Photos by Chris MacDonaldd   Shipley Summer Nights events photos of "Ride Your Bike to Shipley" were provided by Chris.   When Shipley Nature Center was shuttered, it became the model for what our public can do to take charge of its lands, and operate them in a more budget-conscious manner. Without volunteers stepping to the plate (and the type of volunteers willing to delegate rather than control), such efforts usually fail.   Today, as you consider riding your bike to Shipley Nature Center for their Cool Summer Nights series,  you aren't just helping the environment. You are learning about a beautiful park resource, and if you bring children, family and friends, are educating them, potentially bringing in new volunteers and supporters of this worthy program.   Shipley Nature Center's "Ride Your Bike to Shipley" offers an opportunity to find out how easy it is to give up your car for a day or evening. In a past event, one women's Red Hat Society group rode their bikes to Shipley Nature Center, clothed in purple attire with helmets on their heads instead of their red hats.   Children with dads, moms and daughters, you name it... people of all ages, sizes and interests attended this event to explore the themed evening of fun. It included displays about ecology and featured sponsors representing companies that are outdoors focused.   While Ride your bike to Shipley is but one in a series of nine weeks of later summer hours (4 to 8 p.m.) on Thursday evenings, you'll discover that each weekly event is well worth visiting, if even to watch the progress of plants and trees in this nature preserve.