Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

In Fort Collins, Colorado, a 9-year-old girl has died of injuries she received when she was struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle home from school.

Erica Forney was struck about 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday, November 25th, when a 2003 Ford Expedition drifted into the bicycle lane and hit her head-on (Erica was riding the wrong way in the bike lane). She was taken to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and later flown to The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, where she died Thursday evening.

In a press release Fort Collins police said that alcohol was not involved in the crash, but they believe that Smith was talking on her cell phone just prior to the collision. Police and prosecutors in Fort Collins are expected to meet next week to determine what charges Smith should face.

Learn more from The Coloradoan and The Loveland Reporter-Herald.

Just senseless…

News from the Central Kansas Mountain Bike Club regarding trail work at Wilson Lake:

The second Wilson Trail Party of 2008 was a highly productive (and safe) success, with an industrious and talented crew of 16 mountain bikers from as far as Osage and Ford Co’s. We completed approximately 1 mile of new trail in an under-used section of the Park directly across the cove from the marina.

Everyone should be proud of their accomplishments, which will give many years of recreation for many people. The total single track mileage at Wilson is now about 15. If you’ve not ridden this beauty lately, don’t wait. You won’t be sorry.

Like much of the existing Switchgrass trail, the new section features a little bit of everything, including a fast downhill slalom, exposed rocky ledges, smooth open turns, short steep climbing turns, bench cuts, rocky drop offs, and great scenery close to the water.

Various names were floated for the new loop including The Fenceline, Post Rocks, Stone Fence, and Stonehenge. Most of us got a chance to ride it a couple of times and got to ride the remainder of the trail too.

Read more, or view photos from the event.

Wilson Lake is located in the heart of the Smoky Hills, approximately 25 miles east of Russell, and is one of Kansas’ premier recreation hotspots, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful areas in the state. The Wilson Lake Trails are located in Wilson State Park, and host the annual Kansas Fat Tire Festival each May.

Cranksgiving is the annual event where cyclists take to the streets to give thanks and to give back to the communities in which they live. Most events are races of sorts, where each rider is given a list of items that must be purchased, each from a different store. The first rider to complete their list and make it back to the starting point wins. All food goes to a local charity.

Here are some Cranksgiving ride reports from around the region:

• Kansas City, MO — Acme Bicycle Company sponsored Cranksgiving III
  The Pilgrim Age Continues!, with food items donated to Kansas City Community Kitchen: Race report from Curb Destroyer Chronicles, lifeinthemiddlechainring

• Des Moines, IA — The girls of Punk Rock Cycling put on a race that donated food to the Food Bank of Iowa: rece report, pictures, race report from Steve Fuller

• Omaha, NE — Cranksgiving Omaha: 50 riders collected more than 1,200 pounds for the Omaha Food Bank

• Wichita, KS — Not really a Cranksgiving event, but the Coasters Bicycle Club put on a Turkey Ride with costumes and decorated bikes.

• St. Louis, MO — 3rd Annual Cranksgiving Day Food Ride in support of Food Outreach.

Thanks to everyone who came out and rode — Happy Thanksgiving!

People in Searcy, Arkansas are getting excited about the idea of expanding their community’s bike trail:

Momentum is growing in Searcy like an old-fashioned bike rider going down a hill with his foot on the coaster brakes, with citizens talking about more places to ride bicycles without competing with cars and trucks, and for more parking spaces and entry points on the existing bike trail.

Overlooking the fact that using coaster brakes would decrease, rather than increase, momentum, there does seem to be growing enthusiasm for the idea of improving bicycling opportunities in Searcy, with talk of expanding the trail around the western and southern part of the city and connecting it to new housing, parks, and medical facilities.

They’re also looking to improve a very dangerous road crossing:

Another idea to improve the current bike trail is to reroute it under the Beebe-Capps Expressway, providing a way for trail users to go from Market Street to the sports complex without crossing Searcy’s busiest thoroughfare. Traffic at that point on the expressway goes 50 miles per hour. Although some cyclists using the trail cross by going down the expressway’s shoulder to the traffic light at the Benton Street intersection, then coming back on the expressway’s opposite shoulder to the other trailhead, some use a “Frogger” technique to dodge dangerous traffic and cross the highway — action not recommended by safety officers.

