Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

The Jan/Feb 2008 issue of American Bicyclist contains an article titled “The Road To Health”, that profiles seven cyclists who’ve “battled a variety of illnesses, helped along by their dedication to cycling.”

One of the cyclists profiled is Bill Poindexter of Prairie Village, Kansas, who credits cycling with helping him lose more than 100 pounds and gain a healthier lifestyle:

In 2000, I weighed just over 400 pounds. I suffered from anxiety, shortness of breath, high blood sugar, and depression. I decided to turn my life around after looking in the the mirror and realizing I would not live very long or have a very high quality of life. I went to the doctor for a physical and got some medicine for the anxiety, and then started a walking and stationary biking program. I changed my diet as well, and within five months had lost 40 pounds. At that point I bought a bicycle.

I started to ride the bike for transportation as well as exercise. I was car free for two and a half years. Over that time, weight continued to come off, my anxiety decreased, I experienced no more shortness of breath, my blood sugar stabilized, and I no longer needed medication!

It is now January of 2008, and I weigh 265 pounds, and am in excellent health. I ride 6,000-8,000 miles a year for transportation, commuting, and exercise purposes…

Way to go, Bill!

Stephanie Meehan is a senior at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and Alexandra Kossoy is a senior at Grinnell College. This summer, the Kansas natives each plan to bicycle 3,500 miles across the country to raise awareness for affordable housing.

They are riding on one of seven fund-raising cycling tours organized by Bike and Build, an organization which, over the last five years, has contributed over one million dollars to housing groups across the nation.

As they cross the United States on their bikes, Bike and Build riders stop every few days to help build affordable houses for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Cyclists also give presentations in communities along the route, in order to help raise awareness of the need for affordable housing.

Stephanie and Alexandra are riding on the Boston to Santa Barbara route, which starts in Boston, MA on June 11th, and ends in Santa Barbara, CA on August 15th. Along the way, the route passes through Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Three of the other Bike and Build routes pass through Kansas: the Central U.S. route stops in Lawrence, Manhattan, Clay Center, Beloit, Phillipsburg, Oberlin, and St. Francis, June 13-20; the North Carolina to San Diego route passes through Coldwater, Dodge City, and Garden City, June 27-29; and the Providence to San Francisco route, which stops in Manhattan and Beloit on July 5-6.

Each rider must raise $4,000 in order to participate. If you’d like to make a tax deductible contribution to Bike and Build, you can do so at bikeandbuild.org.

If you live in one of the host communities, or along the routes, be sure to give the riders a taste of the legendary Kansas hospitality, and show your appreciate for their efforts in this worthy cause.

See also: Student plans bike ride across country at The University Daily Kansan, and KU students to cycle coast to coast at The Lawrence Journal-World.

Men’s Fitness magazine has published it’s annual rankings of The Fittest and Fattest Cities in America. They ranked Colorado Springs as the fittest city, and Las Vegas as the fattest city. Here are how some of the other cities in our region fared in the rankings:

• Denver - 4th Fittest City
• Omaha - 11th Fittest City
• Kansas City - 15th Fittest City
• Wichita - 25th Fittest City
• Oklahoma City - 8th Fattest City

A few interesting notes:

• Denver residents are into fitness bicycling — they do it about 126 percent more than average, the highest overall rate among cities in the survey.
• There is a higher percentage of mountain bikers in Denver than almost anywhere else in the survey — 11.5 percent of residents. The national average is 2.5 percent.
• Despite wide availability of local running and biking trails, as well as high air quality, Oklahoma City residents are 30 percent less likely than average to jog or cycle.

As for Colorado Springs, the article contains a good bit of information about how it achieved its exalted ranking, detailing a bit about the culture of the place, and the wealth of fitness-related amenities that the city provides. For example:

Fittingly, this city full of athletes is also a city full of trails. Colorado Springs residents made an important investment in 1997 when 51% of them voted for TOPS — Trails, Open Space, and Parks — a 1/10 of 1% sales tax that generates $6 million a year to acquire undeveloped land of environmental interests. (The plan came up for an extension in 2003; 68% said yes.)

