Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

Today there’s a new feature of Google Maps: Bicycling directions!

To use the new feature, just go to the Google Maps web site, enter a starting location, an ending location, select “bicycling” as the mode of transport, and the app will attempt to provide you with a route that uses bike routes, bike lanes, multi-use paths, and low-traffic roads.

In a quick test, it worked pretty well, though it routed me onto a high-traffic arterial at one point, which wouldn’t be my first choice.

It appears that Google Maps is aware of bike routes, lanes, and trails in Johnson County, Kansas and Wichita, Kansas, as well as the Prairie Spirit Trail. Other Kansas trails (such as the Flint Hills Nature Trail and the Landon Nature Trail) don’t appear to be in the Google database yet, nor do bike lanes and bike routes in other Kansas communities.

You can learn more from the League of American Bicyclists: National Bike Summit 2010 – Google Announces Bike Google Maps at Summit Today!

Here’s a short video about the new feature:

Give it a try here:

The motorist who killed cyclist Michael Anthony Ebron last June in Topeka has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

According to WIBW in Topeka:

A man involved in a two vehicle accident that left one person dead now faces a more serious charge.

Shawnee Co. District Court records show the complaint against Randy Ledbetter was amended from vehicular homicide to involuntary manslaughter.

The charges stem from a June 2009 wreck. At the time, deputies said Michael Anthony Ebron was riding a bicycle without lights or reflectors on Highway 24 near Goodyear Road. An SUV driven by Ledbetter overtook him from behind and hit him.

Prosecutors say Ledbetter was driving under the influence.

A preliminary hearing is set for March 19th. Read more

The maximum penalty for vehicular homicide is one year in jail and a $2500 fine. The penalty for involuntary manslaughter is 38 to 172 months in prison.

Ebron was struck while riding his bicycle on US-24 highway in Topeka (see original story). A Toyota 4-Runner SUV driven by Ledbetter hit Ebron from behind. Three passengers, an adult female and her two children, were also in the vehicle.

No word on whether Ledbetter will face any additional charges related to driving while intoxicated (such as child endangerment)…

There may be some awkward moments at the De Soto Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner on Saturday.

The notably bicycle-unfriendly town of De Soto (De Soto Reaffirms 83rd Street Bicycle Ban), located in eastern Kansas between Lawrence and Kansas City, is welcoming Bill Hancock, author of “Riding with the Blue Moth,” to be the featured speaker at their dinner. The book relates the story of Hancock’s cross country bicycle trip after the death of his son, where the “blue moth” is Hancock’s metaphor for the grief and depression he felt after the loss of his son.

Bill lives in Prairie Village, Kansas and is director of the NCAA’s Bowl Championship Series, and he will speak Saturday at De Soto VFW Post 6654, where the dinner takes place from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The cost for the event is $35 per person.

Here’s hoping that the Chamber of Commerce understands the negative reputation the community has earned through the bicycle ban fiasco, appreciates the positive economic impact that bicycling can bring to their town, and is willing to work to persuade the De Soto city council to address the situation.

Learn more from the De Soto Explorer: De Soto Chamber annual dinner Saturday

People bike to work in all kinds of weather, but not everyone thinks of winter as bicycle commuting season. But as this round-up of Winter Bike To Work Days in Kansas and neighboring states proves, you really can ride your bike all year long!

On Wednesday, December 16th, Fort Collins, Colorado held their third annual Winter Bike to Work Day:

“It’s events like these that keep our local bike culture thriving,” said Dave “DK” Kemp, the city’s bicycle coordinator. “Some people, at first, thought we were crazy for hosting a Winter Bike to Work Day, but once they gave it a go, they realized how easy and fun it is to do.”

On January 20, 2010, Boulder, Colorado will hold their second annual Winter Bike to Work Day. At least 733 people registered for last year’s event, which city officials said was aimed at raising awareness about year-round cycling.

And not to be outdone, cyclist in Wichita, Kansas are also holding a Winter Bike To Work Day on January 20, 2010:

Boulder is having a Winter Bike to Work day, so we thought it was a good enough reason to get Wichitans back in the saddle. Yes, it will be cold, but that’s part of the fun. Just bundle up! If we have enough interest, maybe we can talk a downtown area bike shop/or restaurant into providing a rally point for some hot-chocolate to warm up!

Learn more: Boulder, Fort Collins, Wichita

Here’s a presentation from Boulder on Winter Bicycling Tips & Techniques:

View more documents from City of Fort Collins, CO.

Are there any other cities in the region holding Winter Bike To Work Days?

