New at Twin Rivers Cyclists?

Something more for the ladies of the safety committee. Consider Portland’s 15 green Bike Boxes. They simply encode the correct behavior for both cyclists and cars. -Corrie

There is a lot of debate as to where a bicycle commuter should position themselves in relation to the road. New bike commuters, especially, are often intimidated by riding in the road and often choose something that isn’t necessarily the safest place. Here are the top two:

Read the rest of this story at Commute by Bike 

Now here’s a jacket for night rides. Probably not effective for general visibility though. –Corrie

From the web site swissmiss comes a tech hack that rocks. Behold, the signal jacket:

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This is language you should be familiar with. It just means that streets and roadways should be designed for all users, not just those running on dead dinosaurs.

On March 3, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced The Complete Streets Act of 2008, which would work to promote the design of streets that are safe for all of those using the street— including motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including people with disabilities. There’s not much detail on the Senator’s webpage, but this clearly indicates that the concept of Complete Streets is becoming widely known. Keep an eye on this one…

Somebody in Portland really wants to encourage cyclists. Ever afraid to take the lane at a light? Portland’s creating bike boxes and paintin’ ‘em green. –Corrie

Portland’s ambitious campaign to improve bike safety at 14 intersections has finally begun.

Today, I watched City of Portland crews put down the first bit of green paint to mark a new colored bike lane and bike box on SE Hawthorne Blvd. and SE 7th. This intersection isn’t complete yet but the crew member I spoke with said they plan to finish it (and paint in the bike box) on Monday.

I watched several light cycles along with PDOT traffic safety guy Greg Raisman (who just happened to be there). Raisman and I were both pleased to see that even without the green paint in the bike box, most cars obeyed the “WAIT HERE” markings and stopped well before the stop bar.

Read the rest of the story and see more pictures. 

Don’t know how Lewiston compares, but the Bike Nazi brings his irascible tone to Boise Valley air quality. I’m worried about your health, Steve. –Corrie

Air Trouble!

Our local air deteriorated in a meaningful way last year.

Specifically, we had 120 “yellow-alert” days, 10 “orange-alert” days, and 1 “red-alert” day. A total of 131 bad-air days (36% of the total).

That compares with 77 in 2006, 58 in 2005, and 48 in 2004. Far as I know, that “red-alert” day, which occurred in July, is the first on record.

Not only did Linda and Carol stage a coup on the board taking over in the name of women everywhere, they are taking over the pages on this site too.

Two new pages not yet in the menu system yet but you can click on the Shamrock icon at the top of the page to get to them.

The Safety committee comrpised of Linda, Carol, Debbie, Tamra, and Jen have built a couple of pages on the google group list. I’ve just made them look like they are on our site. These pages are a work in progress and members of the google list can join in the conversation.

The Crazy Ladies have been around longer than  the Twinriverscyclists. Sometimes they are members of the club and sometimes not, but they ride every Wednesday morning and have created a calendar which is now shared with ours. Visit their page and look for their events on our calendar. Largent is a past honorary Crazy Lady and I’ve ridden with them now and then so fellows, you can show up too.

–Corrie

Excuse number one for not commuting.

The ladies of the safety committe have been hard ar work gathering information on safety and ways to encourage biking to work. They are creating their own pages on the google groups site or you can find a link to their pages from the advocacy page.

Bet they don’t have this yet.–Corrie

One of the biggest problems that people tend to look at is the idea of getting sweaty an stinky after a bike ride. I think this has to be one of the turn-offs that people have with bike commuting.

Read Tips on handling this smelly problem.

I’ve been saving Gene’s blogs on cycling death stats nationally and in Washington. This event a couple of days ago shows us just how vulnerable we all are. –Corrie

Cyclists Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson struck down in Cupertino

by Gene Bisbee on Mon 10 Mar 2008 12:32 PM PDT

Two cyclists were struck and killed by a Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy whose vehicle crossed a double-yellow line on Sunday.

read more

Biking deaths showed slight decline in 2006

by Gene Bisbee at 11:36AM (PST) on March 3, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Bicycling fatalities accounted for 773 deaths in 2006, a number that’s too high despite being 01.6% lower than the previous year.

Accidents leading to bicycling deaths occurred more often in urban areas, at non-intersection locations, between 5 and 9 p.m. during the summer months. Nearly one-fourth of the bike riders had blood-alcohol content of .08%, which would qualify them for DUI if they were behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Read more 

Bicycle fatality stats in Washington highways report

by Gene Bisbee at 05:00AM (PST) on February 29, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Sometimes statistics can be helpful in explaining problems and finding solutions; other times they can only confuse the issues.

The latter is the case in the annual “Measures, Markers and Mileposts” report (.pdf) issued by the Washington state Department of Transportation. The 100-plus page document gives in-depth performance reports for highway maintenance, pavement conditions, and environmental control.

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Someone BikePortland attended the National Bike Summit in Washington DC and wrote these blog entries.

National Bike Summit 2008

Welcome to BikePortland.org’s special coverage of the 2008 National Bike Summit. Read all the articles by clicking on the headlines below. You can also view my photo gallery here.

This coverage is sponsored by Planet Bike.

Entries are at bikeportland.org/cats/ridesevents/bikesummit2008

Too often the penalty for hitting a bike is too light.–Corrie

No jail time for hit-and-run bike fatality in Texas

by Gene Bisbee at 10:12AM (PST) on March 7, 2008 | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Bicycles. Cars. Hit-and-runs. Probated sentences. The beat goes on.

