Classifieds
ForumBikeWriter – July 2010
Click here for the PDF versionJuly 7, 2010
The Prez Sez – July 2010
John Chester
July brings a new feature to “The Prez Sez”: The Bike Word of the Month. It will be a reoccurring feature, some months will have it, and some months won’t. This month’s Bike Word of the Month: HYDRATION.
It is July, it is HOT. DRINK. HYDRATE.
As a past sufferer of kidney stones, I hope I have learned to hydrate. I’ve switched to a Camelbak. I stop often for beverages (See the photo above this column for an example). But there have been rides where I’ve underestimated my liquid needs. A good, if not entirely scientific method is to weigh yourself, and your water bottle, then go for a ride. Once you have finished drinking the water bottle, turn around and go home. Weigh yourself. That is your water loss. Do some simple math, comparing mileage, and heat, and difficulty of your ride. The scientists among us out there can get you a more scientific definition, but trust me, once you get a kidney stone, you will want to HYDRATE! Be sure to mix in a few other beverages besides just water. (And no, it does not have to be what you think I am talking about). On an MS ride around 10 years ago, a number of riders were concerned about dehydration, so they drank water – LOTS OF IT. They ended up depleting their bodies of many nutrients and BONKED. But not just a typical bonk, they ended up in the hospital and had to have multiple IVs to rebalance their systems. So, HYDRATE, mix it up with water and sports drinks.
In the last two months, we have had some major bicycle transportation developments to report. The Cincinnati Bicycle Transportation Plan was approved. City Counsel passed a law to help make bicycling more safe. The City Department of Transportation and Engineering “found” $9.2 MILLION in “Stimulus” money that must be used by September 30. Much of that is going towards a bike trail from downtown to past Lunken airport. And Adventure Cycling came to town to unveil its new Underground Railroad Route that goes north from Cincinnati and end in Canada. See the article on Adventure Cycling in this issue of the BikeWriter for more information.
In other news, I’ve been to the Northern Kentucky Cluster picnic, but missed the Chili Repeat due to recent thunderstorms. Campbell County will hold its cluster picnic after the Hooters Ride and The Watermelon Crawl on Saturday July 10th. Be sure to check the CCC online calendar to see when your cluster is having its picnic. Or just contact your cluster leader. I truly hope that each cluster has a picnic for their riders. As many of you have heard me say before, many of my closest friends were met on a bike. But what you may not have heard me say is that if I had not gone to dinner after or to the picnic or other social event, that odds are those folks would just be another face on the road. So, please take advantage of the social interactions the bike can provide. And please make sure that the one social interaction that you have on each ride is TO THANK THE RIDE LEADER at the end of the ride.
Lastly comes a GET WELL WISH to club member John Heim. John had a bike crash while on TRIRI. Result was the score of Dog 1 – John 0. With a broken collarbone, he will be off the bike for around 8 weeks. If I was a faster rider, I’d ride with John as he is hilarious, but instead I just get to enjoy his presence at the start and finish of a ride. For those of you on FB, he is known for his “RIDE REPORTS’ after each ride. “We had umpteen riders, rode eleventy miles, averaging 16.2 mph, saw 3 goats and a rabbit.” I guess his TRIRI report
should have said “and I did not see that one freakin dog!” Get well soon.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, feel free to contact me at: president@cincinnaticycleclub.org
Remember – GET ON YOUR BIKE, GO FOR A RIDE, its FUN!
JC
Adventure Cycling Presentation – Underground Rail Road
On Thursday June 10th, nearly 60 riders met at the Izaak Walton League Lodge building in Loveland Ohio. The Cincinnati Cycle Club has begun an affiliation with the Izaak Walton League, and we held our first joint event there. As the lodge is right on the Little Miami Trail, this is an excellent place to begin a ride.
The club served an outdoor BBQ for all the guests. All of those who rode their bikes to the event were put at the front of the dinner line!
Adventure Cycling’s Ginny Sullivan came to Cincinnati and held a discussion regarding both their nationwide efforts to promote bicycle transportation and to give us some information about the Underground Railroad bicycle route that goes through the Cincinnati area, including a 16 mile spur from Milford to Cincinnati.
Adventure Cycling describes the route:
The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route honors the bravery of those that fled bondage and those that provided shelter. This route passes points of interest and historic sites along a 2,008-mile corridor. Beginning in Mobile, Alabama – a busy port for slavery during the pre-civil war era — the route goes north following rivers through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Waterways, as well as the North Star, were often used by freedom seekers as a guide in their journeys to escape slavery. Upon crossing into Ohio, the route leaves the river to head toward Lake Erie and enters Canada at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York. In Ontario, the route follows the shores of Lake Ontario and ends at Owen Sound, a town founded by freedom seekers 150 years ago. Owen Sound is located on the southern side of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.
There is a 16-mile spur into downtown Cincinnati. The city holds numerous sites relating directly to Blacks’ struggle for freedom, including the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The new-in-2004 National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is the premier facility in the country highlighting the heroics and tragedies associated with the Underground Railroad. Exhibits include the hauntingly evocative Slave Pen, moved to the center from a farm in Mason County, Kentucky. It is a small log structure that was used to store as many as seventy-five slaves awaiting to be shipped to and sold in the Deep South.
