Orem Planning Commission
20 October, 2010
Tonight was the Orem Planning Commission’s turn to critique and talk over the Orem Bike Ped Plan. I’ll make this short. They love it, even those who don’t ride bikes. They forwarded it on to the City Council with a unanimous approval and recommendation. Afterwards, I heard two commissioners in the hall talking, saying that they want to get some new bikes and start riding. There is hope after all!
At the CORE of it.
6 May, 2010
As anyone who lives in the northern half of Utah County knows, I-15 is going to be rebuilt, starting now and going through the next two and a half years, into a modern super-freeway of 12 lanes. There are in fact many good things to come out of this. Many bridges and overpasses are being replaced and upgraded, and a lot of those include improvements for cyclists. This probably comes as no surprise to you, but there is one road that I am aware of and probably several others that I am not aware of, that include no such improvements, and actually have the opposite effect. They will be less safe. Since I am an Orem resident, it makes sense that the one that I am aware of is in Orem, and it is University Parkway. Now, many would say that you have to be insane to want to ride a bike over that bridge even today, and you would have a valid point, so I can say that I am insane as I used to do it every day. I actually found it to be quite safe. There is plenty of shoulder, and if you time it right, which takes nothing but patience, you can avoid any real danger. The redesign of that area will dramatically change that, and make the access across I-15 deadly. I am surprised UVU hasn’t complained. Their students are the ones who live on both sides and they have campus buildings on both sides of I-15. So, I think that we need to do something about this. I have personally talked to the City of Orem about this issue, and I’ve written to the UDOT public involvement person for the Orem area of this project, Dave Asay(you can write him at daveasay at utah dot gov) to express my concern. So far, nothing has happened, and I don’t really expect it to, unless we as a cycling community really make a fuss. So, please do one or several of the following. First, if you live in Orem, call the Mayor & City Manager’s office and let them know that you are concerned about this issue. Second, contact any and all of the City Council members. Third, email Dave Asay at the email address that I posted above. Fourth, contact your State Senator & or Representative. If you don’t know who that is, you can look it up on utah.gov, or contact me and I’ll look it up for you. We need to do something about this issue, in every city in the state. UDOT says they are not just an agency for cars. Lets see them prove it.
Bike Skills Clinic, Ladies ONLY!
5 May, 2010
I’m teaching a bike skills and safety clinic tomorrow morning at Mad Dog Cycles in Orem. It will get started at 8:00 AM as a part of the weekly Ladies Road Ride which leaves Mad Dog at 10:00 each Thursday morning. Women only! Come if you would like to learn a bit about how to handle your bike in traffic and in sketchy situations. Then join in for a fun group ride. There is a lot in it for you or for the woman in your life, so come one come all and lets have some fun! I love cycling, but I’ll only be teaching the class. I’m not allowed on the ride!
Focus on Bicycles & Pedestrians for good Health
25 November, 2009
I’ve seen this come across my screen a few times today. An article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, is one of the first well respected publications to call “green cars” for what they are and to call for a focus on Bicycles & Pedestrians as the only healthy and best use of our transportation funding. Further, it calls for policy makers to focus primarily on those means of transportation, even to the detriment of those who chose to drive. Additionally, the director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, followed the article with a commentary voicing her unbridled support. To read a more eloquent account, visit Copenhagenize and read Mikael’s take on it. Ready the full article here. Keep riding, and have a great Thanksgiving.
Brad
Today I was in an accident…
22 November, 2009
Yep. I was hit by a car. The really bad thing is that it wasn’t just me. It was me and the kids. We were riding to church. I had just come out of a bike lane and had taken the lane to go through an intersection. The car hit us from behind. The box on the Bakfiets is pretty much destroyed. We’re all okay. I have a bit of road rash, and the kids have a bump or two, but overall, we aren’t too bad off. I’ll post details as I get them, but the initial report is that the person, who is somewhat elderly ,may have had a medical condition at the time of or as a result of the accident. More to come I’m sure. All is well.
Another reason to ride.
26 February, 2009
As if I needed another reason to ride a bike. Anyway, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) has a great article on their website this morning. Check it out. Now, how do we get governments in this state to start recognizing how simple the solutions to so many problems are?
