http://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith/sets/72157624757176047/

Just posted a Fat Tire Tour of Milwaukee XXVI Flickr Photoset.

Venues visited in no particular order were and not necessarily official:

• Cafe Hollander
• Best Place – the new pub in the old Pabst complex on Juneau.
• Long Wong’s
• Kelly’s Bleachers
• Haggerdy’s
• Valley Inn
• Kochanski’s Concertina Bar
• Liquor Store
• Holler House
• Times Square Pizza
• Lakefront Brewery
• Liquor Store
• Monica’s
• Rascal’s
• Cafe Hollander

Dave bowling at Kochanski’s while Greg pilots Tony’s Xtracycle.

Here’s looking forward to next year’s Fat Tire Tour of Milwaukee XXVII!

We will pay homage to the brew city’s bowling heritage and the movie The Big Lebowski on Saturday, June 12. We’ll be visiting legendary bowling alleys like the Holler House, the oldest lanes in the US. We’ll hit Long Wong’s too and they’ll play The Big Lebowski on the big screen.

Pix from the event may be posted as it happens! For sure after.

The country’s merriest festival of bikes, costumes and whimsy is coming to Milwaukee for the first time. Tour de Fat takes place at Milwaukee’s Humboldt Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 3.

New Belgium Brewery has been taking its whimsical Tour de Fat around the country for a number of years. Some of the unique features of this unusual event include a bicycle parade through the city in the morning, costumes, beer garden and various festivities.

During the festival one rider will trade in his or her car for a fully loaded commuter bike. To be eligible, participants must submit a 2 minute video to New Belgium Brewery explaining why they want to live car free.

Suggested donation for participants is $5, which goes to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. Click here for a schedule.

The Bike Fed needs 100 volunteers to register participants, staff the beer tent, marshal the parade and conduct sundry other activities throughout the day. Volunteers who serve a minimum of two hours receive a Tour de Fat t-shirt and two beer tokens. For more information or to sign up, please contact the Bike Fed’s Jessica Binder.

Join us on Saturday night, February 20^th for the 6^th annual Nut Factory Open House  Located in the historic Nut Factory building at 3720 N. Fratney St. in Milwaukee.

The following artists will open their studios to show their work and working environments: Christopher Poehlmann, Gregory Klassen, Michael Davidson, Schlick Cycles, Tom Jelinske, Shana McCaw + Brent Budsburg, Annoushka Peck, Will Pergl, along with some special guests Cody Frei, Alec Regan, Dan Lawton and others yet to be announced.

The Nut Factory is located in Riverwest on N Fratney Street 1 block west of Humboldt Ave between Keefe + Vienna.

We are in Unit 2B and it looks like it should be a pretty busy place.  Greg’s friend Tom will be displaying his art – really cool, LARGE pieces, accessible and somewhat ironic art. Dave should have some of his metal sculptures as well. We will have finger type food, cheese, veggies etc. and wine.

There may be more but that is what we know about for sure.

This year there is a good website showing photos, artists and other pertinent info. Have a look at:

http://nutfactory.shutterfly.com/

Hope to see you there!

John & Greg

Link to Google Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&ie=UTF8&om=0&msa=0&msid=116708516255797257381.000445a8496be7d563733&ll=43.087413,-87.906847&spn=0.013226,0.028925&z=15&iwloc=000445a85435ba89ba1b6

P.S.  We realize many of you are not from the Milwaukee area, but you may know someone that is or you may be traveling. Let someone know about Schlick Cycles – you are our best salespeople! Thanks.

Director of Communication

The Bike Fed is now accepting resumes for a Director of Communication. This career-building opportunity offers the ideal candidate a chance to lead external communications and mobilize bicycle support throughout the state. ??The position is 40 hours/week and can be based out of the Bike Fed’s Madison or Milwaukee office. Benefits include health, dental, and vacation time plus an excellent work space in either downtown Madison or downtown Milwaukee.

Submit a cover letter and resume by 5pm Monday, February 22

Click here for the full job description and contact information

Director of Membership & Development

The Bike Fed seeks a highly motivated and organized Director of Membership & Development to recruit new members, retain the Bike Fed’s existing 3,500 members, and engage members in the Bike Fed’s work to make biking in Wisconsin safe, fun, and convenient. This exciting position plays a central role in building momentum to make Wisconsin one of the best places in the country to be on a bike. ??The position is 40 hours/week and can be based out of the Bike Fed’s Madison or Milwaukee office. Benefits include health, dental, and vacation time plus an excellent work space in either downtown Madison or downtown Milwaukee.

Submit a cover letter and resume by 5pm Monday, February 8. Late applications may still be considered.

Click here for the full job description and contact information

Bike Walk Safety Instructor

The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (Bike Fed) is seeking a Bike/Walk Safety Instructor to support Milwaukee ‘s Safe Routes to School program. Safe Routes to School is an innovative national movement to stop the growing trend of childhood obesity by drastically increasing the number of children who bike and walk to school. ??The position is 20-35 hours/week and is based in Milwaukee . Hours will be scheduled between 8am – 6pm Monday – Friday with occasional Saturdays required. The position is part-time, limited-term employment paid at $10/hour and does not include benefits. ??Employment begins April 12 and ends in October.

Submit a cover letter and resume by 5pm Monday, February 19

Click here for the full job description and contact information

Jessica Wineberg Binder??Wisconsin Safe Routes to School Network Organizer?Wisconsin@saferoutespartnership.org www.saferoutespartnership.org/wisconsin

Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
1845 N Farwell
Suite 100
Milwaukee , WI 53202
414-431-1761

www.bfw.org

P.S. Save the date for our annual Wisconsin Bike Summit on April 21 and 22. Join hundreds of fellow bike supporters to make Wisconsin one of the world’s best places to be on a bike.

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The morning looked kind of dismal early but by the time we were ready to go the sky was looking friendlier and when we arrived on the parking lot behind Benno’s several folks were getting ready to roll.

We headed in to the bar for a bit of AM fuel in the form of Riverwest Stein for me and a Spotted Cow for Dave and met the growing group of riders.

A bit after 10AM we hit the road with a group of close to 30 riders.

The route for the day took was all new to me but from what I remember it was a blast! We mostly headed along the Menomonee River either in the culvert or on some really nice off road trails with diversions to the Valley Inn, Leff’s Lucky Town, Bubba’s Cave, ‘Tosa Hollander and a nice stop in the woods with, you guessed it, beer! There is a partial route track from my iPhone here but since we started at 10AM and didn’t finish ’till about 6PM I ran out of juice for the p-hone. I’ll have to get an auxiliary battery for the next ride.

I rode my Teesdale Mountain bike and Dave had his new Teesdale MTB as well.

Check out more Metro Mountainbikers pix on Flickr.