Projects

2013

  • Bicycle Racing Team [2013-0001]

    Continue to develop the small (USA Cycling size Division 3) competitive locally based racing team with a focus on community service and good sportsmanship which engages with locally owned business to help foster the connection between cycling and the community. Expand the team’s participation in community service projects via required community service house and work to encourage the riding of bikes as both a pastime and lifestyle choice.

    The team was selected as the USA Cycling “Best New Club” in 2011 and “Club of the Year (Division 3)” in 2012!

  • Keep Austin Beautiful [2013-0002]

    Each cleanup, maintenance, and beautification project we do in collaboration with the Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) organization will be listed and documented within this project.

    These projects include but are not limited to our 4th Street/I-35 Underpass and Downtown Bike Boulevard (Nueces & Rio Grande) clean-ups and CleanSweep projects.

  • Bicycle Lending Library [2013-0003]

    The cost of an initial bike is the major expense that must be covered before someone can even try out bike racing and, in many cases, can be a limiting factor for families wanting to introduce someone to the sport. The goal of the lending library is not to give bikes away but to provide bikes to youth who are actively using and maintaining them. By being offered as a loan rather than a gift, the recipient is provided a bike at no charge but also given the responsibility to ride the bike and keep it in working order. In the event that this is not occurring, the bike can be reclaimed and provided to different youth rider.

  • After-School Bike Programs [2013-0004]

    One of the principle outreach programs undertaken by The Ghisallo Foundation is the After School Bike Program at middle schools within the Austin Independent School District (AISD). The program aims to encourage middle school students to ride bicycles more often by developing the skills and confidence to ride safely in multiple environments. A comprehensive course outline provides the opportunity for students to learn the basic components and workings of a bicycle, general body and verbal signals to use while riding, and rudimentary bicycle maintenance skills useful for riders of all levels. The program offers a unique opportunity for students to participate in an after school activity that is fun, informative, and exposes the students to new experiences while riding bicycles around Austin.

  • Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area Bike Club [2013-0005]

    Through 2013 we are continuing to offer a twice a week evening bicycle maintenance workshop and earn-a-bike program at Boys and Girls Club of Austin’s (BGCA) EAST campus. We had previously participated in a Bike Rodeo at Booker T Washington, a low-income housing complex in East Austin, as well as having surveyed the community as part of our Rosewood Neighborhood Bicycle Census. BGCA EAST primarily serves the youth of Booker T Washington and the workshop typically has full bike maintenance classes with a waiting list in addition to previous students returning and assisting new students.

    This program is supported in part by Bicycle Sport Shop and the Austin Yellow Bike Project (YBP).

  • 3′ Passing Law Detector Study [2013-0006]

    Complete on-street trials and expand to a more formalized data collection regimen which enables statistical analysis of driver passing habits in frequently ridden areas during set times of the day.

2012

  • Bicycle Racing Team [2012-0001]

    Continue to develop the small (USA Cycling size Category 3) competitive locally based racing team with a focus on community service and good sportsmanship which engages with locally owned business to help foster the connection between cycling and the community. Expand the team’s participation in community service projects via required community service hours and work to encourage the riding of bikes as both a pastime and lifestyle choice.

  • Keep Austin Beautiful [2012-0002]

    During 2012 the cleanup, maintenance, and beautification projects are being expanded and consolidated under one “super project” rather than as individual efforts. Each sub-project we do in collaboration with the Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) organization will be listed and documented with in this new project.

  • 3′ Passing Law Detector Prototype [2012-0003]

    Complete the design and fabrication of the systems mounting harness and begin real world on-street trials. If successful, expand to a more formalized data collection regimen which enables statistical analysis of driver passing habits in frequently ridden areas during set times of the day.

  • After-School Bike Programs [2012-0004]

    One of the principle outreach programs undertaken by The Ghisallo Foundation is the After School Bike Program at middle schools within the Austin Independent School District (AISD). The program aims to encourage middle school students to ride bicycles more often by developing the skills and confidence to ride safely in multiple environments. A comprehensive course outline provides the opportunity for students to learn the basic components and workings of a bicycle, general body and verbal signals to use while riding, and rudimentary bicycle maintenance skills useful for riders of all levels. The program offers a unique opportunity for students to participate in an after school activity that is fun, informative, and exposes the students to new experiences while riding bicycles around Austin.

  • LAB 4th St/I-35 Underpass Mural [2012-0005]

    Initiated as a way to beautify the LAB 4th St/I-35 Underpass and add a recognizable identity to the site in addition to presenting a uniform appearance. This in turn will lead to the site being viewed as a used space and will assist in reducing its attractiveness (attractive nuisance) for graffiti and other random defacement and, hopefully, reduce the time that is required to maintain the site.

  • Bike Month [2012-0006]

    A catch all project for the various Bike Month activities and projects we are undertaking. These include our headline projects, Bike Month Map and Bike-To-Eat Week, in addition to our smaller offerings such as the Bike Maintenance Brunch in collaboration with Women.Design.Build, the Austin Wide Women’s Team Ride (part of the Cyclo Femme ride event) and our 3 Bike-To-Work Stations.

  • Bike Month Map [2012-0007]

    This service and site were envisioned as a way to enable riders from all over the US (and the world) to both find Bike Month events and how to get to the event on a bike. We provide location and date based indexing, filtering by event categories, free form tags, and date ranges. Once you find an event you want to attend, you can enter your starting address and will receive a visual biking route as well as the associated queue sheet. Local bike shops are mapped in the event you need a gear or a tune up. Bike corrals are even shown. What is a bike corral? It is a new, to Austin, parking facility made just for bikes. No need to search for on sidewalk parking or a poll, just head to the high volume corral.

