Video of the Day

This is too good to not share. Way to go, OCTA.

 

 

Dear Motorist

This is a powerful video, had to share it.

Just remember, we are not just cyclists. We are brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends, and most importantly, people.

Be safe out there!

The Dear Motorist campaing was launched by ENDEVR, Creators of the MyID medical bracelet.

May is Bike Month

Happy Bike Month, ya'll!

Let's start it off with this video from People for Bikes:

Vulnerable on the Open Road: A People for Bikes Video

People for Bikes released this video yesterday showing five pro cyclists talking about road safety. I thought it was a great video, and definitely in need of sharing.

Do You Have Your "Share the Road" Plates Yet?

Do you have a “Share the Road” plate on your car yet? If so, good for you! If not, there is no time to wait. 24 more people need to order plates now or the program will be discontinued by the DMV.

“This plate benefits the Share the Road initiative as it works to create awareness and safety support systems for bicyclists throughout the state. This plate generates funds for the Department of Transportation in support of this initiative…”

I can attest to the awareness part. Just this last weekend, I was asked by the technician at our local Wal-Mart tire & lube center who the cyclist was in my family. We were there picking up my daughter’s car after getting the oil changed, and he noticed the plate.

But, more important than identifying you as a cyclist, is the funds generated by the plate for the Share the Road initiative. There is a $10 special plate fee and a $25 initial contribution fee when you pick up the plate. Then an annual $25 contribution fee. It’s these fees that fund programs that help make motorists aware of our presence out there on the roads.

You don’t have to wait till your car’s registration is up for renewal, you can go to the DMV at any time and get your plates. Get a set for your car, your spouse’s car and your kid’s car. Tell your friends and extended family. Don’t let the program end.

Geography Fail

I don’t know if I’m just lucky, or if the motorists in my area are used to cyclists on the road, but it is very rare for me to have someone yell something at me from their car as they pass.

Last night was the exception.

Greg and I are riding in the Bear Lake Monster Century on Saturday, and he wanted to get in some training miles before we head up to Montpelier, Idaho tonight. So, we went out last night for a quick 2 hour ride. As we were coming back down the hill, a teenage girl leaned out of the passenger window of a passing car and yelled at Greg and me “The Tour de France is that way”, as she pointed north.

Um, France is east of the United States. I hope you didn’t get a good grade in Geography.

View Larger Map

A Little Bit of Excitement this Past Saturday Morning

Forgive me the proud parent moment, but my 13 year old marched in his first parade this weekend with the high school marching band.

Yeah, he had to pick the biggest freakin’ instrument to play. He enjoys it, and he’s good at it.

The proud parent moment also serves as a segue into today’s post, as the event I am talking about took place as we were heading to the parade to watch the marching band, and the other 108 entrants march down the road.

Eagle Mountain is divided into two distinct areas: Town Center and The Ranches. These areas are geographically separated by about 3 miles of nothing – what I have referred to in previous posts as “no man’s land”. The road that connects town center and the Ranches - Pony Express parkway (yes, it is actually on the original Pony Express trail) - is a bad road: single lane each direction, no shoulder, narrow lanes, and an island in the middle the entire way.

photo taken later in the day to illustrate the narrowness of the road

It is also, unfortunately, a popular cycling route.

Fortunately, the city has built a shared use path right next to the road.

I’m a big proponent of the whole “share the road” concept and taking the lane, but I am also a huge fan of not being hit by cars. This 3 mile stretch of road is the only place where I will actively use the shared use path instead of the road.

Okay, the scene is set. Now on with the story.

We were heading into the Ranches to watch the parade Saturday morning. We had the great misfortune of being behind a truck towing a horse trailer – more than likely an entrant in the parade. About a mile into “no man’s land” the truck came across a single cyclist riding on the road. The truck slowed down to the cyclist’s speed, and was trying to get over as far as he possibly could to pass. He was next to the cyclist for about a minute, when the cyclist looked over, then back, then wobbled and swerved off the road into the gravel, and immediately went down.

He quickly jumped to his feet after he fell and went up to the passenger side window of the truck and had words with the driver of the truck. As we got our opportunity to go past, my wife asked out her window if he was okay, he shot her a dirty look and then grunted that he was fine.