Christian M. Lieber, a landscape architect with aspirations of one day cycling across the country with his family, manages TOPS for the city parks department. Unfurling a big map, Lieber explains how he’s turning one of Colorado Springs’ least attractive features-sprawl-into an asset. About a third of the city remains undeveloped, so he has his eye on huge parcels that could remain open as the housing market revives, uniting far-flung neighborhoods. Springs officials believe growth, conservation, and fitness can all happen together. “We recognize that growth and development are good for our economy. But we try to find a balance,” Lieber says.

One final quote, from a Colorado Springs resident who had previously lived somewhere in Kansas: “This is by far the most fit, activity-driven community I’ve ever lived in. In Kansas, when you get together socially, it’s all around food. In Colorado when you get together socially, it’s at a trailhead.”

Congratulations to Colorado Springs, and to a less extent, Denver, Kansas City, and Omaha. Wichita and (especially) Oklahoma City — you need to step it up!

Guam cyclist Jun Noche, writing a guest editorial in the Marianas Variety newspaper, discusses cycling on this small tropical island in the western Pacific Ocean, which Jun describes as “a heaven for riders on two-wheels”.

But, like any place where bicycles and automobiles share the same roads, there are potential conflicts. In pleading for “a few feet of space on the road”, Jun cites the following:

In Kansas, a group of cyclists successfully added the following “bike-safety” question onto the driver’s test: “When passing a bicyclist on the road, drivers should give the cyclist at least: (a) two feet of clearance (b) three feet of clearance (c) four feet of clearance.”

The answer is “c.” (Source: Jan/Feb. 2008 issue of Bicycling Magazine, “Broken” pp. 57 ff.)

We have approached the governor, a budding cyclist, and dedicated leaders to help us follow the Kansas example.

This is just a start of what we hope to be a more bicycle-friendly Guam.

The Bicycling Magazine article Jun referenced is online at One Really Good, Really Simple Idea:

In Kansas, drivers must pass a 20-question, multiple-choice, take-home exam as part of the license-renewal process. Craig Weinaug, a member of the Lawrence Bicycle Club and a county administrator, says, “I could answer most of the questions without looking in the drivers’ manual, but there are always a few things you have to look up.” While flipping through the 64-page book, he spotted a page devoted to bike safety. “I figured, if a question about bike safety was on the test and if I could force everybody in the state to read that section of the manual at least once, things might be a little safer for cyclists.” After two years of prodding, Weinaug convinced the appropriate Kansas official to put a bike-safety question on the test.

Isn’t it amazing that such a simple thing should take two years to accomplish, and that it could inspire someone half-way around the world to try to improve their conditions as well? Thank you, Craig.

Michael Chamberlain, owner of The Broken Spoke in Iowa City, Iowa, who commutes to work year-round, was recently profiled in his local newspaper, The Gazette:

Why would someone choose pedaling through the winter elements when they could drive?

“Being part of the solution instead of part of the problem is probably the biggest reason,” Chamberlain says of the environmental impact.

Plus, relying on a bike for transportation is cheaper than relying on a car, he says. The last time he pumped gas into his vehicle, it cost him only $1.60 a gallon. That was in November 2003.

“In the winter,” he adds, “it’s pretty much impossible to get stuck on a bike. You just pick it up and move it, and keep on riding. You don’t have to scrape a windshield. It allows me to be on my own schedule.”

There is also a video interview:

Hopefully one day stories such as Michael’s will be far more commonplace, as people begin to realize the advantages of bicycles as basic everyday transportation, regardless of the weather.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has proposed a plan to allow open admission to state parks. The current daily summer fee is $4.20 per motor vehicle ($3.70 during the remainder of the year, with an annual pass also available). That fee level is half of what it was two years ago, when the state legislature reduced the fee in an effort to encourage more people to use the park system.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks secretary Mike Hayden said that the free entrance would bring thousands of new visitors to Kansas’ 24 state parks. Free admission, he said, “could be a great tourism promotion.”

The state parks offer 32,500 acres of land, 25,000 acres of water, and nearly 500 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

State parks with mountain bike trails include Crawford, Cross Timbers, El Dorado, Elk City, Fall River, Fancy Creek, Hillsdale, Kanopolis, Perry, Scott, and many more.

Fortunately, the existing entrance fees only apply to motor vehicles, so bicycles already get in free, though many facilities do charge camping fees (and those would remain in place even with free entrance).

If approved by the state legislature, free admissions would begin in 2009.

