Lost in OK

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/LbMhlEO8Jm/

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/Laz7ePu8I9/

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/LT7Dpou8DN/

Update (7/2/2012): The program has reopened.  Read about it here.

[flickr id=“7253069806” thumbnail=“small” overlay=“true” size=“large” group="" align=“right”] After only two weeks in operation, all bikes belonging to the Spokies Bike Share program have been removed from the racks.  Citing problems with the credit card software and a design flaw in the bikes that has “led to incidents of theft and vandalism”, the Oklahoma City Office of Sustainability and Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. made the decision to temporarily suspend the program.  The software and bike fixes can be expected to take up to three weeks to complete at which time they hope to restore the program.

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/LTpH9WO8HO/

The Oklahoma City ProAm Classic will be taking place this Saturday in Downtown Oklahoma City with the first race starting at 11:00 AM.  The staging area will be held at Schlegel Bicycles at 900 North Broadway.  Below is a map of the course:

You can see the whole schedule as well as lots of other information at the race website @ http://okcpac.com

I don’t often put out fundraising pleas to this blog, but this is a cause worthy of all the attention I can muster.  As fellow Oklahomans, you know all to well the severe impact that diabetes is having on our community.  As of 2010, more than 10% of the Oklahoma population had been diagnosed with some form of diabetes, far greater than the national average.  That doesn’t even begin to count the large numbers people who have the disease but remain undiagnosed.   Diabetes is, without a doubt, one of the largest health problems affecting our state.

Many of you have expressed upset, if not downright dismay, at the lack of head shaving from me this year. While I really enjoyed the St. Baldrick’s Day event, this year I am serving on the organizing committee for the Tour de Cure ride in Mustang, Oklahoma. This ride raises critical funding for diabetes research for the American Diabetes Association. As of 2010, over 10% of Oklahoman’s have been diagnosed with some form of diabetes and many more remain undiagnosed. This far outstrips the national average and it one of the most critical health issues facing our state. So, to do my part, I am going to be riding the 62 mile distance on June 23rd in Mustang, OK.

I am very confused as to what exactly their plan was for the highly recognizable therefore difficult to sell bicycles, but two men have been arrested for stealing bicycles from the new Spokies bike share program:

On May 22, police were called to the WestTown Day Shelter near N.W. 3rd Street and N. Virginia Avenue. A worker there reported Fred Wren, 20, and Anthony Grove, 26, possessed bikes belonging to the Spokies program. When police checked the serial numbers, they discovered the bikes had not been rented and should have been sitting at a kiosk outside the downtown Oklahoma City library.

[Read More]

The OKC bike share program, Spokies, has been getting a ton of press lately.  Here is a round-up of the main stories.

From NewsOK:

From KFOR:

Plus text stories from News9 and the Oklahoma Gazette.