Here are a few news items from the last month or so that never made it onto Kansas Cyclist:

• In Lawrence, Kansas, 20-year-old Rachel Leek died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. Joel Hernandez, 21, of Lawrence was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving the death of a person and failure to report an accident, both felonies; vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor; and improper passing, a traffic infraction. Police also allege Hernandez was under the influence of alcohol when he killed Rachel. Let’s hope Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson gets more justice in this case than he did in 2008, when David Dillon’s killer was not even charged under similar circumstances (though it wasn’t a hit-and-run in that case). You can read more at the Lawrence Journal-World.

• City of Lawrence, KS supports ghost bike memorial to encourage cycling safety.

• University of Kansas students discover that Bicycle security requires extra steps. because bicycle thefts are up on the campus. Authorities suggest a sturdy U-Lock and recording info (such as serial number and a good photo) of the bike, just in case.

• In Salina, James T. Valleroy, 23, was injured when he was struck by a hit-and-run motorist as he rode his bicycle on a sidewalk.

• By 2020, Douglas Avenue in Wichita, Kansas could have bike lanes and lowered speed limits.

• In Newton, Kansas, Rodger Voth, 59, failed to stop at a stop sign and was struck by a car, sustaining serious injuries.

• Kansas City, Missouri: Say goodbye to Acme Bicycle Company – The beloved bike shop closed it’s doors in late November, after being a fixture of the KC scene for nearly a decade. The store’s owner is moving to Portland, Oregon.

• Kansas City cyclist Joe Spear, senior principal at architecture firm Populous, which has designed nearly a dozen baseball stadiums, including AT&T Park in San Francisco, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Camden Yards in Baltimore, was profiled in the Wall Street Journal: For an Architect, the Bike’s the Thing.

• The Kansas City Star suggested Start a new cycle: Try riding a bike to work.

I apologize for not getting these news items out on a more timely basis (and there are no doubt others I missed entirely), but other things have been occupying my time as of late. Hope to do a better job of keeping up in the future!

Here’s an interesting look at two stories of people riding bikes well into their retirement years.

The photo on the left is Rita and Joe Spradlin of Lawrence, Kansas, who were recently profiled in the Lawrence Journal-World (Down the road: Couple’s exercise regimen keeps them moving in retirement). Rita is 79, and walks four to six miles a day. Joe is 80, and rides his bike 30 miles per day.

The photo on the left is courtesy of Kansas Memory, from the archives of the Kansas State Historical Society. We don’t have a back story to go along with it, except that the photo caption says it’s Mr. and Mrs. George Hackney of Topeka, Kansas, sometime between 1900 and 1905.

Both couples look healthy and happy.

Joe, who call himself and Rita “exercise nuts”, says that beyond physical conditioning and the ability to eat and drink more, he sees real benefits from his love of riding. “I don’t need Zoloft or Prozac,” Joe says. “Biking is very good for my mental health. And I notice that when I don’t bike, I become a little bit more irritable, lay around more and just (have) minor symptoms of depression.”

I wonder if the Hackneys would have considered themselves “exercise nuts”?

Of course, we don’t know if the Hackneys even rode the bikes. They could have been mere props for a portrait photo. But it doesn’t look that way to me. It appears to me that they were both comfortable on the bikes, and that the bikes were a part of their daily lives. At least I like to think so.

The League of American Bicyclists just announced their Fall 2009 honorees for Bicycle Friendly Communities, and a few new cities from our region have earned a coveted place on this prestigious list:

North Little Rock, Arkansas – Bronze

Breckenridge, Colorado – Silver

Iowa City, Iowa – Bronze

St. Louis, Missouri – Bronze

North Little Rock is the first city in Arkansas to be designated, and Iowa City and St. Louis are both the second in their states to be honored. Breckenridge is the 8th in Colorado.

Kansas is still sitting at two bicycle friendly communities — Lawrence and Shawnee — while Nebraska and Oklahoma each have one.

The Bicycle Friendly Communities program recognize communities for their efforts in promoting bicycling, and awards designations at four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum (with Platinum being the most bicycle-friendly).

They join the existing regional member of this elite club:

• Lawrence, KS – Bronze
• Shawnee, KS – Bronze
• Arvada, CO – Bronze
• Boulder, CO – Platinum
• Colorado Springs, CO – Silver
• Denver, CO – Bronze
• Durango, CO – Silver
• Fort Collins, CO – Gold
• Longmont, CO – Bronze
• Steamboat Springs, CO – Silver
• Cedar Falls, IA – Bronze
• Columbia, MO – Silver
• Tulsa, OK – Bronze
• South Sioux City, NE – Bronze

Congratulations to all the new Bicycle Friendly Communities!

Read more from the League of American Bicyclists: Fall 2009 Bicycle Friendly Communities

Additional coverage: Iowa Bicycle Coalition, Missouri Bicycle Federation

The League of American Bicyclists has announced their Fall 2009 Bicycle Friendly Business awards, and once again, Kansas has been shut out.