  • Bike-To-Eat Week : reward yourself for being awesome! [2012-0008]

    This is an incentive program for cyclists. The full discount is provided directly to the cyclist by the participating restaurant as a thank you for riding to the restaurant (and in general) rather than being a fundraiser for the Ghisallo Foundation.

  • Rosewood Neighborhood Bike Census [2012-0009]

    This project will produce an overview of general bicycle ownership, associated equipment, barriers and desired services, and usage statistics for the Rosewood Neighborhood in central East Austin, TX.

  • Public Bike Parking Facility Beautification (Rosewood & 11th) [2012-0010]

    The goal of the project is to beautify the two un-landscaped ROW areas adjacent to the new 11th and Navasota public bike parking island (concrete platform with 4 bike racks). We will need to excavate 2-3” of soil+weeds which will then be replaced with crushed granite and native low-to-no water plants (examples: Red Yucca, Firecracker Penstemon, Lantana, etc).

  • Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area Bike Club [2012-0011]

    The continued growth of our youth programming led us to the Boys and Girls Club of Austin’s (BGCA) EAST campus. We had previously participated in a Bike Rodeo at Booker T Washington, a low-income housing complex in East Austin, as well as having surveyed the community as part of our Rosewood Neighborhood Bicycle Census. BGCA EAST primarily serves the youth of Booker T Washington and had been interested in restarting a pre-existing on-site bike maintenance workshop which had been in hibernation for a number of years due to lack of volunteers.

  • Bicycle Parking Facilities Design & Installation [2012-0012]

    The City of Austin no longer has a bike parking facilities program, and although it will probably return in some form the future, it was also only for public right-of-way (ROW) installations (street, sidewalk, easement, etc locations). Due to viewed need for a vendor which could provide specialized bicycle parking facilities design and installation on both public ROW and private property, we have incorporated these sorts of services into our organization.

  • LAB 4th St/I-35 Underpass Landscaping [2012-0013]

    This project was initiated as a way to beautify the LAB 4th St/I-35 Underpass and add a recognizable identity to the site in addition to presenting a uniform appearance. This in turn will lead to the site being viewed as a used space and will assist in reducing its attractiveness and reduce the time that is required to maintain the site. The section is one of the main East-West bike routes across and a non-street based connector across the I-35 corridor. Its heavy usage and high visibility makes it a perfect candidate for visual improvements.

2011

  • Bicycle Racing Team [2011-0001]

    Develop a small competitive locally based racing team with a focus on community service and good sportsmanship which engages with locally owned business to help foster the connection between cycling and the community. Participate in community service projects through out the year and work to encourage the riding of bikes as both a pastime and lifestyle choice. At the end of the season the team was selected as the “Best New Club” of 2012 by USA Cycling.

  • Junior Development Team [2011-0002]

    A pilot program to determine the feasibility of creating a small mentored Junior (sub 18 year old) Racing Team within the larger adult racing team project. The goal was to provide basic equipment, coaching, and mentor support to junior racers during the season with the main focus on a summer training session for free to all participants.

  • Lance Armstrong Bikeway 4th Street I-35 Underpass Cleanup [2011-0003]

    Beginning in the Spring of 2011 we adopted the 4th Street I-35 Underpass which is the East-West connector across the I-35 corridor for the Lance Armstrong Bikeway. We performed 20 cleanups occurring on a roughly bi-monthly basis utilizing approximately 50 volunteer hours. At the end of the year we were awarded the 2011 Keep Austin Beautiful “Litter Abatement” Award.

  • Fulmore Middle School After-School Bike Program (SPRING) [2011-0004]

    The initial project undertaken to determine the feasibility and overall interest in providing an after-school cycling program to middle schools within the Austin Independent School District (AISD). Fulmore was chosen due to already owning a fleet of ten 20″ BMX bikes available to students within the after-school program. The previous program had stopped in 2009 due to lack of instructor availability.

  • Martin Middle School After-School Bike Program (SPRING) [2011-0005]

    As Fulmore was deemed manageable and proved to be well attended, we began a second pilot program by adding a weekly after-school class at Martin Middle School in East Austin. Like Fulmore, Martin also had an in-house fleet of eight 20″ BMX bikes available to students within the after-school program. The previous program had stopped in 2010 due to lack of instructor availability.

  • 3′ Passing Law Detector Prototype [2011-0006]

    Specify, design, and fabricate custom detection hardware prototype to determine vehicle passing distance relative to the outside edge of a cyclist. The measurement must be displayed in a format visible to small format video recording equipment in daylight riding conditions while the camera also captures the bicycle’s lane position, street condition, as well as identifiable components of the passing car (make, model, color, and license plate number) in addition to behavior.

  • Bike Month [2011-0007]

    Work to make Bike Month a success within the greater Austin area. We attended planning meetings with the City of Austin staff, the Austin Cycling Association, and others to map out the month calendar of activities and needs. We participated in sponsorship recruitment which resulted in KIND Healthy Snacks joining the push to get more people communing to work by bike by providing free KIND Bars at the various Bike-To-Work stations. Plus, deployment of the materials to over 30% of the City’s Bike-To-Work stations was done by members of the racing team by bicycle!

  • Martin Middle School After-School Bike Program (FALL) [2011-0008]

    The Fall 2011 school semester saw the Foundation return to Martin Middle School for the afterschool program in association with AISD and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program as administered by the United States Department of Education. Additional instructors made it possible to expand the program in terms of duration and frequency at Martin Middle School, providing enhanced opportunities for students to participate. Classes were held three times a week.