Where should Linn County put Share the Road signs?

Which Linn County roads should get Share the Road signs?

I’m helping HBA member Lisa Paulos come up with recommendations for this project.

Just add a comment . Thanks!

On the road or on the trail, you have to look back

Image by Dawn Endico via Flickr

Don’t trust that little voice inside your head saying, “Don’t look back.” (Listen to that as you read on…)

Understand that Satchel Paige was wrong.

You have to look back – frequently – if you’re on a bicycle. At least a couple of dangerous sorts of things might be gaining on you:

• A speeding motor vehicle, whose driver is drunk, sleeping, talking on a cell phone, texting and/or doesn’t think you belong on the road…. (I could go on.)
• Another cyclist who is going to pass you without saying anything. (Don’t get me started on these people. How difficult is it to say, “On your left”?)

Since few of us are truly skilled enough to look over our shoulder without swerving into traffic, get a mirror.

Use it on every ride. Check it often.

Take evasive action as needed.

Live to ride another day.

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Help pave the Cedar Valley Nature Trail

For the price of a bicycle tire, a few spare tubes or maybe a few pitchers of beer, you can help more people enjoy the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

Nature trail at County Home Road

Of course, you can donate $100, $250, $1,000 or more if you want. Think big.

Your contribution will help extend the paved portion of the trail in Linn County from County Home Road north to Lafayette – a 3.5-mile section most people have never even seen.

The Linn County Trails Association just kicked off a campaign to raise about $96,000 in matching funds for the project.

Think about it:

• Paving the way to Lafayette means no more mud or ruts in wet weather.
• You’ll be able to walk, skate or run farther down the trail while you’re pushing the kids along in their strollers on a nice, smooth surface.
• More people will use the trail, burning more calories and improving their health.
• More of the trail will be accessible to people who use wheelchairs and those battery-powered scooters.
• That pricey road bike you don’t like taking off the pavement? Less grit to pick up.

I’m hoping some entrepreneur will even open a new business there in Lafayette. People would ride their bicycles down the trail just to get a piece of pie. (You know you would.)

Every dollar you donate will be matched by six dollars from state and local agencies.

To donate online, visit the Linn County Trails Association’s website.

* * *

Disclosures:

• I’m happy to have joined the LCTA board recently.
• Some years ago, I rode my Huffy road bike on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail from Hiawatha to Center Point, a distance of about 13 miles. An out-of-shape, overweight smoker at the time, I barely made it while most of my friends had no problem. Four bicycles and many thousands of miles later, I’d be more than happy to talk about how that trail ride and others changed my life and helped me kick that old smoking habit. Smokers, you can quit, too.

Linn supervisors hear opinions on cycling and county roads

Linn County supervisors heard from several cyclists this morning about ways to improve safety for cyclists on county roads. Some of that information was noted in this live blog by Adam Belz of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. (John Wauer was incorrectly identified by a live blog guest at one point as Dr. John Wollner.)  I’ll link to the Gazette’s follow-up story later if there  is one.

Short version of what went on: Supervisors seem willing to have private citizens pay for 10 or so signs. Linda Langston will be asking cyclists for input on where they should go. Supervisors long-term will consider wider shoulders on county roads to accommodate cycling.

I’ll add more later, and please comment as you see fit.

For the record, here’s what I said following Lisa Paulos’s opening remarks about HBA’s willingness to pay for some “Share the Road” signs:

I’m here as a Linn County taxpayer who spends a lot of time on a bicycle.

Sometimes I choose to ride on county roads to get to my destination. By taking a bicycle instead of a car, I save some money and get some exercise. I often spend that money on breakfast or lunch in another Linn County community.

All too often, other road users endanger my life, and the lives of others who are traveling with me, by passing dangerously close. Some seem to be ignorant of their responsibility as motor vehicle operators. Others don’t seem to care. Some do it deliberately to intimidate or run cyclists off the road.

In all of those cases, motorists need to be educated about their responsibilities and about the rights of other citizens who share the road.

This needs to happen before more people are seriously injured or killed by careless drivers.

Just as we have signs that identify no-passing zones and speed limits, and that convey other traffic-safety information, we need signage that reminds people that they are required to share the roads with others.

I urge you as our elected county officials to budget for, install and maintain “Share the Road” signs as you do other traffic signs – as a matter of public policy and public safety.

Individual cyclists and cycling groups have no obligation to raise funds to pay for public infrastructure like traffic signs. Still, the Hawkeye Bicycle Association has generously offered to pay for some of Linn County’s traffic signs by matching individual donations.

I encourage you to accept that offer, to budget additional funds for signs, installation and maintenance, and begin adding “Share the Road” signs to improve safety for motorists and cyclists alike.

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Bicycle parking for Linn supervisors meeting

Westdale Mall removed its bicycle-parking racks because of vandalism, I learned in an email today.

And with Westdale housing Linn County offices, and the supervisors discussing bicycles and county roads in a few days, some people were wondering where they might put their two-wheelers should they decide to ride to that Monday morning meeting.

Solution? That’s what the email was about:

“The Bicycle Advisory Committee and Bicycle Ambassadors will provide bicycle parking for the Linn County Supervisors meeting on improving cycling on county roads, Monday November 16 from 9:00 am to 10:30 am. We will set up at the 130 entrance to the Linn County offices at Westdale Mall. (The mall removed all of their bicycle racks due to vandalism).”

