Tag: cycling

ND is 49th out of 50 states for “bicycle friendliness”

ND: at the bottom of the 2012 League of American Bicyclists state rankings.

The League of American Bicyclists have come out with their 2012 state rankings, and North Dakota managed to beat out Arkansas for the 49th most-bicycle-friendly state.  As one commenter in on the Facebook group BIKE FARGO 365 put it, “not surprising!”  The state scorecard can be found here or linked at the bottom of the state ranking page..

Why exactly is this not surprising?  The League is pretty clear where we’re lacking, and pretty clear on what we need to do to improve.  North Dakota has failed to achieve any of the “Top 10 Signs of Success” regarding cycling and clearly needs a statewide Complete Streets policy.  But let’s step back a bit: sure, North Dakota as a whole isn’t going to compete with our neighbor Minnesota (#2, home to Minneapolis, just picked for best bikeability by WalkScore) or with Oregon (#1, home to Portland, this year’s best bike-friendly city according to Bicycling Magazine), but I don’t think we need to try for that right now.  What we can focus on is doing something local, and doing something now.

Each of the “Top 10 Signs of Success” can be achieved here in Grand Forks just as easily (or even more easily) than they can at the state level.  The same goes for Fargo, and for Bismarck and Minot.  I’m not trying to discount the other cyclists in the state, but lobbying for “bike friendliness” (as part of a greater Complete Streets initiative) might have a greater effect in the places where cycling is most viable as a transportation option: cities and large towns.  Grand Forks can be more nimble than the state in enacting policies that support all forms of transportation, and what we succeed at can be used as a model for the rest of the state.

Which of the “Top 10 Signs of Success” do you think are the most achievable in Grand Forks?

“Top 10 Signs of Success” from North Dakota’s 2012 League of American Bicyclists scorecard.

Bike share or bike rental in Grand Forks?

Update: Survey results are available from here (26 April 2012).

I was sent an email about the survey (open until 5 PM on April 13th, info) a few days ago, so I figured this Herald article was coming.  The news here is that the city (through Greenway Specialist Kim Greendahl) is entertaining the possibility of setting up either a staffed bicycle rental program (what I usually think of when I hear “bike rental”) or starting a bikeshare program (where riders could swipe a card at a kiosk, unlock a bicycle, ride it across town, and then deposit their bicycle in another kiosk).

I’ve only used one other bikeshare program, in Minneapolis last October, and I loved it because it let me get around as a visitor without needing to drive.  Does anyone else have experiences to share with this sort of system in other cities?

The specific target for any sort of bicycle-providing system seems to be visitors/tourists to Grand Forks.  I think this is exactly who would use a bicycle rental stand located on the Greenway: people from out of town who are looking for something to do.  A bikeshare system could mean a little more for residents because it would allow people to mix their transportation options: ride a bicycle across town in the morning when it’s sunny, ride the bus home if it starts to rain later.  Multiple kiosks mean multiple route possibilities and encourages people to ride.

What either of these systems does not do is get people to ride whose sole reason for not riding is lack of a bicycle.  If you look around, cheap bikes are easy to get, so easy that the racks outside the UND dorms are chock full and that the Mission always seems to be surrounded by riders.  It’s my hypothesis that supplying people with bicycles will not make them ride, and this is supported by ridership surveys for bikeshare systems such as the one in Washington, D.C.,* Minneapolis, MN, which is frequented predominantly by riders who already own another bike.  What a bikeshare system does is allow people the flexibility to choose the best form of transportation for their immediate needs: car, bicycle, bus, foot, etc., without needing to head back and reclaim a bicycle they may have left locked up somewhere.

Given the choice, I’m in favor of a bikeshare system because it has the potential to serve all residents, however I imagine that a “trial” bike rental stand on the Greenway would be a good way to measure tourist use.  Maybe a local business could step up to run such a thing, which brings me to my next question: how easy is it to rent a bicycle in Grand Forks, and where do you head for that?

*Originally I was remembering a post on Streetsblog about Washington, D.C. bikeshare, but that post was about comparing injury rates between bikeshare users and personal-bicycle users.

Comment on “How Bicycling Connects Us to a Healthier Community and Stronger Economy”

I submitted this comment this morning, but it hasn’t been approved yet. Hopefully it will be.

In response to How Bicycling Connects Us to a Healthier Community and Stronger Economy by Tyler Pell, I had these thoughts on how to improve these arguments:

“I think these are good points, but in the interest of helping to win over people who are stuck in a car monoculture, I’d suggest two things.

First, you should point out exactly why “keeping cars off the road” is good for community. It removes congestion, reduces noise, allows people to stop and chat while they are commuting, all of which strengthen the ties between people who live in the community.

Second, you should move all the environmental issues to a separate section. There are more than enough reasons for people to ride bicycles without shoving “the environment” or “climate change” down people’s throats. Note that I agree completely that it’s good for the environment to commute by bicycle, but I know it’s a sensitive subject with some people; if you give these people other reasons that they can personally get behind as human beings or consumers, you have a better chance at getting them into cycling.