We’re still looking for our first Bicycle Friendly Business, but some of our neighbors are already on the list. Colorado has 7 Bicycle Friendly Businesses, Iowa 3, Arkansas 2, Missouri 2, and Nebraska 2. Oklahoma, like Kansas, has none.

Here’s the note from the League:

The League of American Bicyclists has announced 45 new Bicycle Friendly Business award winners, including two platinum winners, Bicycle Sport Shop of Austin, Texas and Quality Bicycle Products of Bloomington, Minnesota. This is the third BFB winner announcement since the program’s inception in 2008 when the League announced the first 13 designees.

“We are delighted so many businesses are using the BFB roadmap to encourage and enable their employees to ride – everyone from two-person neighborhood businesses to major corporations are getting on board,” stated League President Andy Clarke.

Bicycle Friendly Businesses make bicycle friendliness a core element in the workplace and use innovative tools to promote bicycling as an easy and fun option for transportation and recreation. “There are a lot of very simple, effective and creative ways that companies are finding to get people back on their bikes, and we recognize those efforts with our BFB awards,” said Clarke. The League encourages businesses to inspire their employees to bike to work by incorporating the fundamentals of the BFB program. “Companies across the country are recognizing that getting their employees moving – either to or from work, in course of work, or even in their own time – is good for business.”

The BFB program recognizes socially responsible businesses that promote healthy, happy, and green workplaces and provides a road map to become even more bicycle-friendly in the years to come.

Platinum-level Bicycle Sport Shop has noticed several benefits from supporting a bicycle friendly workplace, including improved employee health and fewer hours missed due to illness; reduced parking costs; improved lifestyle for employees; and improved morale for all staff. “We are providing life lessons for our employees, which help them improve their health and teach them how important it is to stay healthy,” said Leslie Luciano, Bicycle Sports Shop Advocacy Coordinator.

Platinum-level Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) has also noticed several benefits of joining the BFB program – including increased bike commuting. QBP counts bicycle commuting towards the exercise criteria of the company’s health care plan, and in 2008, 346 different employees combined to register 27,906 one-way trips for more than 327,000 total miles.

BFB winners provide amenities such as secure bike parking and shower facilities and motivations such as incentives to commute by bike, company bike rides and clubs, and bike to Work Week promotions. When bicycling is infused in a company’s culture, great things happen: reduced health care costs; more productive employees; improved worker and customer satisfaction; smaller carbon footprint; and increased corporate social responsibility. “Bicycling is a readily accessible and practical form of physical activity that has the added benefits of reducing congestion and the need for parking, reducing the carbon footprint of a business, increasing productivity, and raising morale,” said Clarke. “It’s also great fun.”

Applying as a BFB is easy and free. Applicants receive technical assistance from the League staff as well as tools to evaluate and assess their bicycle friendliness through the application process. The BFB application is available online at www.bicyclefriendlybusiness.org.

Here are the regional Bicycle Friendly Businesses:

• New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, CO – Platinum 2009
• CatEye North America, Boulder, CO – Gold 2009
• REI St. Louis, St. Louis, MO – Gold 2009
• Community Cycles, Boulder, CO – Silver 2008
• Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, IA – Silver 2009
• RDG Planning & Design, Omaha, NE – Silver 2009
• Bike Tech, Cedar Falls, IA – Bronze 2009
• Broken Spoke, Iowa City, IA – Bronze 2009
• Chainwheel, Little Rock, AR – Bronze 2009
• EnviroFriendly Lawn Care, Fort Collins, CO – Bronze 2009
• Fort Collins Veterinary Emergency Hospital, Fort Collins, CO – Bronze 2009
• Golden Bear Bikes, Broomfield, CO – Bronze 2009
• Velocity Cafe & Cyclery, St. Louis, MO – Bronze 2009
• Garver, Little Rock, AR – Honorary Mention 2009
• National Park Service, Omaha, NE – Honorary Mention 2008
• ProCycling, Colorado Springs, CO – Honorary Mention 2009

Congratulations to all the winners, and businesses from Kansas: Let’s get in the game!

Police in Prairie Village, Kansas recently launched an offensive against bicyclists who don’t stop at stop signs in their community:

A group of 17 bicyclists were written tickets for failing to stop at a stop sign, all at the same time.

Prairie Village police have cracked down on a group of bicyclists they had warned about following traffic rules. Police said they had tried to educate and warn the riders in several groups of bicyclists in recent months.

On Aug. 13, 17 bicyclists from a much larger group were stopped when they allegedly ran a stop sign at 79th Street and Belinder. Police said the entire group of bicyclists numbered over 30.