Additional information: KDWP, Lawrence Journal-World, Wichita Eagle.

According to an article in the Ottawa Herald (Officials taking neighborly position on rail trail deal), Franklin County commissioners have decided to delay completion of the Flint Hills Nature Trail in their county by failing to respond to a bond offer from the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy. The trails group has offered a bond of $200 per mile of trail, which would total about $5,000 for Franklin County. This is in line with the amounts that several other counties have agreed to.

However, Miami County, which is just east of Franklin County, has demanded a $76,100 bond for the small amount of trail within their borders. Miami County and the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy are currently involved in a lawsuit to settle the matter.

According to county commissioner Don Stottlemire, he wants to delay acceptance of the proposed bond to avoid “stepping on Miami County’s toes,” because “They’re our neighbors,” and accepting the proposed bond from the Kanza group would “undercut Miami County’s position.”

But what about the thousands of county residents and visitors who’d use the trail? They don’t seem to be part of the discussion.

How very neighborly.

City commissioners in Arkansas City, Kansas are trying to decide whether to proceed with construction of a multipurpose hike-and-bike path along the Arkansas River levee.

According to an article in the Arkansas City Traveler:

The project has been in the works for years, but some commissioners have questioned the wisdom of proceeding even with a state grant and money available to pay for the project. The hike-and-bike project is in motion, so the city doesn’t have to do anything for it to proceed. However the city could put the brakes on if it decided it did not want to finish the project.

City Chief of Administration Steve Archer said that all the property has been acquired for the project, and that it is currently in the design phase. The design phase is to be completed by the end of March and construction could begin this fall.

Commisioners are divided about the trail, with some believing that it should not be completed even if the city has the money, and others seeing it as a quality-of-life issue that has the potential to spur economic development, open up the river for more recreational use, and attract people to the city.

The levee trail is the first section of a trail system that is ultimately intended to circle the entire city. The majority of the money for the project is being provided by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation,

According to the Hays Daily News, someone broke into the Hub Bicycle Shop in Hays in early January, throwing a brick through the front window. According to the report, the only thing taken was cash.

The police apparently have a suspect in custody, but no additional info has been released. But I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the culprit is not a cyclist.

First, to a cyclist, a bike shop is a sacred place, on a par with a church, synagogue or mosque. To desecrate it is unthinkable.

Second, the thief obviously doesn’t understand the economics of bike shops, which are typically neither high-volume nor high-margin, and so there are probably not heaping piles of cash lying around in bike shops.

Third, The Hub is owned by John Schlitter, who also is an owner of recumbent manufacturer Bacchetta, and an incredible cyclist in his own right. In 2007 he was part of a two-man recumbent team that finished first in the annual Race Across America (RAAM), crossing the continent in just over 7 days, with an average speed of an amazing 18.07 mph, setting a new record in the process. The man is a legend. No real cyclist could conceive of stealing from someone of his stature.

Fourth, and most telling, is that when the thief entered the bike shop and found himself surrounded by bikes and gear, the only thing he took was cash. That is someone who clearly does not have the right priorities. A cyclist would realize that, if he took cash, he’d eventually just end of trading it in for more cycling gear anyway. A real cyclist (assuming, for the sake of argument, that one could possibly find himself in such a position), would cut out the extra step, grab all the bikes and gear he could handle, and only then consider the possibility of opening the cash drawer.

Salina, Kansas is in the early stages of creating a new “Comprehensive Plan” for the city. This plan will help to determine the future of the community, and covers topics such as transportation, health issues, arts and culture, tourism, development patterns, and land use, with the goals of identifying community issues, assets, and a vision for Salina.

The first steps in creating the plan is a series of public meetings, where citizens can comment on the directions they believe the city should move. These comments will help the consulting firm the city hired, Gould Evans Associates of Kansas City, to update the plan.

At the first meeting, local resident Phil Black spoke up about the need to take bicycle transportation into consideration in the plan. “There needs to be more than just a (bicycle) path here and path there,” Black said. Black and other local citizen are pushing for a comprehensive transportation plan that addresses not just motor vehicles, but facilities for cycling and walking as well.

The public comment period will continue through the end of February, and the public can also contribute their ideas on the City of Salina’s Web site; additional information on the project is also available from Gould Evans.

See also: Salina Journal article Salina Comprehensive Plan debated at public meeting