Thanks for all the citations, this is a good resource overall.

Matt”

I think my suggestions are meaningful because when you’re trying to debate someone, it works best to start from a common ground and work toward the point your trying to make, all the while explaining why your points make sense. “The environment” is a nonstarter for some people. “Community” is a great thing to aim for, and I think Pell did a good job expressing that. Economics is a good place to start for some people, as long as you don’t get into too much theory.

Even though I frame this as a debate, remember that anyone you’re trying to convince to commute by bicycle is a future comrade-in-arms. Even if they don’t agree to do it themselves now, they may consider it in the future after your conversation, and they may be just a bit more understanding, which is good for community as well.

[activity] Too Flat, Too Furious 2011 (April 30th, May 1st)

The weekend was a half-success (only because we woke up to snow and ice on Sunday and had to cancel the road race).

As Race/Event Coordinator for the UND Cycling Club:
– Organized the UND race weekend on April 30th and May 1st, including a great number of things listed here.
– Kept the criterium course mostly free of cars (need more volunteers to be able to do this at the Ralph Engelstad Arena next year.
– Got some folks from out of town to show up and race the open USAC categories.
– No serious injuries even though there were several crashes.

As member of the UND Cycling Team:
– Placed 1st in the men’s category C race after a crash behind me in the last lap (that’s racing).
– Fourth rider on the 2nd-place men’s UND team in the 2011 North Central Collegiate Cycling Conference Team Time Trial Championships.

First winter training ride 2010/2011

[EDIT: My winter riding setup has changed quite a bit since this post.  The basics are there, but I’ve upgraded pretty much all of my clothing, requiring me to wear fewer, lighter layers.  I’ve replaced the bicycle (won a Pugsley frame at a race), upgraded the lighting, and gone to flat pedals with Power Grips combined with Muck boots for my feet.  2014-02-05]

I just got back a while ago (:-P) from my first “official” training ride of the winter season. It snowed the weekend before Thanksgiving, but I was returning from the Smithsonian and missed out on the freshie powder, then was busy all week aside from commuting. This evening I finished what I was doing in time to get some real training in.

IMG_8931
(All You Haters Stud My Tires)

The temperature when I returned (a little before 7 PM) was 17 F (-8 C), so it’s balmy by Grand Forks standards (or it will be by March!). There was an 11 MPH (17 km/hr) breeze from the north, but it definitely (to my out-of-shape body) felt like a lot more than that. I did the pedestrian bridge loop (to north bridge to south bridge and back) on my mountain bike, following the Greenway path. The path is nicely plowed for the most part, so much so that once my light died I could still see well enough to not endo over any piles of snow kicked up by the snowmobiles (the clear sky may have helped in this regard; nothing like following a black ribbon through a white wilderness).

As I said, the wind being from the north I got a bit of a workout, followed by a long period of speed, followed by my realization that I had forgotten how much of a workout I’d had at first, once I got to turn back into the wind. The weather was nice, and I think I dressed appropriately, which is always something of a challenge for me. I tend to run hot, which up until recently has resulted in me winding up drenched by the time I get to school since I wear a down jacket. I finally bought a clip-on pannier/shopping bag that I can throw my messenger bag into and not have to carry it on my back, so it’s much easier to regulate my temperature while commuting.

Anyway, back to tonight: the image below shows what I was wearing, with a list in case people are interested. I was warm enough with the tailwind, but the headwind sections were somewhat chilly on the knees and arms. I tried out vapor barriers for my feet for the first time since I have chronically cold toes in the winter; they may have worked, or it may have been too warm for me to feel the difference. Any time I can step off the bike and not feel like I’m standing on two frozen lumps of flesh is a good day.

IMG_8930
(All You Haters Wash My Shorts)

“RED” snowboarding helmet (from Play It Again Sports)
Smith goggles and neckwarmer (from Ali!)
bike shorts from inside baggy mtb shorts
Teko socks from END-AR 2009
plastic bags from phonebooks
cheap Nike mtb shoes
wool mittens (knitted by Mum) inside Swedish mitts from Midwest Mountaineering
North Face fleece (from Ali’s parents)
Cloudveil pants (from Ali)
Under Armour coldgear shirt (from a guy I ran with at SLU)

My other equipment could use an upgrade (maybe someone could b[u]y me this?), especially my front lighting system. I bought this light when I first got my mountain bike in eighth grade (thankfully the frame has proven large enough!). It runs a single incandescent bulb, I have no idea what the candlepower is, and uses 4 D batteries. It also seems to be having a lot of trouble in the cold this year 🙁

IMG_8932
(All You Haters Velcro My Batteries)

Since I’m trying to limit the whole blog post production time (BPPT) to a half-hour or less, I’ll only throw up one more photo of my new camera sweater. I’m not sure it works to keep things warm so the batteries last longer, but my buddy Mario (now Cat 2 road, congrats!) uses a similar setup for his power meter, and considering he’s an electrical engineer, it can’t have deleterious effects. I’ve been taking some decent winter commuting videos, so hopefully they’ll make it up eventually.

