2012, here we come

Planning for our Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes officially kicked off last night.

Here’s what we can tell you so far:

* Pedal will take place on Saturday, May 19, 2012 during Cleveland Bicycle Month.  Please mark your calendars!

* Old Brooklyn CDC’s second Pop UP Pearl is scheduled for the same day, so there will be a chance for you to enjoy entertainment, browse pop-up shops, and much more before, during, or after Pedal for Prizes.

* Due to the generosity of Neighborhood Connections, a program of the Cleveland Foundation that provides small grants to grassroots neighborhood groups to carry out projects, we’re planning to raffle four bikes, including one or two for kids.

Stay tuned for more details here on our blog, on our Facebook page, and our Twitter.

Pedal wins neighborhood marketing award

Pedal for Prizes received a very prestigious honor, and you may not have even heard about it!

Ok, we admit.  We think we’re pretty good at organizing cycling events.  But we’re not necessarily good about maintaining our blog.  Facebook, yes.  Blog and Twitter, not so much.

Coincidentally, we neglected to notify our blog readers about a major achievement for the Pedal team.

In November, Pedal for Prizes received one of three 2011 Excellence in Neighborhood Marketing Awards from LiveCLEVELAND!, a nonprofit organization that promotes living and leisure opportunities in Cleveland’s neighborhoods.  The awards are given to initiatives that are considered to showcase and celebrate communities in an exemplary way.

Old Brooklyn News was kind enough to include a blurb about the award, and well as Pedal’s John Young and Jeffrey Sugalski receiving it from LiveCLEVELAND! Executive Director Jeff Kipp at an awards luncheon.  Check out page 6.  The award in currently on display at Old Brooklyn CDC’s new offices for a short stint, then move to Speed Exterminating and Honey Hut.

We should note that our fellow award recipients were the Historic Warehouse District and Cleveland Asian Festival.  Both are awesome and very worthy, and we recommend you check them out sometime.

This is the second time that Pedal was acknowledged for its achievements.  We first were specifically named in a resolution of recognition from Cleveland City Council for Cleveland Bicycle Week in May 2011.

As always, thank you for all of your support, the biggest and most important and valuable honor to us.

November, the month of special announcements

Greetings, everyone.

First and foremost, become a fan of us on Facebook because that’s where we do most of our posting.  We update it much more than Twitter and the blog.  That way, you won’t miss out on any good news.

The Pedal for Prizes crew is poised to make a few special announcements in November about some good news in the works.

Special announcement #1: We were awarded a $4,875 grant from Neighborhood Connections, a program of the Cleveland Foundation, to host our third annual Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes!  Please mark your calendar for Saturday, May 19, 2012 because that’s when it’s slated to take place.  In addition to helping with event-related expenses, the grant will enable us to purchase four brand new bicycles to give away as prizes.

Stay tuned for one or two more announcements later this month.

Old Brooklyn Bikequinox is Saturday

Join us for the Old Brooklyn Bikequinox, a bicycle scavenger hunt and karaoke party happening Saturday, September 17. The event is free.

Here’s the schedule of the Bikequinox:

— 5:30-6:00pm —
Register at Mr. Peabody’s Pub, 4967 Pearl Road, and receive a map and trivia question sheet. Ride your bike on your own or with friends and other participants to answer the questions. Answering the questions, which are based on things you’ll see in Old Brooklyn, should take the average cyclist slightly more than an hour.

— 7:30pm —
Return to Mr. Peabody’s Pub by 7:30pm and have your question sheet graded by a volunteer. Correctly answering all questions gets you a chance to win a raffle prize. We’ll have plenty of free pizza from Carmino’s Pizza in Old Brooklyn for you.

— 8:00pm —
We raffle off more than $800 of bicycle-related prizes from Joy Machines Bike Shop, including Bern helmets, light sets, Forest City Portage swag, bike racks, bike multi-tools, repair kits, u-locks, bike computers, and more. We’ll have 32 prizes valued between $10 and $60 laid out on a table, and will pick one raffle ticket at a time. If yours is picked, come up to a table and select whatever prize you want. We’ll pick raffle tickets until either everyone has a prize or everything is given away.