Just to be clear, the truck in no way touched or physically interfered with the cyclist. I have no way of knowing if the driver of the truck said anything to the cyclist. Also, except for the bruises to his ego and pride, he appeared to be unharmed.

I wish I knew more of what went on right before the cyclist hit the ground, but from what I saw, he panicked and overreacted.

I used to ride on the road in that location, defiantly asserting my right to the road, and dismissing the path as a location for joggers and families. Enough times of having big trucks go past with their mirrors missing my shoulder by mere inches has cured me of my arrogance.

I hope that the cyclist is really ok. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt out there, I wish the city would either widen the road, or at least put up signs: advising the cars to watch for cyclists, or for the cyclists advising that the road is narrow and encouraging them to use the path.

Share the Road plates now available!

Today you can order your Share the Road licence plate from the DMV. The special plate fee is $25, plus a $10 replacement fee and it isn't pro-rated. Just consider that the money is going to a good cause. Go order your plate today! click here for additional information.

Morning school drop-off, Amsterdam

What's missing from this picture? That's rignt, nothing! This is what morning school drop off looks like in Amsterdam.

No oversized SUV's driven by half-awake soccer moms who are paying more attention to watching their precious little ones skip happily into school behind them than they are to what is in front of them as they speed back home to catch the last half of Regis and Kelly.

We have a long way to go until it looks anything even remotely similar to that here.

Park(ing) Day: The interview

Sorry for the delay. I did some searching on the interweb, and found out how to post an audio file on the blog. (Tip for anyone else who would like to post some audio, you need to create a video file using Windows movie maker.)

Here is the interview with Mark Puddy from IBI Group that should have been on yesterday's post.

Share the Road licence plates

I found this on the front page of the Utah Bicycle Coalition website:

Share The Road License Plate

Coming Soon to a DMV office near you!Plates will be available after October1st, 2009

You will be able to order plates to replace your existing at anytime after they are available. The fee is $25 in addition to the regular registration & fees.

If you order mid-year replacement tags, your registration date will not change and the fee is not pro-rated. (You'll send in your $25 and a small mailing fee.) Remember the $25 goes to a good cause!

For general information from the State, Click Here. Not all locations may have plates, but they will be made available through mail-order from the State.

For questions for the UBC regarding the STR plates, Click Here

Above is a mockup of the current plate design.

Special group plates consist of a five-character combination on the right with the special group sticker on the left and a descriptive phrase or slogan on the bottom.

Utah Department of Transportation will collect the $25 fee, most of which will be placed in a "restricted account" for use by the UBC for "support bicycle operation and safety awareness programs." For the full text of the law Click Here (look for underlined sections).

Below are states which currently have plates, as of January 2009

Green are states that have a Share the road plate available, dark grey are states that have limited availability of STR plates, and light grey are States that have not yet adopted a STR plate.

Park(ing) Day

Friday, the 18th was Park(ing) Day.

Park(ing) Day was originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio as a way to challenge people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. Additionally, it is an opportunity to celebrate parks by creating temporary parks in public parking spaces.

Since 2005, Park(ing) Day has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: 2008 included more than 500 "PARK" installations in 100 cities on four continents.

This year, the project continues to expand to urban centers across the globe, including first-time PARK installations in South Africa, Poland, Norway, New Zealand & South Korea. (from flyer I was given at the "park")

I first heard about Park(ing) Day last year through a San Francisco based podcast. When I found out that the 19th was National Park(ing) Day, I did a quick search to see if anyone in SLC was setting up a "park" I found that the IBI Group, a downtown design firm, was setting up a park (from this point, quotations will be omitted as being superfluous, and highly annoying) only a couple of blocks away from my office. At lunchtime, I headed out to see what I would find. At the park I met Mark with the IBI group. Mark is the person responsible for setting up this installation for the past 3 years. We had a good talk about why he does this, and what goes into creating a park in the space of two parking spots along a busy road.

I took several pictures with my phone, and also managed to get a quick interview with Mark. Take a listen to the first ever Bike Junkie audio interview. -- (okay, I am having some problems figuring how to insert an audio file into my blog post. Enjoy the pictures for now. I'll update the post once audio is available.)