IMG_8934
(All You Haters Sweater My Camera)

Happy riding!

Ride distance: 16.2 km
Ride time: 45:11
Average speed: 21 km/hr

Life as a Race/Event Coordinator

I was recently (last month) elected to be the Race/Event Coordinator for the UND Cycling Club. This is a position I’ve more-or-less held in some capacity for the past few years, since I’ve been trying to get more events happening ever since I got hooked up with the club back in 2008. Now that I can someday put this on my resume (ha!), I’m taking it more seriously, but at this point I’m receiving more help than opposition than any time in the past.

I intend to add “event coordinating” to the list of things I blog about here. Over the next year you will be subjected to the problems I encounter, the triumphs of successfully navigated paperwork, and hopefully even some good feedback about what else can be done in Grand Forks for this organization and others.

One of my inspirations in this pursuit is Andy Magness, director of END Racing, choreographer of the only adventure racing in the state, and top-notch yoga instructor. If I can get to the point where I can orchestrate an event with half the participants, half the sponsors, half the press, and half the general excitement surrounding it of any of the events Andy has organized over the last few years, I’ll be flying high.

As someone who is naturally not outgoing, event coordinating is a big deal to me for that reason: I have to interact with people, I have to know what’s going on, and I have to think of things nobody else does, answer questions that nobody would ever come up with, and do it all with volunteers who would much rather be racing than volunteering (but we’re working on that this year; I’m committed to this role, even if it means I don’t get to participate in the ‘cross series [beginning Halloween in Riverside Park], the icebike series [announcement coming soon!], or even another collegiate road race weekend).

Most importantly, I need to be able to take the (sometimes nebulous) ideas presented by club members and turn them into a workable event. The best mind we’ve had for this is Dave Cardarelli, who will finally be graduating this December. Whether we’ve been organizing UND’s 2010 NCCCC road race weekend (complete with conference criterium championships), alleycat races that aren’t boring, or Grand Forks’ first ever (?) icebike race, Dave has either known what to do or shouted the rest of us down when we disagreed, which generally amounts to the same thing. Now that I’ve got this role on my shoulders, I hope I can measure up.

So far this fall I’ve been in contact with more people than ever to get some last-minute fall events into place and think about the future:

  • We’re starting a three-race cyclocross series (UND’s Fall Classic, to be expanded next year) on Halloween. Instrumental in the planning of this race so far have been my geology colleague Ted Bibby as well as Dave; so much so that I have yet to visit they race course they’ve supposedly devised, even though I’ve delivered a map to the city with our request for a special events permit.
  • For the long term, I’ve been working with riders in Fargo, Sioux Falls, and Winnipeg to organize a winter icebike series next February, as well as keeping in contact with Andy Magness to make sure we won’t interfere with END-IT (which as scheduled stands to be the light at the end of the tunnel of a month of winter racing if all goes to plan).
  • It hasn’t been nailed down yet whether we’ll be hosting “Too Flat, Too Furious” again next spring, but if our roster expands as much as I hope it will, we shouldn’t have a reason not to (more riders, in my mind, means a larger volunteer pool and more people invested in making sure the event goes off without a hitch). We’ll be talking about this down the road as people start dropping like flies around January.
  • We failed to organize a late summer mountain bike series this year (although getting a ‘cross series in before the snow is a nice bonus), but I hope to get it rolling for sure in mid-August: six weeks of mountain bike racing at Turtle River State Park followed by six weeks of cyclocross (which could alternate between TRSP and the Grand Forks Greenway, to say nothing of finding a friendly farmer who will let us use a cornfield).
  • Beyond? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves 🙂

As a final note, this isn’t about me: it’s about the club and what we can do for people in Grand Forks. Cycling, running, and even adventure racing events have been on the rise since I moved here in January 2006. I intend to make this trend continue, so if you have any ideas for events, improving events, or collaborating, get in touch.

 

 

People weird me, but I like this guy

I can’t figure this out. When I read the article, it seemed to say that bikes and pedestrians would be accommodated in roadway design. This sounds reasonable to me, since I pay taxes for the roads(state and federal income tax, sales tax, property tax, and yes, even gas taxes, vehicle registration, etc.) and I want to be able to walk and bike safely. However, I find that many roads were not designed with safe walking and biking in mind, even though by law cyclists and pedestrians are allowed to use nearly all roads except for limited access highways.

When I read some of the comments, though, it was almost as if many people had read a different article. I don’t know what that one said, but apparently it was about banning motorized vehicles, or closing roads to motorized vehicles. I went back and read the article, and there is just nothing in it that suggests anything like that.

There is a quote from a lobbyist that this new approach would be an economic disaster. It almost sounded like he was responding to a different proposal than the one in the article, too. Apparently, he thought that trucks would be banned from using the road system. I usually don’t pay too much attention to lobbyists in general, though, because they tend to whine and exagerate whenever they feel threatened.

So this is all very strange. Maybe someone can explain why the article I saw didn’t say any of those negative things about getting rid of cars. I follow these issues, and I’ve never heard anyone propose or support such a thing.

citizenjs