approximately 30 local enthusiasts attended an open house showing the latest renditions of  possible trail alignments between Missoula and Lolo. View the handout from this meeting in PDF format (1.8MB).
This potential trail would complete the link from Missoula to Hamilton with linkages to additional bike friendly routes across the country. DJ&A, P.C. is the consulting contractor performing the feasibility study.

See the KPAX-TV report.

Jean Belangie-Nye, Board Member of BWAM has been a primary participant for BWAM and the community moving this project forward. Jean continues to work with Missoula County staff, MDT staff, and DJ&A staff to keep this project on track and in progress.

Additional detail files are now available as of Oct. 26, 2012. Read the rest of this entry »