“All laws apply equally to cyclists, as well as vehicles,” Prairie Village Police Chief Wes Jordan said. Jordan said that they wanted the bicyclists to work with officers, but once they continued to not follow traffic laws, officers had to react. [read more]

(There’s a video accompanying the article, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be embeddable…)

It’s no secret that some bicyclists run stop lights (as do some motorists), but sometimes it takes a crackdown such as this to get people’s attention, and to pound home the message that if you break the law, you shouldn’t be surprised to get a ticket.

If you’d like top avoid a citation (and the accompanying costs — reportedly $95 per ticket — plus possibly a hit on your driver’s license, which could affect insurance costs), here’s the thing to do: Come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Just stop. Unclip. Put a foot down. Cease movement.

Slowing down and doing a “rolling stop” doesn’t count. And there’s no such thing as a “group stop” — each bicycle must stop separately. If the cyclists at the front of a group stop, but the cyclists in the rear keep rolling, that’s a violation.

Yes, it’s an inconvenience. Yes, it means your “average speed” takes a hit. Yes, perhaps a cyclist doing a slow roll is nearly as safe as a cyclist doing a full stop. And yes, we’re only stopping because that’s the letter of the law.

But so what? It’s just not that hard to stop, and none of us are really in that big of a hurry.

Now, are the police targeting motorists who blow stop signs as well?

By the way, there was one important sound bite from the video that didn’t make the article: “Police say the majority of cyclists in the area do follow the rules.”

See, we can do this…

More commentary: commuterDude, Kansas City Star, KCBike.info, KC Bike Commuting, Local Cycling, Missouri Bicycle Federation.

Two of our neighboring states have recently seen disturbing initiatives to ban bicycles on some roads.

In Colorado, county commissioners in Jefferson County are asking the state legislature to draft a law that would allow counties to ban bicyclists from county roads. State law already gives cities that authority, but the law is unclear when it comes to counties. If the proposed legislation goes through, this would put a huge number of routes at risk, so Bicycle Colorado, the statewide bicycling advocacy organization there, is putting together a campaign to fight this dangerous proposal. Here’s their take on the issue:

Legislation to expand bike ban authority is a losing proposition for Colorado tourism, charity fundraising events, efforts to reduce congestion, and promotion of healthy bicycle travel.

There are many, many options for counties to improve road safety within existing state motor vehicle and bicycle vehicle laws. Creating county-by-county, one-of-a-kind traffic laws is a danger for everyone on the road. We need consistency, not a patchwork of rules that change at every county line or every time you exit from a state or U.S. highway.

In Iowa, a group called the “Citizens for Safety Coalition of Iowa” has created on online petition called “No Shared Farm-to-Market Roadways in Iowa”:

We the undersigned are Iowa residents who urge our Legislature to support a ballot initiative for the November 2010 election which will prohibit bicyclists from using state and county defined farm-to-market roads.

A farm-to-market road is a state or county road which serves to connect rural or agricultural areas to market towns.

Over the past ten years the number of bicyclists using these farm-to-market roads for recreational purposes has increased dramatically as have the number of preventable accidents and fatalities.

Rural commerce and citizens are significantly impacted when forced to share the farm-to-market roadways with bicyclists. Because of the growth of today’s commerce and agricultural business, shared roadways are no longer safe or practical in today’s society.

Though the proposal is pretty obviously the work of a group of crackpots, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition is taking the threat seriously, as they should:

Bike bans would have an extreme economic impact. A recent economic impact study of RAGBRAI showed $24 million during the week-long bike ride. Bicycle tourism, including charity fundraisers, are estimated to generate as much or more than RAGBRAI during the other weeks of the year.

Bicycle bans would have an extreme impact on the health of Iowans. Recent studies by the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking have shown relationships between states with high rates of bicycling have a healthier population including lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition remains firm that we don’t need bicycle bans, but we do need to increase safety. Safety may be increased through better roadway design, better enforcement, more education and awareness programs. Increasing safety for bicyclists and motorists can make a bigger impact on Iowa’s economy and health.

The proposals hearken back to a similar threat that arose in Texas in 2001, in which a bill was introduced to the state legislature that would have effectively banned bicyclists from all farm-to-market roads in that state. The bill spurred the launch of the Texas Bicycle Coalition, which successfully defended cyclists access to Texas roadways.

Let’s hope cyclists in Colorado and Iowa are successful in their efforts as well. The proposals, as I see them, make very little sense. There’s plenty of road out there for all of us, all it takes is a little cooperation and patience on all sides.

More on these issues from: Des Moines Register, Bicycle Advocacy and Safety, CycleDog (he calls it “rural bigotry cunningly disguised as a petition”), Iowa counter-petition to ban motor vehicles from farm-to-market roads, Puncture Proof, Guitar Ted Productions, 303Cycling, Colorado Daily.