Remember when …
24 February, 2009
Remember when you were a kid and you got your first bike? Do you remember the feeling of freedom that you had when the training wheels came off and you finally didn’t need to have your Dad hold you up as you rode and he ran for all he was worth? What a feeling that was. Do you remember going to the corner store on your bike, or perhaps to the local swimming hole or swamp like I did to mess around and hope you didn’t get caught by the “cops”? Those were great days weren’t they. If you are like me, and I suspect that you are in at least some small way, your bike was your freedom, it was your transportation. Of course, you probably didn’t have much choice because at 8 years old there was no way your mother was going to let you drive the station wagon, or if you grew up in the 90′s, the minivan. Then came the big 16th birthday and you haven’t been on a bike since. It probably didn’t matter that much when you were in your early twenties and still single. There is an amazing thing that happens when one finishes college and gets married and starts working for a living. The gut grows, the muscles get flabby, the couch and the TV become your best friends after spending a long day stuck in that chair and then that seat of your ultra efficient car. You probably live 30 miles away from your job in some suburb or exurb and there is no choice but to drive 15 miles to the nearest anything except for other tract houses that look remarkably similar to yours, even if they were built by a different company. Remember when you were a kid? That bike? That freedom? Do you realize that they still make bikes?
Winter Riding
10 January, 2009
I’m sure that not to many of you are out riding right now. That is to bad. I know, those people out riding in the snow and the cold are crazy, right? Well, if so, I’m crazy. Yep, I’m the guy holding up traffic while I ride in the middle of the lane. Sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll be out of your way soon. Yes, those studded tires really do work on ice. Bikes do in fact work better in the snow than cars do. No, I don’t recommend century rides this time of year, but a trip to the store or to church isn’t at all out of the question. Just bundle up and go slow. You’ll be out enjoying the freedom of two wheels again. Enjoy it. My favorite memories while riding include a very early morning with three inches of snow on the ground, snow still falling, and no traffic. It was beautiful and oh so peaceful. Enjoy the winter. It soon gives way to spring.
Are You Green?
3 December, 2008
I got an interesting email from a close acquaintance yesterday. He came across this website and among other things, had this to say:
I had to suppress my vomit when I went to bikeuv.org and saw all that commuter rail crap neatly framed behind a picture of a beach cruiser. Man oh man. And the post about the NYT and more efficient cars? Oh, and what’s the link “sans automobiles” something or other? Are you in the Al Gore (we’ll be extinct in 10 years) camp or the Sheryl Crow (you can only use two squares of toilet paper) camp? Consider your answer carefully, because you might offend me and never ride on my V12 Malibu pulled to the lake by my V12 pickup truck when I rent a gas guzzling, CO2 emitting air conditioned house boat on lake powell
Considering his personality, the smiley, and taken in light of a previous conversation we had, I don’t think he was 100% serious. But his comment does highlight what I think are real misconceptions about cyclists and proponents of things as vomit-inducing as commuter rail. It got me thinking.
1. We’re not all tree-huggers — I have never watched “An Inconvenient Truth” or taken seriously anything Sheryl Crow says or sings.
2. We don’t all have a personal agenda against automobiles — I own two cars, but I do think a disproportionate amount of government money goes to car-centric transportation (how much did GM ask Washington for yesterday?).
3. We’re not all liberals — I don’t claim membership in either party. The truth is, I wish all railroad and highways could be privatized. It’s true, UTA and FrontRunner are state-sponsored, but in light of #2 above, I’ll take any alternative the state will give me.
4. We’re not all poor — Just because an adult in the U.S. chooses to get around on two wheels instead of four, or chooses commuter rail over driving alone in a car, doesn’t mean that he or she is not well off. For some reason people, Americans mostly, have the notion that a nice car equals wealth.
Here is the truth. I like the word “sustainable” a lot more than the word “green.” I like the thought of less cars on the road (that equals more room for V12 pickups which certainly have a place if you wish to drive one). Finally, there are a lot of people in the world who depend on bikes for transportation. I want to be one of them. I don’t think that’s weird.
If you’re reading this, you probably got here because you believe in bikes. But what are your thoughts? Have you ever been cast as a weirdo because you get around on a bike?
