Bike to School Week Kicks off in UK!

Most of you know that we've donated Kryptonite branded bike racks to cities and towns in the US over the last year - and we will be again this year. It's been quite a successful program with lots of interest in the racks.

At the end of last year, our friend Carlton Reid put in a request that we just couldn't refuse. We donated 20 bike racks to St. Catherine’s RC Primary School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The head master is very pro-cycling for the kids. And then, of course, there are pro-cycling parents. It's a great recipe for more kids getting on bikes throughout their tenure at the school. It doesn't get better than that.

Check them out - they were in place last week (yes, it took a little longer that I'd hoped to get them overseas.....but it's all good)

This area will eventually have a covering over it so the kids are sheltered when properly locking and unlocking their bikes, of course.

Look - there are some kids already using the racks! But, the big kick off to the "Kryptonite Korner" was today. The start of Bike to School Week in the UK.

Not only did the kids all ride to school and fill up the racks, but Kevin Brennan, Minister for Children & Schools visited St. Cats and cut the tape on the new bike safety area! How cool is that?! We have Carlton to thank for that, too. Nicely done!

These are some great photos courtesy of Carlton, with more here. Check them out. It looks like everyone had a great time.

Bravo to all! Encouraging kids to be on their bikes is healthy and fun. Bravo, bravo!!!

UPDATE (5/7): Some great coverage on this event can be found at:

The Journal

The Journal cover shot (photo Carlton Reid)

BikeBiz

Quickrelease.tv

Bike For All

Filmed By Bike in Portland

Headed out to Filmed by Bike this week in Portland? Make sure to ride your bike there (it's kind of the point, right?). Don't worry, there will be a bike valet area there! Yes, courtesy of Kryptonite.

What's Filmed by Bike? Here's what they have to say about themselves:

Filmed by Bike is the West Coast's premier bike-themed film festival. The festival embraces the art and innovation of bikes through the eyes of imaginative storytellers who use moving images to celebrate the world's most efficient and creative form of transportation. Since 2003, Filmed by Bike has showcased a love of two wheels in eight minutes or less. This festival-plus-party happens once a year in Bike City, USA: Portland Oregon. The event grabs hold of an entire weekend of screenings and features movies from around the globe.

It's Friday thru Sunday this week. Check out the website for more details. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? I'm just bummed it's so far away....

In related news, check out the new bike racks at Portland's City Hall. Way to go, Portland!

Kryptonite Bike Racks

When we started our brand relaunch planning back just about a year ago we had a plan...and then we modified that plan...and then modified again. Sometimes a plan doesn't come together for whatever reason. So, not everything we originally planned for happened. Ah well...that's life.

One thing that was always on the plan was to provide some great cycling cities with permanent bike racks. We wanted to give cyclists in these cities and towns more places to secure their bikes when they were off exploring the city - or just doing daily errands.

It was a long process, longer than any of us expected, but in the end 4 cycling cities and towns will have bike racks installed - or already do. Portland, Oregon was the first city to see the bike racks. The first group was installed at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and seem to be full just about all the time.

Thanks to Rachael Allen for the photos of the Portland racks!

The school actually took away some car parking spots to put in a bigger bike rack area. How cool is that?! Now, to be fair and tell both sides, some people in Portland aren't happy that the racks have a company name on them, but most people seem to think more bike racks are a good thing and will use them. As you can see by the photos, dozens of people don't mind the little logo on the bottom of the racks. They just care about having a safe place to lock while in school or around the area. Photos like this just make us smile!

All full in Portland!

Then it was off to Blue Island, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago. They are a city that is trying to get back to more of its roots of being a walking and cycling city. The racks were just installed there a couple of weeks ago and Roby went out to meet with some people in town, including Mayor Peloquin, to christen the racks.

Julie Sklom a resident of Blue Island and member of MainStreet,

their Open Space Committee, rides over to meet Roby)

Mayor Peloquin and his office were gracious hosts to Roby when he was in town and were happy to have these racks provided (read the mayor's thoughts here). All of the cities and towns we've partnered with have been so great to work with during this project. But the local advocacy groups have been fantastic, too. Chicagoland Bicycle Federation really helped out with getting racks placed in their area and have been very supportive of this initiative. They even came out to the christening in Blue Island (thanks guys!).

(l-r)--Keith Holt (Chicagoland Bicycle Federation), Roby, Julie Sklom,

Mayor Donald Peloquin, Nicholas Crite (Land Planning Manager)

There will be more racks installed soon in one other Portland location as well as in Austin, Texas and Palos Heights, Illinois. In all, over 75 racks will be around the country for cyclists to use when they are out and about.

As soon as the rest of the racks are in place, we'll let you know...and get some more pictures up.