Hoping to see lots of you there.

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Area cycling, running, triathlon clubs

If you’d like to find people who share your interest in running, cycling, training for triathlons or supporting our growing network of trails in Linn County, check these out:

• Cedar Valley Running Association (CVRA) www.cvra.net
• Hawkeye Bicycle Association (HBA) www.hawkeyebike.org
• Iowa Bicycle Racing Association www.bikeiowa.org
• Iowa Coalition of Off-Road Riders (ICORR) www.icorrmtb.org
• Kennedy Mt. Biking Club (Chain Gang) www.kenn.cr.k12.ia.us
• Linn Area Cyclers Bike Club www.lacbc.vpweb.com
• Linn Area Mountain Bike Assoc. (LAMBA) www.lambaonline.com
• Linn County Trails Association (LCTA) www.linncountytrails.org
• Midwest Xtreme Triathlon Club www.mwxtri.com

Thanks to the C.R. Bicycle Advisory Committee for putting the list together.

Have a group to add? Send it along.

Thanks.

Mark your cycling calendars

A few dates to put on your community involvement and cycling calendar:

November 16: Linn County Supervisors

Get to this meeting to show your support for making our county roads safer. Details in this recent post.

November 17: Tower Terrace Road Open House

To make sure your input regarding bicycle facilities (lanes, sharrows, etc.) is considered in planning for the Tower Terrace Road extension, go to the stakeholder group Open House on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The MPO will be reporting on proposed alignments and previous feedback.

Your feedback matters. If people who think accommodating bicycles as part of traffic don’t show up, it’s entirely possible someone else will make the decisions.

Do you want to be restricted to sidepaths? I sure don’t. I think they’re dangerous, and I’m far from alone.

Date: Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Time: 6:00 – 8:00pm
Where: St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Fellowship Room
8300 C Avenue
Marion, IA 52302

RSVP by Nov. 13 to Tara Bradley (t.bradley@cedar-rapids.org) or by phone at 319-286-5161.

December 5: Holiday Parade

Light up your bicycle and join the C.R. Bicycle Advisory Committee and Bicycle Ambassadors in a holiday parade.

The parade starts at 6 pm at 6th Street and 2nd Avenue SE, proceeds west on 2nd Avenue, south on 2nd Street, then east on 3rd Avenue, ending at Greene Square Park. Requirements for riding in the parade with this group: headlight, taillight and battery powered Christmas lights on your bike, helmet (with antlers optional), bells on bikes (optional).

No Santa character costumes are allowed except for the official Santa in the last float. The theme for our group is “Every Season is Bike Season.” The theme for the parade is “Dashing Through Downtown.”

Please email Gina Weaver (g.weaver@cedar-rapids.org) if you would like to participate.

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Hey, senior people, you can do more than walk

Image by docman via Flickr

“When you’re in your 60s, you may want to go out for a vigorous 30-minute walk, while when you’re in your 90s, you might try to lift your legs in a wheelchair.”

You can find those words of wisdom in a Chicago Tribune article. The source is Dr. Cheryl Phillips, president of the American Geriatrics Society.

Talk about setting the bar low.

When I reach my 60s and later years, I want to be on my bicycle. I’ve ridden with a lot of “seniors” and been dropped by more than a few.

A little walk is nice now and then, yes, but give me a road with some rolling hills and even a few hard climbs.

That will make a person feel like a kid again.

Linn supervisors to talk cycling and county roads

Linn County supervisors will be discussing cycling on county roads at their Nov. 16 meeting.

If you can’t make it that Monday at 9 a.m., Supervisor Linda Langston said at an open house today, be sure to let the supervisors know your thoughts ahead of time.

Meeting place: old Steve & Barry’s building at Westdale Mall – 2500 Edgewood Road SW.

They’re expecting to have some information about cost of bike lanes, signage, funding sources and I’m not sure what else. (The terminology can be confusing. If you see “trails” on the agenda for that meeting, it means bike lanes. Other times, it might mean “trails” as in Cedar Valley Nature Trail.)

You want improved safety on these roads, cycling public? Now’s the time to speak up.

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Have your say on Linn County office space

Off the bike…

…from a Lu Barron email asking people to spread the word:

Linn County is holding open houses Oct. 26 – 29 to gather public input about a permanent location for its administrative building. Attendees will be asked to fill out a survey at the open houses.

Through November 4, Linn County residents who can’t attend an open house can go to http://www.linncounty.org/ to see the displays and complete the survey.

Linn County is weighing five options for an Administrative Office Building because of flood-related damage to the site at 930 First St. S.W., in Cedar Rapids. County offices and staff from the AOB have been operating out of temporary locations since the 2008 flood.

The five options being considered are:

*    Returning to the Administrative Office Building as it was pre-flood.
*    Renovating, improving and expanding the Administrative Office Building.
*    Buying and renovating the Steve & Barry’s building at Westdale Mall for long-term use.
*    Buying and renovating the former Econofoods building on 51st St. NE in Cedar Rapids.
*    Co-location with the City of Cedar Rapids and/or school district in a yet-to-be-determined location.