— 8:30pm until ? —
The karaoke after-party starts. 21 & over, please. Belt out one of more of your fave tunes from Mr. Peabody’s extensive karaoke library, or just hang out and watch other singing cyclists. Mr. Peabody’s will have a cash bar. (Mr. Peabody’s is cash-only, but there’s also an ATM inside in case you forget money.)

Please feel free to stay for part or all of the evening. Happy Bikequinox!

The Old Brooklyn Bikequinox is coordinated by the organizers of Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes and is supported by Neighborhood Connections. For updates, please “like” Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes on Facebook.

Old Brooklyn Bikequinox – Saturday, September 17

Join us for the Old Brooklyn Bikequinox, a bicycle scavenger hunt and karaoke party happening Saturday, September 17.

Upon registering at Mr. Peabody’s Pub, 4967 Pearl Road, you’ll receive a map of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood and list of questions that relate to it. You’ll need to ride your bike throughout the community for the answers.

If enough are correct when you return to Mr. Peabody’s Pub, you’ll receive a raffle ticket to throw in the hopper. We’ll draw tickets one by one. If yours is pulled, you come up to a table with over $800 worth of awesome prizes from Joy Machines Bike Shop and pick whichever one you’d like.

Immediately following the raffle, we’ll be hosting a karaoke after-party. Hang out and have a drink, and if you’re up for it, pick a song from Mr. Peabody’s extensive library to sing.

The Old Brooklyn Bikequinox is coordinated by the organizers of Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes and is supported by Neighborhood Connections.

RSVP your attendance on Facebook here.

Reminder: Pedal for Prizes is tomorrow!

Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes
Saturday, May 21, 2011 noon-4pm
Loew Park, 3121 Oak Park Avenue (directions)

Ride your bike.  Explore Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood.  Win great prizes.

Registration will begin at 11:30am, and riders will be sent off with their maps and stamp cards in tow at 12:30pm sharp.  Ride your bike to as many of our twenty-two destinations as you’d like until 3pm.  Make your way back to Loew Park by 3:30pm to turn in your card for raffle tickets that you can put towards any of seventy-five prizes valued anywhere between $10 and $625 that will be displayed on a table.

Please read this blog post with more helpful information on how to prepare for and what to expect at Pedal for Prizes.

Happy riding, and good luck!

Helpful info for preparing for Pedal

Pedal for Prizes is only a few days away. Here’s some additional information about how to prepare for Pedal for Prizes, what to expect, and helpful tips.

Weather. Pedal for Prizes will happen regardless of weather.  So rain or shine, we’re giving over $3,000 worth of prizes away!  The forecast is calling for absolutely beautiful weather — mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 70s — for Saturday.

Arrival. We’ll begin registering bicyclists at 11:30am, but everyone will be sent off promptly at 12:30pm. The best time to arrive would be around noon. That way, you can register and have time to plot out your route around Old Brooklyn. We will continue to register those who come after 12:30pm.

Parking.  For those of you that drive in with bikes in tow, there’s parking both at Loew Park and the lot connected to William Cullen Bryant School.  If both lots happen to be full, the streets around the park offer on-street parking.  Just leave your vehicle and ride over to the park entrance off of Oak Park Avenue.

Cost.  Pedal for Prizes costs absolutely nothing and is completely free.

Registration. The registration process is simple. You review, sign, and return a release form, then we’ll provide you a map and card to be stamped by individuals staffing our destinations. Everyone that participates in the event must first register at Loew Park.

Minors. A parent or guardian must sign a release form for a minor under the age of 18 to participate in Pedal for Prizes.

Destinations. You won’t know where the twenty-two destinations are until you receive your map. But if you’re really curious, you can look for clues in our press, sponsors, and Facebook pages.

Navigation. We recommend you have someone in your group that either can read a map well or knows Old Brooklyn. Maps will have addresses of the destinations, and you’re free to use a GPS. However, if you do, remember to be cautious on the road while listening to your turn-by-turn directions.

Guided Rides.  Experienced ride leaders will guide two groups of bicyclists.  There will be a group for intermediate/advanced riders and one for families.  Click here for a blog post about the advantages and disadvantages of riding with a guided group.  Ride leaders reserve the right to limit the number of bicyclists joining the guided rides for safety.