Click here for more information.
Cluster News:
SIM All Club Ride – Cindy Male
Come join the Spokes In Motion cluster and explore the western side of the Cincinnati Cycle Club. Not only can the Westside offer a great ride but, yes, we can outdo the Eastside, by offering a SIX COUNTY ride experience. Pedal your bike through the Ohio counties of Hamilton and Butler and the Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin, Union and Preble.
This SIX COUNTY extravaganza will happen on Saturday, August 7th, followed by grilled dogs and chips. The ride begins between 8:30 to 9:30. We will give our eastside members some additional travel time. We will meet at our regular Banana Ride meeting place across from Harrison Junior High at the corner of Dry Fork and West Roads. Take I-74 west to exit 3 (Dry Fork), turn right. Travel 1 mile to the first stop sign, turn left onto West Road. Take an immediate right into the parking lot.
Multiple distances will be offered. The longest will be 60 miles and will include all SIX COUNTIES. The other routes are still being laid out. Check the Cincinnati website calendar for additional information.
The Grill Master will start tossing the dogs on the fire around noon. The grilling will happen downhill from the ride start in the Miami Whitewater Forest in the Dry Fork Meadow. Go down West Road, turn left at the first intersection and the picnic grove is the first on the right. Please, if possible, ride your bike to the picnic site since parking is limited to only 20 spaces. By the way, if you ride your bike to the grill-out there will be no motor vehicle admittance charge by the park.
Any questions, please contact the co-cluster leaders.
Cindy Male and Audrey Hannum
Little Miami Cluster – Irwin Levin
We have something different planned for this year’s version of the Caesars Creek Ride and picnic. The Little Miami Cluster has coordinated this event with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Both the Cincinnati and Dayton chapters of the JDRF will join the CCC. Their riders are training for fundraising century rides in various parts of the country, the most famous one being the Death Valley Century. Kevin and I will be participating in this year’s Death Valley event and are hoping that the temperature is far less than the 108 degrees we experienced the last time. JDRF offers all expense paid century ride vacations in return for our fundraising efforts, with the funds going toward research for finding a cure for Type I diabetes.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, July 18th with a ride start of 8 to 9 AM. There will be marked routes of 32 and 54 miles on low traffic country roads. The ride and picnic will be at the beach off of Route 73 in Caesars Creek State Park. We’ll have food and drinks after the ride but would appreciate your bringing something to share. Bring your non-riding family and friends who can enjoy the beach, and other park amenities, while you are out on the bike.
Please note that earlier calendars listed this ride on July 11, now changed to the 18th.
Check the CCC website calendar and Ride Line postings for updates and more details.
Kevin Armstrong 520-0055
Irvin Lewin 235-2182
One Month Past Bike Month
Jim Lindner
This has been a great month for cycling in Cincinnati. I would have thought this was a second Bike Month. The passing of a Cincinnati Bike Plan and a 3 Foot Passing Ordinance with bike lane and “dooring” provisions is a great advancement for the Bicycling Public. These have the potential to increase our numbers, as more people can see Bicycling as a safe means of transportation in Cincinnati. It has also been announced that improvements this summer to the south end of Winton Road will include a bike lane and other efforts to make the area safer for bikes. I want to thank the City Council for their support and point out that at the hearing at City Hall members of CCC, Bike Pac, and Mobo were present and spoke to the City Council Committee in support of the plan.
I found that in the two minutes provided to speak I got out little more than an introduction of who I was, why I was there, that I supported the Bike Plan, and that more kids should bike or walk to school. Preparing to speak to the City Council Committee I read a bit about bicycling safety. I found a lot of opinions and information concerning the relative safety of bicycling and the history of bike and car traffic.
I believe from what I read that bicycling is not nearly as dangerous as it is perceived. Bicycles hardly ever cause fatalities or serious injuries when compared to cars. The licensing and registration of motor vehicles is an exception to a constitutional right to use public roads (understood as one meaning of liberty) that has been imposed on motor vehicles (due to the skill required to reduce the danger to the welfare of the public). I heard no negative comments at City Hall, but I have heard from co-workers, and others, how bikes disregard stop signs, two abreast rules, lights, and road crew flagmen. I read how no government (anywhere) has been able to impose any licensing fee on bicyclist that is able to pay for the administration of the licensing. I also read that in the US riding on the road is likely reported as more dangerous than other countries in part because the perception of danger is so great that only the risk takers are riding on the road. If this describes you, “A risk taking law ignoring bicyclist”, I must agree that the law has a right to curb your activity. For the effective advancement of bicycling in Cincinnati we need to encourage everyone to learn to ride safely.
Finally, I want to relate a positive experience I had while commuting to work.
