Bike Memphis & More

Bike Lanes Pros and Cons

I have put the conclusion of my reading first in case you don't have the time to read through all of this.

Here's the bottom line-- I think that even bike lanes that are well designed often create more problems than they solve. Thus, at this point, given the dozens of research articles and reports I have read from around the world, I strongly recommend the development of wide outside lanes with effective road signs and education first rather than blindly creating separate bike lanes in most cases.

However, there are some well-designed bike lanes that actually solve safety problems for cyclists. Certain traffic situations are much improved when a bike lane is thoughtfully integrated into the traffic planning. The important words here are 'thoughtfully" and integrated. High quality facilities should be encouraged.

Here's a paradox- if a road is wide enough to add a bike lane without subtracting any regular motor vehicle lanes, the road probably doesn't need a bike lane. Example: There is a road in Memphis

Would you want to ride on a highway in your car if it were designed by someone who didn't understand cars? That's one of  the major problems with bike lanes-- many bike lanes are designed by planners who do not ride bikes and who do not understand the complexities of bicycling in urban traffic. Just lay down a stripe within the legal limits and it is done-- a bike lane! It is a lot more complicated than that. So I am strongly against blindly rushing to paint stripes on roads when it will do no real good and might even make things worse.

Creating a Bicycle-Friendly Memphis

Creating a Bicycle-Friendly Memphis

Organizations--

I see two exemplary organizations - Transportation Alternatives in New York City  and Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. Both of these groups are huge and have comprehensive programs. I hope we in Memphis can do half of what they have done in those cities. There are a lot of others, too-- if you want to track all of these groups, it can become a full-time job.

Check out this film: John Burke, President of Trek recently did a 40 minute talk in Taipei on the opportunities he sees for the bike industry given global warming, the obesity epidemic, urbanization, and traffic congestion. Check the video out-- for a dedicated bike person, it is entertaining and even inspiring-- (your kids or spouse might not think so!). You can view the video at bikememphis.ning.com or at quickrelease.tv . (Thanks to Carlton Reid of bikebiz.com . The film makes a big deal about Louisville, KY, which recently became a bike-friendly city certified by the bikeleague.org. A few tidbits from the film: 50% of car trips are less than two miles. Biking burns 500-700 calories an hour, driving a car burns 5-20 extra calories an hour.

So- Memphis a bicycle-friendly community? Yes. If Louisville can do it, we can do it, too. We need an organization in Mephis that is at least as comprehensive as is Louisville's. See Louisville's bike site at

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/BikeLouisville/

http://cache.libsyn.com/thefredcast/The_FredCast_65x1.mp3

But-- we need, I think, to be unified, at least, as much as we can be.

3-24 Saturday ride

Wow. I haven't posted anything for two weeks. The good part of that is that I have been busy riding. The weather has been mostly fabulous.

Saturday I think the Hightailers' ride had over 30 people again. We did s simple ride East into Germantown, stopped and the Fresh Market, and returned. I cannot remember his name, but the fellow I was riding with had a flat somewhere on Quince. We stopped in someone's front yard. A guy in a pick-up truck and an adjacent homeowner offered assistance. Ans, since we were near the front, about 20 cyclists slowed and offered assistance as well. I was grateful for the caring of others-- that is a nice thing.

3-10 Saturday ride

It was a great ride-- we had over 30 riders show up. We rode form Super Lo to Fresh Market in Germantown. The lead group averaged 21 mph, which is zippy for a Saturday morning social ride. Perfect, perfect weather!

A cold rainy Saturday ride

Well... The winds were high, the rain was cold, and the riders were few. 3 of us started from Super Lo today headed into the wind. Only one returned. Sounds ominous, huh?

We decided to head into the wind first so we would have it at our backs on the return ride. Somewhere on Shady Grove it started raining. With the wind driving the rain, it felt like little pin pricks hitting my face.The temperature was dropping, the rain was getting heavier, and the wind was strong.  Lovely.

None of us drove cars to the start of the ride-- we all ride bikes there. I discovered a distinct advantage to not driving to Super Lo for the ride. One rider veered off the route at Kirby and Wolf River Boulevard-- I think that is about at the 5 mile mark. I think he was headed to a friends house. He was in shorts-- I was pretty cold and I had leg warmers on, so I figured he wasn't exactly toasty. The other rider lived in Germantown off of Poplar Pike, so we just rode there.It was a struggle at times to even do 15 mph in those headwinds.

So, there I was, somewhere on Poplar Pike. I get my office mail at the UPS Store by Super Lo, so I wanted to return to the shopping center. I cut over to Quince.

At one point I had a pure tailwind-- I think it was 100% behind me-- that was fun.

Cold rainy 26 miles.

