Bike Runnels

I was doing a photo shoot for our local bike share system the other day and surprised the other cyclists by rolling my bike up the runnel next to a giant staircase in Smale Riverfront Park. Of the eight people I was with, only one of them knew what the bike runnel was for. This was a great reminder of how difficult it is to educate the community about the different types of bike infrastructure. So I decided to do my part and write blog posts on bike runnels and loop detectors.

A bike runnel is a smooth u-shaped guideway adjacent to a staircase that allows cyclists to roll their bikes up and down as opposed to having to lift and carry them. Cincinnati has included bike runnels in many of our public stairways, most recently at Smale Park and the Liberty Hill Steps.

Just guide your bike wheels into the groove and push it up, or squeeze your brakes and roll it down.

The Cincinnati Three Way II: The Second Helping

Last weekend was the second annual Cincinnati Three Way, a bike polo/foosball/flip cup tournament organized by Cincinnati Hardcourt bike polo. Over 16 teams participated, including folks from Milwaukee, Lansing, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Lexington, Columbus, Cleveland, and Indianapolis.

The tournament took place over two days; the first day consisted of qualifier rounds of polo, and the second day consisted of polo and foosball match ups, followed by flip cup tie breakers when necessary.

This is the first year that the tournament was held at our new polo court - one of the few municipally constructed polo courts in the US. The City of Cincinnati constructed the court last year by retrofitting an underutilized tennis court.

Cincinnati Hardcourt regularly hosts Newbie Days for folks interested in giving the sport a try. Learn more about them at their website: http://www.cincinnatibikepolo.com/home.html.

Polo.

More polo.

And more polo.

Awesome to see so many female players.

My favorite uniform.

Another cool uniform.

Foosball!