I had a police car pull up beside me as I was traveling down the “center” lane of SR 747 between Rt 4 and Glendale-Milford. I get onto 747 just before it becomes two lanes south because I cut through the apartments there. As usual I stay in the left (center) lane to prepare to turn onto Glendale-Milford. I was not surprised when a car moved beside me as if to pass, but it did not pass. The Woodlawn Officer asked (politely), “Is there a reason you are in the middle of the road?” I muttered, “I am where I should be”, and then said louder, “I am preparing to make a left turn up here”. I think he heard it all, and he said (cheerfully), “Okay, thanks,” and went by.
I contrast this to the Woodlawn Cop who, when I was sitting in the left turn lane, felt he needed to (sternly) tell me, “Bikes are to stay to the right!” a couple of years back. I must say I am happy indeed to be treated as a lawful person, and given the courtesy to be allowed to explain to a curious Officer.
In My Back Yard – Bike Month In June?
News of an activist nature happening where we ride.
Don Burrell
As a follow up to our best bike month yet, the City of Cincinnati took action on several things to benefit cyclists who ride in the City. On June 23, city council adopted the updated Bicycle Transportation Plan developed over the previous nine months. This followed an outpouring of support from over 100 cyclists at a public meeting of the Livable Communities Committee the night before. CCC President John Chester stated the club’s support as did several other individual CCC members.
Significant is the plan’s emphasis on street oriented transportation, not the network of new bike paths expected by some. A variety of facilities are recommended to improve and encourage cycling on our existing bikeway network – our streets. Education of motorists and cyclists to coexist is covered. Also, the plan emphasizes a role for most all of the city departments in implementing the plan. On the immediate list are improvements for Spring Grove Avenue, Madison Road and Riverside Drive as well as new bicycle parking racks now in the Fountain Square garage.
At the same council meeting, three changes to the Cincinnati code of ordinances were passed as proposed by Councilperson Jeff Berding:
- A prohibition of driving, blocking or parking in an on-street bike lane.
- A requirement for the operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle to pass with a safe distance, but not less than three feet, and maintain that distance until safely past the bicycle.
- A requirement of the operator of a motor vehicle intending to turn left, to yield to any oncoming vehicle or bicycle (no left cross) and prohibiting a right turn in front of a bicycle until safely clear of the bicycle (no right hook).
Note: The status of the Ohio SB 174, developed by the Ohio Bicycle Federation, is likely dead as it probably won’t be moved out of committee during the remainder of this session. SB 174 also requires a safe passing distance of bicyclists by at least three feet. Further, this bill also eliminates the requirement in the state code for a vehicle being passed to give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle sounding its horn. This wording remains in the Cincinnati code (Sec. 506-71 (c)) and will until the state law is changed.
Advocacy Avenues
By Chuck Smith
Yipes! Stripes! ODOT to Install Rumble Stripes on State Roads
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will soon begin installation of edge line rumble strips on 1,650 miles of rural, two-lane roads at a cost of $3.6 million. Some of these roads are used by TOSRV and GOBA. In the past, ODOT has installed rumble strips on the shoulders of Ohio freeways. Now, we will face the rumble stripe on the edge line of roads which we cyclists use. Locally, plans call for rumble strips to be installed on the edge line of U.S. 40 where it crosses the Englewood Dam.
The 1,650 miles of rumble strips recently announced is just a beginning. ODOT revealed in a June 8 meeting with us that they expect to eventually apply rumble strips to the edge lines of all Ohio state highways with shoulders wider than two feet, and speed limits of 45 mph or faster outside urban areas. If the road is a cross-state bicycle route, it will receive the rumble strips if it has shoulders more than three feet wide. The edge line rumble strips will have gaps of ten feet every 52 feet.
While Federal Highway Administration guidelines suggest gaps of at least 12 feet every 48 feet, ODOT said the Federal Highway Administration and AASHTO guidelines which apply to rumble strips (on the shoulder) do not apply to rumble strips (on the edge line). Since they are installing rumble strips, they do not see a need to follow the guidelines.
We took our Ohio Bicycle Federation (OBF) display to the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) National Conference in Cincinnati June 9 and 10. I talked with an American Society of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) representative at the conference who said he will request a change in the AASHTO rumble strip guidance to also include rumble strips.
Supporters of rumble strips and stripes argue that they save lives by rousing sleeping, intoxicated, cell-phoning, texting, or otherwise preoccupied motorists as they wander off the road toward hazards unknown. The softer and larger auto tires smooth out the rumble experience for motorists while we cyclists suffer immensely due to our hard tires. The question is whether ODOT should alter Ohio’s roadways to the detriment of many users (bicyclists and carriage riders are two examples) in order to protect certain motorists from themselves. I suggest that education for motorists would be a better approach. These strips are a hazard to us bicyclists!
Please email your concerns to ODOT Communications Director Scott Varner (scott.varner@dot.us) and to your State Representative and Senator.
I will keep you updated on the rumble stripe issue.
U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS)
Ginny Sullivan of Adventure Cycling made a presentation on the United States Bicycle Route
System (USBRS) during the ASHE Conference. On June 10, we met with Ginny, along with the state bicycle and pedestrian coordinators from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana to discuss the possible routes to include in USBRS. I will keep you updated on the USBRS effort.
2010 Commuter Challenge
Don Burrell
|