A Texas woman convicted of striking a bicyclist and not stopping to help was sentenced to five years probation and a six-month probated jail sentence. The cyclist died five months later.

The Lubbock jurors deliberated two hours before coming up with this ridiculous sentence. It means the hit-and-run driver won’t serve any jail time as long as she abides by the terms of her probation for five years.

Washington is has legislation pending to make the 3 foot passing law mandatory.–Corrie

10 states require 3-foot clearance for bicycles; 6 others considering it

by Gene Bisbee at 10:51AM (PST) on March 5, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Laws that require motorists to give bicycle riders 3 feet of space when passing always sound like a good idea to me. It allows manuevering room for cyclists and reduces the air turbulence caused by passing vehicles.

As bicycle advocates work to get these laws passed state by state, I’ve noticed there’s some confusion about which states already have these laws on the books. So I did a little research.

More from Biking Bis 

Here’s the letter I wrote to the Tribune Outdoor editor and to Klew News tips to encourage them to do a bike month story.

The League of American Cyclists sponsor each spring a Bike Month including a Bike to work week and day. This year the week is May 12-16 with Friday, the 16^th designated Bike to Work Day.

 With pedestrian-cycle trails in the planning stages in Clarkston, Lewiston, and Lapwai and gasoline at a national average of $3.17 a gallon, isn’t it time to take another look at cycling in the four cities of Lewiston, Clarkston, Pullman, and Moscow?

I represent the Twin Rivers Cyclists as Treasurer and advocacy spokesman. This year we are making an extra effort to encourage safe cycling. Cycling is not just a spin on the bike path. At some point cyclists and motorists must learn to accommodate each other. From the kid on a bmx bouncing in and out of traffic and darting across the road to the older cyclists nervously creeping from one handicapped sidewalk-access to the next we will all benefit from an increased citizen awareness of cyclists on the roadways.

You may see something of what we do at the club website at http://twinriverscyclists.org. On this page you can learn about progress on the Pedestrian Trail and other bike related projects as well as see maps of our favorite routes from the Palouse to Grangeville.

In addition, I maintain a blog called Crusty Cassette to share our road experiences. Over the winter we haven’t had much activity, but recently a group of us headed to Death Valley for a little bike touring. Stories and photos are covered in the most recent entries.

I would like to make our resources available to you for a Bike Month piece. A great opportunity to meet many cyclists is the club’s Annual Spaghetti Feed on March 13^th at Clarkston’s Methodist Church at the Corner of 13th and Highland at 6:30 pm.

 

Happy Bike Month

–thanks, Corrie

 

Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds. First you’ve got to take the Road I course. I’ve been interested in this since I saw a course offered in Spokane a couple of years ago. I expected one would be offered the following year but if it was, I missed it.

The League of American Cyclists present a number of courses around the nation as well as League Certification Seminars. Taking Road I won’t certify me and I might like to take other courses if I can find them within reasonable distance before taking the certification Seminar. This Road I course will focus on Commuter skills in conjunction with Bike to Work Month activities in Spokane.

Road I takes place in Spokane on Tuesday, May 6, from 4?30 to 8 in the evening and again on Saturday, the 10th from 10 to 4pm.

This program is highly thought of. I’d hesitate to speak authoritatively without this training.

Let’s consider sending several of us up for the course. Information is available at Road I cours.

Will they successfully demonstrate even in bike friendly Marin County that spending money can increase ridership?–Corrie

MARIN BICYCLE advocates are convinced they can move the needle and get more residents to walk and ride bikes instead of driving cars.

The federal government has given the county $25 million to show they are right.

The pilot program is about more than wishful thinking. A report to Congress last week established some important baseline data by measuring travel behavior in Marin andthe three other communities selected for the $100 million Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program.

Read more

Safe Bicycling for Young and Older Children - Tips

Although it’s still cold out there, it will get warmer soon being the perfect time for children to ride their bikes. If you live in one of those lucky cities like Washington, DC, where it was Spring time this past weekend, chidren of all ages were riding their bikes.

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Linda, Carol and Jen are working on coming up with safety projects that we can reasonably manage. Carol created the Helmet flyer that I posted yesterday. I thought those ladies might appreciate a second mention and doay’s three safety posts. –Corrie

Bike Mom Leads Safety Program

HBL Members doing great things

HBL’s 2007 Advocacy Volunteer of The Year winner Natalie Iwasa had a wonderful write-up recently in the Honolulu Advertiser. She was featured promoting the Bicycle School Bus program in Hawaii Kai. Natalie has started this program and is looking for students in the area that want to ride to school as well as adult volunteers to help out with the project. If you want to help with the Bicycle School Bus in Hawaii Kai, or want to start a Bicycle School Bus in your neighborhood, please contact Natalie at the-green-one@hawaii.rr.com

I almost hate to post these bike/car culture conflict pieces. But this is why we want to have a public face for cycling that focuses on safety, health, and awareness. Linda, Carol and Jen are working on some ideas.

Take a look at the Helmet flyer Carol has made. It is in pdf.  The “correct” example looks a little goofy, but I guess models are hard to find.

I know that Jen has some experience at working with cycling groups and has quite a list of projects we might undertake. Looks like I’ll be creating a safety page soon.–Corrie

Maybe this Seattle judge needs to commute by bike

by Gene Bisbee at 11:41AM (PST) on March 1, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Why should motorists drive responsibly when the criminal justice system often shows such a lack of concern for the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists? Take the case of Ephraim Schwartz that was adjudicated on Thursday by Seattle Municipal Court Judge George Holifield.

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