This week's riding

I was thinking about this-- we had rain a couple of days, high winds, and very chilly (for Memphis) temperatures. Not the greatest riding conditions.

By the time I ride to work and back today, I will have about 82 miles on my odometer for the week.
Monday 20 miles to jury duty and back
Tue - I rode to work and then I rode to the Hightailers' meeting where I listened to a great presentation by   hIrSch about his 16 month bike trip. I met my wife at the meeting-- she drove her car. I put the bike on the back of the car and we rode home together in the car.
Wed, Thu, Fri routine riding to work and back.

Biking to Jury Duty

Monday of this week I had federal jury duty. Rain and possibly thunderstorms were in the forecast.

It is only about 10 miles from my house to the courthouse, so I decided to ride rather than borrow my wife's car.

Selecting a route wasn't a problem-- I ride downtown all the time on week-ends. I wasn't exactly sure where the building was, but I had an idea. I hoped that the Google map was accurate.

Clothing was a technical issue. The instructions I received specifically stated that jurors had to wear clothing that maintained the dignity of the court-- whatever that means. But, I had a suspicion that biking clothing probably wasn't acceptable courtroom attire-- I would have to either ride in my courtroom clothing or take it with me in my panniers. With rain in the forecast, I opted to take my clothing with me in a pannier. 

I have some of those 'traveler's pants' that are made of some sort of synthetic stuff that can be crumpled up and then look unwrinkled after you wear them a few minutes. I also have a similar shirt. I took those. I wore lightweight hiking boots instead of bike shoes-- I have some of those 'campus' dual-purpose pedals that allow me to use non-cleated shoes for riding.

I got to the courthouse 25 minutes early. It had started raining so I found a concrete picnic table under some shelter and I chained my bike to it. It was 45 degrees--- I didn't think anyone would be eating lunch outside that day. I went through the metal detectors with my helmet and pannier. I then found a restroom where I changed into my jury clothing in a stall. I reported for duty without a hitch.

Luckily, I was selected as one of the first 12 jurors for a trial that morning. It was a criminal case alleging illegal possession of a firearm by a young fellow who had evidently been previously convicted of a felony. My past isn't perfect-- as a teen I was arrested for possessing an illegal weapon. I was thrown into the Atlanta City jail-- a very unpleasant place. I think for this and a few other reasons, I was excluded from serving on the jury-- that meant I was free to go home and I would not have to return again for jury duty. Hooray!

I changed back into my bike clothes and rode home.

I took a different route. I rode home via Madison. I was stunned-- only two cars passed me between downtown and midtown-- I felt like I was riding on a Sunday morning. Once I got to midtown, however, traffic thickened and resembled what you might expect for a workday.

It was especially fun riding home-- I was in a great mood because I had been dismissed from serving. I rode fast, enjoying the cool weather and the downtown environment.

So-- jury duty on a bike-- no big deal. I would do it again.

Pink MTB » girls on bikes…

Link: Pink MTB » girls on bikes….

This looks like the start of a nice blog  focusing on women and mountain bikes-- it looks like there is a lot of relevant support and information for women from the pink mtb girls.

Big Oil on bikes?

Link: Memphis Commercial Appeal - Memphis' Source for News and Information: Business.

Look who's talking alternatives: Big Oil

Energy moguls have a story they want to get out, too: one of balance

By John Porretto Associated Press February 11, 2007 HOUSTON -- With dwindling oil supplies, pollution concerns and the ever-present threat of gas prices soaring again, talk of new and better ways to fuel our cars, heat and cool our homes, and power our factories has never been greater.

What's more, the conversation is emanating increasingly from a source that's been surprisingly quiet until recently -- the oil companies themselves.....

The Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/ tells us htat reducing (or eliminating) our fossil-fuel transportation is about the biggest thing we can personally do to reduce our impact on the Earth.

Bicycles, anyone? Burn fat, not oil. Bikes are the perfect vehicle for any trip under 5 miles-- even to Home Depot to get lumber or somewhere to get a new Fridge ( http://www.bikesatwork.com/hauling-cargo-by-bike/ ) .

E-mail me-- I'll help[ you figure out how to bike more, drive less.

I was encouraged by the number of people that attended the recent Greening of Memphis meeting at the Botanic Gardens. I was mostly working the Sharetheroadmidsouth.org booth, so I wasn't able to circulate much. I must have talked to a hundred people-- I got there around 4:30 and didn't stop talking with people until they threw us out at 8:30 or so. I was worn out. It was great fun, and I think some good things will come of it.

More biking, more often, by more people, more safely = greener, leaner, cleaner Memphis.

Carol Coletta of NPR's Smart City was a speaker. The show was kicked off by Joe Royer, owner of Outdoors and an avid biker and kayaker. 3 mayors were there. Standing room only-- 600-700 people.