Yikes, that sounds like it was poor design to begin with!

There are also discussions of improving on-street bicycling facilities, with bike lanes and expanding bike route signage. Hmmm, could Searcy have designs on becoming the state’s first Bicycle Friendly Community?

Read more from The Daily Citizen: Bike trail expansion ideas keep rolling along

A retired tree farmer has made a generous donation to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to help maintain the state’s longest existing rail-to-trail project.

Robert Whelpley of McPherson County recently transferred the title to a small tractor, an ATV, spraying equipment and other gear he once used to maintain his tree nursery. The equipment will be used for maintenance on the Prairie Spirit Trail between Ottawa and Iola.

Whelpley, an 82-year-old avid outdoorsman and advocate for Rails-to-Trails projects, has been working with the Central Kansas Conservancy more than a decade, hoping to get a trail built on unused rail corridors in McPherson County. The conservancy group proposed a plan known as the Meadowlark Trail, which would link Lindsborg and McPherson via an unused railroad trail. Another stretch of unused railroad would run from McPherson to Marion.

The local trails, however, have been tied up in disputes with landowners, and have not been completed. The delays cost the Meadowlark Trail a shot at some nice equipment that will now serve the eastern Kansas trail network. “We lost our chance with him,” Brenda Becker, chairwoman of the Central Kansas Conservancy, said. “We will have to look other places for equipment.”

Read more from the Hutchinson News.

In West Burlington, Iowa, a criminal trial will begin against Marvin Oberly, 61, who ran down 21-year-old bicyclist Douglas Kenney just over a year ago. See if this sounds familiar:

Kenney died shortly after being taken to the hospital Nov. 9 last year from injuries he suffered after being hit by Oberly’s pickup while he rode his bicycle to work in the 1700 block of Mount Pleasant Street. He had moved to West Burlington three months prior to the accident to live with his grandparents to raise money for college.

Officials said Kenney was riding his bicycle on the shoulder of the road and then came back onto the road. The pickup truck came up from behind and collided with the bicycle. Kenney went airborne and landed 114 feet from the point of impact. His bicycle was dragged by the truck and was found 209 feet from where he first was hit.

“Mr. Oberly did not attempt to take any evasive action to prevent colliding with the bicyclist, including traveling to the left-hand lane, which was free of traffic and other obstruction,” investigators stated in a complaint filed in court in August.

The particulars of the case are an eerie echo of the deaths of Larry and Sierra Gaunt, who were struck from behind by a pickup driven by William K. Johnson, who was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. At his trial, Johnson, who had, like Oberly, failed to pass the cyclists even with an empty lane to spare, had the following to say for himself:

Assistant prosecutor Traci Stansell asked Johnson, “Do you know what ‘share the road’ means?” “Yes,” he answered. More than once, Johnson was asked why he didn’t move over into the clear left lane. Force of habit, he replied. It was, he said, his driving style.

Despite strong evidence, Johnson was acquitted, much to the dismay of the Gaunt family and the local cycling community.

In the Iowa case, Oberly, will stand trial on charges of driving on the wrong side of a highway and passing on the wrong side, misdemeanors punishable by 30 days in jail for each. He also faces up to a year suspension of his drivers license.

Lets hope the Iowa trial yields more justice than the Missouri trial did.

From the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks comes this well-done video about the recent completion of the Prairie Spirit Trail in east-central Kansas. The trail stretches from Ottawa in the north to Iola in the south, a distance of about 50 miles.

Thanks to Randy & Nova’s Bicycle Scrapbook for the tip!

Oklahoma police officers recently attended a week-long course in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma that taught them how to assess an accident when there is a bike or a pedestrian involved. Part of the course simulated actual accidents by using dummies. The accident simulation helps the officers learn to determine things like how fast the car was going during a crash and where a pedestrian may have been standing.

