Come get involved at our February Community meeting!

HBC is looking for some new members to join our board and for volunteers to help with one or more of our ongoing programs. With your help, we can do even more to improve our biking infrastructure in the Heights, strengthen our community outreach and build a stronger bicycle culture.

Join us in our next board meeting this Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Levey Room in the Heights Library’s Lee Road branch, 2345 Lee Road, to learn about opportunities.

A few examples where HBC could use people to lead or help with include Bike Month (May) activities such as the Ride of Silence or Bike to Work Day, with after-school bike clubs (now in only two schools – why not more?) or with bike rodeos, helmet giveaways and bike tune-up events.

Maybe you have an idea for a bike event or program you’d like to see and are willing to work to make it a reality? We’ll support you!

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

HBC’s annual December party is Sunday, 12/2/18

Every December, Heights Bicycle Coalition celebrates its progress, outlines its plans and recognizes community “roll models.” Join the fun on Sunday, December 2, 2018, at 4 p.m., in the Secret Garden room at Nighttown, 12383 Cedar Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106. 

We will provide a brief update on HBC accomplishments in 2018 and the outlook for 2019. Then we’ll recognize our roll models:

• Richard Wong, Cleveland Heights Director of Planning, representing all City staff who have planned and implemented infrastructure improvements to make the community more bicycle friendly
• Chipper the dog, one of the foremost volunteers who have made after-school bike clubs successful at Fairfax and Canterbury Schools
• Sam Bell, who is developing a robotic system to improve the efficiency and lower the cost dramatically of painting road stripes and symbols that provide access and safety for all roadway users

Weather permitting, Sam will provide a five-minute demonstration of his product that is under development.

Free snacks for all.  Cash bar.

Taylor Road Corridor Study

Come to a meeting where you’ll have an opportunity to affect plans to improve Taylor Road business districts and make Taylor a “complete street” that accommodates bicyclists, pedestrians and transit, in addition to cars and other motor vehicles.  Your input can make a difference.  

The meeting will be in the atrium at Cleveland Heights City Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 15, 2019.  The study will aim to make Taylor Road a more vibrant and attractive street, benefiting both Cleveland Heights and University Heights. Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) staff will work in collaboration with staff from these cities to create the plan.  Having a good plan is instrumental in getting funds for implementation.

Particular areas of focus will be parking for the Cedar Taylor business district, and how to ensure safety for walkers and bikers around the Hebrew Academy.

Bike Commuting Log

The Lake “Eerie” Bike Challenge has begun, and you can join in, if so inclined.

Our Municipal Planning Organization (MPO), the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), is encouraging you to log on and ask coworkers, friends, and family to log all bike commutes throughout October on Gohio Commute. When you or others log a bike trip in October, all will be automatically added to the Gohio Commute leaderboard. Also log bike errands, like trips to stores or restaurants.

All destination trips count toward standings, up to two per day. So leave your car at home, take the bike, and log trips to earn prizes! There are weekly raffle drawings, so everyone who logs a trip can win.

Best of Bricks Bike Tour

Saturday, October 6, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.


Meet at corner of Roxboro Road and W. St. James Parkway, just north of Roxboro Elementary School

Leader: Mary Dunbar, Cleveland Heights City Councilmember

Join us for an all-skills bike ride to learn about the history and architecture of some of Cleveland Heights most noteworthy and impressive brick buildings.  The ride will end back where it started.

Saturday, Sept. 22: FRONT Triennial Tour de Art

This all-day bike tour will visit several exhibitions in FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. FRONT is a mix of artist commissions, performances, films and public programs examining the ever-changing and politically urgent conditions of an American city.

The ride will depart from the bike fix-it station at Coventry Road and North Park Boulevard at 9:30 a.m., then head to University Circle to visit Judy’s Hand Pavilion outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, as well as several exhibitions and installations at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The tour continues on to Playhouse Square for a viewing of Love Story, a video installation that centers on the cult of celebrity and the overwhelming influence the media exerts on our world view. After stopping to enjoy the Canvas City murals on Prospect Avenue, riders will head downtown to the Cleveland Arcade and Cleveland Public Library. The Arcade features Cleveland’s 1973 City Canvas public art project, while the library’s exhibit, The American Library, consists of 6,000 books, each bearing the name of a first- or second-generation immigrant whose life and work impacted culture.

The next stop is a haunting installation of works by photographer Dawoud Bey at Saint John Episcopal Church in Ohio City, then on to SPACES for A Color Removed—a citywide project that seeks to remove the color orange from Cleveland in response to the shooting of Tamir Rice (the toy pistol he was holding was missing an orange tip meant to denote it was not a real gun). At Transformer Station, we’ll visit Human Right, a project that examines the relationship between personal narratives and social conditions in Middlesbrough, England.

The tour ends at the West Side Market for a fusion of food and art with John Riepenhoff’s Cleveland Curry Kojiwurst special sausage, an original FRONT-commissioned product, being featured in various collaborations with vendors and restaurateurs during the exhibition’s three months. After a lunch break, the group will ride the eight miles back to the Heights. Riders will also have the option to take public transportation back home.

Note: For family bike rides, parents must accompany children under 16. Children must be confident riding on two-wheeled bikes without training wheels. However, children on or in trail-a-bikes, bike trailers, cargo bikes and bikes with child seats are welcome.

For calendar lists of more local and regional rides, go to Heights Bicycle Coalition and Bike Cleveland’s websites.

Better By Bike: Heights Heritage Home & Garden Tour on Sept. 16

A good way to enjoy the 41st Annual Heights Heritage Home & Garden Tour is by bicycle. Parking is easy when all you need is a patch of grass!

One of the 2017 beautiful Heights homes
 (photo credit: Heights Observer)

Join the Heights Community Congress and the Heights Bicycle Coalition for a great afternoon of biking and touring. 

Pedal up and purchase your discounted $20 bicycle ticket at the Bike Fix-It Station at the corner of Coventry Road and North Park Blvd. on Sunday, Sept. 16 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

HBC members will be on-site for you to purchase your ticket with cash, credit card or personal check (made out to Heights Community Congress).

We’ll give you our recommended turn-by-turn route to enjoy all the homes.

Remember to wear a helmet, bring water and a bike lock. Parents must accompany children under 16.

For more information on the Heights Heritage Home & Garden Tour, visit: http://www.heightscongress.org/index.html.