As an occasional bicycle commuter, I am of course in favor of anything that could lead to safer, more integrated streets. During my time there, several people walked past with questioning looks on their faces. As far as what the cars on the street thought, I didn't hear any honking, and I couldn't see if there were any puzzled looks on their faces (mainly because of my position, which was lying down on the grass, with the bushes blocking my view of the street). Sometimes drivers forget that they're not the only ones that use the streets. Events such as this, and to some extent Critical Mass when it started out (disclaimer: I have never participated in a critical mass, any information I have about them is definitely third-hand) let drivers know that they need to share the road.

As I was walking around the park, taking pictures, I was approached by a reporter with the Deseret News who asked me about my thoughts on the park. You can read the article here. More information about Park(ing) Day can be found by visiting the offical website: http://www.parkingday.org/

Mark and his group did a great job designing and creating a park in the middle of the town. They also created the park with an environmentally sustainable mindset. All of the sod and plants were re-used in a local residents yard, and the flyers were printed on recycled paper. My thanks to Mark, and IBI Group for taking this on for the past 3 years, and for giving me the opportunity to interview him. Hopefully you can hear it soon.

**update**

I was able to get the interview with Mark online. You can listen to it here.

Share the Road plate update

I just read on Jared Eborn's blog that House Bill 102 passed through the transportation committee this morning.

Sounds like the only thing left is for all of the cyclists to start thinking of what they want their vanity Share the Road plates to read:

Although, this last one may be more appropriate with this special intrest plate...

Can anyone else come up with any more vanity plate ideas for your favorite cyclist?

Share the Road Licence plates pt. 2

Back in August I posted about how the Utah Bicycle Coalition was working to get a "share the road" licence plate similar to other states here in Utah. Today, I opened up my March issue of Cycling Utah, and came across this article:

Share the Road Licence Plate Under Consideration in the Utah Legislature

Cyclists throughout the state hope that Utah will become the 17th state to adopt a Share the Road licence plate. Legislation authorizing the special group plate was initiated by Senator Wayne Niederhauser (District 9 - Sandy) who recently presented the Bill to the Senate Transportation, Utilities, and Technology committee. the committee unanimously supported it and sent it to the Senate floor for a vote. If approved, the Bill will go to the State House of Representatives for another round of review. If signed into law, the Share the Road Licence plate would become available on October 1, 2009.

Vehicle owners may then purchase the plate when renewing their annual vehicle registration. The cost will be an extra $25 per year. This fee will go to replenish the Share the Road licence plate inventory and support bicycle advocacy activities of the Utah Bicycle Coalition (UBC). The UBC with generous support from the Bonneville Bicycle Touring club, other cycling organizations, and individual cyclists has raised enough funds to purchase 2500 plates, the minimum number required by the Utah Tax Commission to ensure that plates are available at all of the Department of Motor Vehicle offices throughout the state. Similar to other special group plates, the design will include a 4 inch square decal on the left side of the plate, and a slogan at the bottom of the plate.

The UBC is a non profit organization made up of recreational and commuter cyclists, bicycle manufacturers and retail shops, and transit advocates. Bicycle advocacy activities focus on developing good laws and legislation that promote safe cycling, participating in transportation planning and construction that provide safe accommodations for cycling, educating cyclists and motorists about safe cycling, sharing the road, and obeying the law, and developing a network of safe cycling routes throughout Utah. Through these activities, the UBC hopes to promote sustainable healthy lifestyles, support Utah's cycling industry, and assist local bicycle advocacy groups.

-Ken Johnson, UBC President

This should be what the plate will look like. Soon, we will be able to let others know how we feel about bicycles and cycling.

Share the Road Licence Plates

Go to the Utah Bicycle Coalition website. They are trying to raise funds for a "share the road" licence plate. The additional registration fees will go towards bicycle advocacy in Utah. Several States such as Colorado, Oregon, Texas (my personal favorite, Share the road Y'all), and Florida have plates available already, and there are more that are working on getting plates. I think the plates are a great idea. Aside from being another way of identifying yourself as a cyclist, they show your commitment to safe cycling, and cycling advocacy (the bottom one also looks much better than the current Utah plate). You can donate via paypal at their site. Utah already has specialty plates for homeless pets, hunting, fishing, etc. Let's get our own plate out there!