“The dynamics of auto/pedestrian, and auto/bicycle crashes are so different compared to your two-automobile crashes, we want to provide this specific type of training to police officers, so they know how to properly interpret the evidence,” said Sgt. Ed Ferguson with the Broken Arrow Police Department.

The following video report was filed by KJRH in Tulsa:

A related resource is the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The product is intended to assist state and local pedestrian/bicycle coordinators, planners and engineers with improving walking and bicycling safety through the development and analysis of a database containing details associated with crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists.

In response to last Friday’s decision by Douglas County District Attorney to not file criminal charges against the distracted driver who killed David Dillon in June, there were a number of thoughtful comments here, as well as some reactions from elsewhere:

• In Two fatal accidents, two different results, Roger Kramer contrasts the lack of charges in Douglas County to the punishment doled out to Rebecca Allen’s killer, who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and will likely receive prison time. The major difference? Allen’s killer was drunk. Roger also draws parallels to a case in Illinois, in which Matt Wilhelm was run down by a woman playing with her cell phone while driving. She also wound up only being charged with a traffic offense, and the case has prompted calls in the state for stronger laws.

• In Grappling with the aftermath of cyclist’s death, Andrew Hartsock of the Lawrence Journal-World found himself identifying with the driver: “This weekend, as I mourned the death of a man I’d never met, I couldn’t suppress a little sympathy for the man who killed him.” (Warning: Brutal discussion in the comments.) Incidentally, Andrew was recently hit by a vehicle himself; thankfully, he’s OK.

• Bob Mionske of VeloNews weighed in with Can’t we do better? “What is the rationale for not filing any criminal charges against a driver who is admittedly distracted to the point of not seeing a cyclist until the moment of impact? It’s not as if Kansas doesn’t have adequate laws on the books, after all. Both vehicular homicide and reckless driving are available charges, and applicable in the David Dillon case.”

• From the Missouri Bicycle Federation: Fatal rear-end collision with bicyclist results in traffic tickets only

• From the Kansas City Star: Tickets, not criminal charges, recommended after officer killed on bicycle – Good discussion in the comments.

• In Los Angeles, A motorist who was allegedly sending text messages on his cellphone and under the influence of prescription medication when he struck and killed a 14-year-old boy on a bicycle last year has been indicted by a grand jury on felony charges.

• Members of the The Internet Bicycle Touring List discussed the case under the heading “Cyclist’s Death Minimized“: “What will it take to make Americans take driving seriously? Apparently killing someone by not watching where you drive isn’t considered a criminal offense anymore. What is our society coming to?

Thanks for all who’ve taken the time to express your opinions.

From the Johnson County Bicycle Club’s November newsletter comes this interesting bit of news:

Should the Johnson County Bicycle Club and the Kansas City Bicycle Club combine resources and form a new metro-wide bicycle club?

This is the question being considered by the respective boards of directors of the JCBC and the KCBC. The two largest metro area clubs are remarkably similar in terms of their activities and orientation. Recently, this orientation has turned increasingly toward bicycle advocacy, particularly as gas prices (which will go back up) have spiked public interest in alternatives to automotive transportation. A Kansas City Metro Area bicycle club would have the potential to be much larger than either the KCBC or the JCBC. A larger organization, which would represent cyclists across the Kansas City metro area, would have more resources and more clout when it comes to working with local and state officials to make
the roads that we all ride, safer for bicyclists.

The discussions of forming a metro-wide club out of the JCBC and the KCBC are currently preliminary and exploratory.

Also from the newsletter:

• JCBC/KCBC Joint Picnic: A Good Time Had By All
• Annual Cranksgiving Ride Sunday, November 23
• The Ride to Paradise was Paved with Good Intentions
• Youngsters Turn Out in Support of Paseo Bridge Access
• We Need a Safe Way to Bike and Walk Across the River—Now

Read the November 2008 JCBC newsletter for details on all these stories.