Cyclists: Time to be an ambassador

A dozen or so people interested in becoming Bicycle Ambassadors for the City of Cedar Rapids showed up at this meeting Tuesday night.

That’s not enough.

To keep the hard-earned momentum going toward making this community more bicycle friendly, in fact as well as in name, more cyclists need to step up. You have another chance on August 17, 6 p.m. at the Public Works Building, 1201 6th St. SW.

Ambassadors will help with two of the five E’s of bicycle friendliness: education and encouragement. The time commitment is minimal, and you’ll get to talk to a lot of people about something you enjoy. How tough can that be?

You’ll probably get a T-shirt out of the deal, too, along with some good karma. That’s how they do it in Montpelier, Mrs. Smith tells me.

Spread the word.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Push to make Cedar Rapids more bike-friendly isn’t just about the bikes (bjsmith.wordpress.com)

Pics from Cedar Rapids criterium

Great day for bicycle racing today, especially in downtown Cedar Rapids for the Gold Pointe Fitness Club Criterium.

Thanks to HBA Racing for putting on a great event.

A few pictures…

(Update 7/6: The Gazette allegedly had more pictures online but last time I checked there was only one – and part of the story was missing.)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bicycle to the bike races July 5 in Cedar Rapids (bjsmith.wordpress.com)

Buy a permit to ride your bicycles?

Imagine having to get a permit and buy insurance to go for a bicycle ride with a group of friends.

Would you do it, or would you find somewhere else to ride?

Regulating bicycling like this has been discussed before in Iowa, as supervisors looked for protection from liability issues, and now apparently it is being considered in Johnson County.

I imagine it won’t work and the idea will die quickly and soon.

I imagine if the idea is somehow adopted, there will be fewer organized bike rides in Johnson County. I imagine I’d stop before crossing the line from Linn to Johnson County if I thought I’d be ticketed for riding without a permit. No more Saturday morning rides down to North Liberty for breakfast. No more stops at convenience stores in places like Swisher and Shueyville.

If the idea is to keep cyclists off the roads so they can’t sue over unsafe roads, it probably won’t work anyway, and enforcement would be difficult and expensive.

Cyclists of Johnson County: Tell your supervisors what you think about this and save them the trouble of implementing a bad idea. Kill this before it can spread.

Trail repairs to start in August

Several more weeks and scenes like the ones below on the Cedar River Trail in Cedar Rapids should be history. Except for the encroaching weeds, the trail this morning looked pretty much like it did right after the flood in June 2008. It is officially closed from Sokol Park to Tait Cummins Park but often used anyway.

The bid letting date is July 2 for the city’s Trail Flood Repair & Levee Repair (AStreet SW) Project. That includes repairs to the Cedar River Trail, Ellis Trail and Sac & Fox Trail in addition to the levee. That’s all to be completed between early August and the end of September. (Thanks to Ron Griffith and Gina Weaver for that info.)

Criterium bicycle parking in ramp downtown

You’ve heard about the state championship criterium Sunday, July 5, in Cedar Rapids, right?

This just in from Larry Howe of HBA Racing via Facebook, telling all exactly where the bike corral parking will be at this Bicycle Friendly Event:

Ride your bike down to The Gold Pointe Fitness Club Criterium this Sunday July 5th. We will have a secure bike corral located in the parking ramp at 3rd Ave. and 1st St. SE.

Speaking of Facebook, the C.R. Bicycle Advisory Committee is there. Be a fan.

Pedal on.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bicycle to the bike races July 5 in Cedar Rapids (bjsmith.wordpress.com)

Few bit on BBQ “bike friendly” offer

The BBQ Roundup in Cedar Rapids didn’t seem to lure many people Sunday by offering $1 off and some free water for arriving by bicycle. It’s probably just as well, because it turns out there were no bike racks in sight, so locking a bicycle to one would have been a challenge.

I drove rather than pedaled over there myself after deciding my 28-mile Panera morning bagel ride with Mrs. Smith and some friends was enough exercise for the day. Had some tasty ribs and cold beer. As there were no bicycles or bicyclists around to photograph, I captured these folks enjoying the sunny, blustery day instead.

