Welcome to MPLS Bike Love

We're working on some pretty major upgrades to the site, here's the lowdown:

Calendars

We're creating applications that will help everyone learn what is happening when and where.  View upcoming advocacy meetings, see when businesses are having sales, browse upcoming races of all kinds - if it's important to cyclists, it's listed here.

Mapping Applications

We're taking the idea behind our infrastructure wiki, mashing it up a little bit with the functionality of Cyclopath, and then adding in features like RSVPs and race pre-registration. We will also be creating a map of the best businesses for cyclists.  The goal is a fully interactive database of life as a cyclist in the Twin Cities.  YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE WHAT WE DO TO SPEED TAG :)

Expanded Marketplace

You can still get spoke cards and socks, but now you can do much, much more in the marketplace.  With the expanded site features, we are offering several expanded packages for online presences and identity on mplsbikelove, as well as web development services.  You can also purchase banner advertisement packages, and add-ons to your profile as well.

Long term, the goal here would be to allow people who would like to process payments to be able to, as well.  So if you are a donating member, you could list a bike for sale, take a payment by credit card or PayPal, and possibly even transfer ownership between parties.  Small businesses will be able to offer coupons to site members.  Maybe an Etsy style storefront for people with crafty bike businesses?

Forums

The same great message board that we've had is still running in the same place that it's always been.  It's running on a much better server now, and we're offering a few new features over the next few months.  Even if you don't join up for the expanded site, you will still be able to post here.

UPDATE 12/8/2009
The Concrete5 CMS that I'm working on creating the new site with just released their Forums add-on today!  I've installed a bare bones of the new system under /forums (vs /forum) if anyone wants to try it.

Advocacy Resources

One of the main things that I would like to see mplsbikelove.com do is offer a place for organizations that are supporting cycling specifically and sustainable lifestyles in general.  I'm working on putting together an easily to deploy mini-site that can be used for small groups.  So if you are someone who, say wants to get people in your neighborhood organized around an issue like a proposed bike lane, you could create a 4-5 page site and member group.  If you were a larger group that already has a web presence, you will be able to reach the people on BikeLove, share your events, recruit more members. 

Really, this is kind of what I want the main focus of the re-design to be. Eventually I would like to deploy this platform as bikelove.org, with different sub-domains for different cities, kind of Craigslist style.  So we could then be giving this tool to the rest of the world.  That is, if I can figure out how to make _this_ website into something more like what I'm envisioning.

~Jeremy aka hereNT - 12/8/09

PS - Not everything is ready, but we're getting closer every day.  I really hope that you like what I'm doing here, and what MPLS Bike Love is about to become.  I've been working very hard on this, and really, it's the best thing I think I've ever done.

If you think this site is worth supporting, please consider joining at Bronze Level for 6.8 cents a day.