Bicycles. Each participant must have his/her own set of pedals on a human-powered bicycle and use it to travel between destinations.  Road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, commuter bikes, tandems, electric bikes, recumbents, and tall bikes are all welcome.

Bike rentals. A limited number of bicycles will be available for rent from BikeCLE for $10.  Contact them here for more details.

Safety. Helmets are encouraged. We also suggest that you bring a lock, or at the very least, a partner who can watch your bike while you stop into destinations. Please practice bicycle safety and obey all traffic laws when out riding in the neighborhood.

Timing.  The average bicyclist should be able to comfortably visit all twenty-two destinations between 12:30 and 3pm, so take a few minutes to take in and enjoy the destinations you’ll be visiting.

Perks.  Some destinations will have special perks for bicyclists that stop.  Staffers at one destination will provide an extra stamp for completing a challenge.  Others may offer free food and swag, but you won’t know until you visit.

Raffle.  Staffers at destinations will stamp cards until 3pm.  Return to Loew Park by 3:30pm to exchange your card for raffle tickets.  You’ll write your first, middle, and last initial on each raffle ticket, then drop as many as you’d like in the buckets next to the prizes you’d like to win.  So figuratively, if you visit twenty-two destinations and want to put all twenty-two tickets towards a brand new Trek 7000, you can do that!  To win prizes, you must be present for the raffle.

If you have questions, please post below and we’ll do our best to answer them quickly.  And please feel free to check back because we may add info as Pedal for Prizes approaches.

Prizes!

We’ve been posting some of the prizes we’ve received on Facebook over the last couple of weeks.  But here’s a list of businesses that have donated items we’ll be giving away completely free at Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes next weekend.  Please note that this list is subject to additions.

Guided or not?

Pedal for Prizes offers a few options to participants: ride with a group led by an experienced guide or take your bike out on your own.

Of course, there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to the guided rides.

We’ll start with the advantages:

+  Our ride leaders know Old Brooklyn extremely well, so you can enjoy and take in the scenery without fear of losing your way or following a map.

+  Ride leaders are experienced in guiding large groups, and they know how to deal with traffic and asserting the group’s right to the road.

+  There’s no need to lock your ride at destinations because there will be someone watching your bike while you run into shops.  (Still bring a lock, though!)

+ It’s always fun riding with and meeting new people!

Now the negatives:

- If you’re aiming to hit all twenty-two destinations, joining the intermediate/advanced guided ride is probably not your way to go.  The ride leader will wait for all members to collect a raffle ticket at a particular destination, so you may spend a little extra time idle.  Also, a few of the destinations may offer a challenge in which participants will be awarded an extra raffle ticket for attempting it.  The group will wait for everyone to complete the challenge before departing.

- Riding with the guided group will not give you as much of an opportunity to explore stores and shops at your own pace, explore around Pop UP Pearl and enjoy the entertainment there, grab something to eat, or partake in a quick game of bicycle polo with the Pedal Republik of Cleveland.

- The larger group may create bottlenecks, so it will not be as easy to pop in and out of a shop really quickly and trek on to the next destination like if you were on your own.

We’ll have more information on an upcoming blog post about how to prepare for the event and things you can expect there.

At last year’s Pedal for Prizes, the majority of participants went off on their own.  What are you planning to do?

Social Media & Other Stuff

We’ve been posting a lot on our social media pages much more so than blogging, and our goal is to try to blast something interesting about Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes every day.

Some of the things we’ve written about on our social media include prizes participants can win, press we’ve received, special happenings during Pedal for Prizes, and helpful information the day of the event.  So if you don’t like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, you’re missing out!

Our website is always a work in progress.  We just finished a press page, and next we’re working on creating a page with information for you for the day of the event and develop our sponsors/supporters page.

If you and/or your business would like to donate prizes to raffle at Pedal for Prizes, please let us know by emailing us at pedalforprizes@gmail.com.  We’ll reciprocate by providing you advertising.

Lastly, please check out Old Brooklyn CDC’s new Pop UP Pearl website.  Pop UP Pearl will be happening at the same time as Pedal for Prizes, and some of our destinations will be in and around Downtown Old Brooklyn where it is set up.

Questions?  Feel free to comment below or email us at pedalforprizes@gmail.com.  Happy riding!