Related articles by Zemanta

• BBQ Roundup has bike parking, but bring a lock (bjsmith.wordpress.com)

BBQ Roundup has bike parking, but bring a lock

It turns out that bike parking racks will be provided Sunday at the BBQ Roundup to go along with the event’s “bicycle friendly” theme for the day. As noted before, if you ride your bike there you get $1 off your $3 admission fee and a free bottle of water while supplies last.

Lock it up

Nikki Davidson, a member of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, said the water might not be there until 11:30 a.m. Bike racks will be near the staffed admissions area, but she does recommend bringing a bike lock. (This isn’t a supervised corral-type parking setup like that being offered at the criterium downtown on July 5.)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ride your bike, save a buck on BBQ (bjsmith.wordpress.com)

Ride your bike, save a buck on BBQ

From the June issue of C.R.’s Bicycle Advisory Committee newsletter:

The 22nd Annual Cedar Rapids BBQ Roundup is a bicycle friendly event. Ride a bicycle to this event and receive $1 off regular $3 admission on Family Day, Sunday June 28, 2009. Free bottled water, provided by the Johnson Avenue Hy-Vee, will be given to the first 100 cyclists. Admission is free for children 12 and under. Location is 950 Rockford Rd SW, in the parking lot between Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium and Kingston Stadium.

So the roundup is bicycle friendly, for one day anyway, and particularly if you’re one of the first 100 cyclists to cycle there. Hmm.

I couldn’t find anything about bicycle parking – like the parking being offered during the criterium downtown on July 5.

For more info, see that newsletter.

Pheidi and the first triathlon

Image via Wikipedia

You’ve heard about Pheidippides, who in the popularized version of the story ran from Marathon to Athens and dropped dead after announcing that the Athenians had gotten their butts kicked in the first-ever Olympic Games.

It’s true that he exclaimed, “Νενικήκαμεν” (“No gold!”) before keeling over.

Through countless retellings since ancient times, however, the story of the first two legs of his incredible journey have largely been forgotten.

Pheidi, as his close friends were said to have called him, actually swam nearly two and a half miles – buck nekkid, as was the custom – from the Olympic Village, across the Bay of Marathon to the town of Athlon. Cold, tired and all wrinkly, he wisely concluded that he would not be able to swim another 138+ miles.

“Eνικήκαμεν,” he told a bystander in an account recorded by Herodotus, the historian. Loose translation: “They really ought to allow wetsuits when it’s this freaking cold.”

Athlon, as luck would have it, was the birthplace of the first “ποδήλατο” or “inline, two-wheeled, horseless chariot.” Its inventor, the clever Hermes, came upon the naked, shivering Pheidippides at the water’s edge.

“Tri this, Pheidi,” he said. “It’s all downhill from here to Athens.”

“Nμετρικά?” Pheidi is said to have asked.

“This? It’s an inline, two-wheeled, horseless chariot,” the clever Hermes answered. “I’m thinking I might call it a ποδήλατο.”

“Clever,” Pheidi said. Still nekkid, he climbed on.

Herodotus described the ensuing historic ride:

“The clever Hermes had lied, of course. The way was not all downhill. Indeed, it was ‘φοινικήια γράμματα ελληνικά μετρικά συστήματα.’ It is remarkable that Pheidi was able to travel 840.5 stadia on that damn thing – a fixie! – and then run another 195, give or take. Believe you me, the vultures of Vlachava were watching closely as he climbed through the Antichasia.”

Pheidippides had to run the last leg of the journey after flatting for a second time and discovering he had left his frame pump some 47.5 stadia back up in the mountains. Ironically, he might not have died of exhaustion had he risked taking the less scenic but more direct route from Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 25 miles.

True story of cycling in Greece.

© 2009

Quick hits: Trails hearing, master bike plan

A couple of things in case you missed them in the mainstream media:

Public hearing June 24 about fixing Cedar Rapids trails

Johnson Co. Bicycle Master Plan (draft) is available for comment

Pedal on.