(BicycleHaywoodNC Council meeting attendees)
Last night’s April
2015 meeting of BicycleHaywoodNC was well attended at Sid’s On Main in Canton,
NC. We were pleased to have a number of guests attending.They brought us up to
date on pending and received grants and a proposal for BicycleHaywoodNC to
become sponsors of a Health on Wheels group.
Chair Jennifer Jacobson called the meeting to order and
introduced Charlie Clogston of Blue Ridge Bicycle Club and Melissa Rocket of
Mountainwise. Along with our own member, Michelle Trantham, they have developed
the beginnings of a ride program to work with survivors of chronic diseases. In
their model, survivors of cancer, heart disease, and other medical maladies
would be supported in bicycle rides as they recover. The rides would initially
be of short duration and would be adaptable to the individual rider’s physical
and mental functioning at the time. Hopes are that the local medical community would
support the program through referrals and/or other means. The program would
have a number of commonalities with novice ride groups. Ride leaders and “ride
guides” would support the participants during the events. The hope is that, as
survivors gain strength and experience, they will take on the roles of ride
leader and “ride guides”. Ride guides are viewed as supportive members of the Council
that would ride within the group and offer guidance and support to any
participant that might request additional assistance. There is much more to
come on this topic!
(Seth Hendler-Voss addresses the group)
Canton Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss attended the meeting
and updated Council members on a very nice pedestrian/bike grant recently
received by the town. The grant, one of 10 awarded in N.C., will allow the town
to move forward with planning to make the municipality more pedestrian and bike
friendly. The plan will be complementary to existing Comprehensive Haywood
County Bike Plan and the Blue Ridge Regional plan. Hendler-Voss also discussed
long term intentions to improve access to the Rough Creek mountain bike trails
in the Beaverdam community of Haywood County.
Despite a week of near solid rain, I’ve managed to squeeze
in a couple of rides. It was certainly a
pretty weekend here in the Western North Carolina to be out and about. Last
Thursday evening, we had a small group ride intended to help new and newly
returning riders to learn/relearn how to ride in a group and to work on their
fitness. The ride only attracted people whose names start with “C”: Cecil,
Carolyn, and Carena. The three of us
enjoyed a 4.5 mile loop around beautiful Lake Junaluska. The initial lap was
what I call “Old Man Pace”, meaning my pace. This was Carolyn’s first time on a
bike since last year and I’ve not logged that many miles myself. Carena is
another story. She rides quite a bit and is in the process of prepping for a
100k in the next few weeks.
The loop around Lake Junaluska is about as flat as you’ll
find in the mountains. We left the grounds twice in making the transit of the
lake. Once was to cut across to Old County Road and come out under the dam and
the second was when we left South Lake Shore Drive for US 19 and a half mile
jaunt to Wheldon Road, which is the start/finish point of the Blue Ridge
Breakaway. A second lap around the lake brought us near a 10 mile ride for the
day.
On Sunday, I ventured out by myself for a solo ride again
under wonderful blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and warmer than usual
temperatures. This time I was on my Fuji CCR, which I haven’t ridden in over a
year. My Salsa Fargo has simply become my bike of choice so it gets most of the
workouts. The Fuji is about three times
lighter in weight than the Fargo so I was expecting to feel as if I were flying
when I got into a steady cadence. Well, not so much as it turns out.
I was surprised at how uncomfortable I was in adapting to
the Fuji geometry, skinny tires, triple ring, and gear changes. I could have
used a good dose or two of a dry lubricant myself to get rid of some of my
“rust.” And the saddle, oh, the saddle! After 30 minutes, I was sorely missing
my Brooks on the Fargo.
I saw only one other person riding a bike on this day, which
really surprised me. Fellow BicycleHaywoodNC member, George Ivey, and I crossed
paths near Bethel, NC. Otherwise, I saw no other cyclists on this sunny Sunday
afternoon. My five mile return to Canton along Old River Road (NC 215) was
pleasant except for a few moments when the headwind made an appearance. The
recently repaved road retains a smooth surface and allowed me a very smooth
trip back.
Politics, politics, politics…
Legislators, in Raleigh, are making yet more attempts to
place barriers in the way of alternative forms of transportation. A bill (SenateBill 617) currently under consideration would require a two thirds vote of the
NC Transportation Committee to approve ANY ROAD DIET in North Carolina. As I’m
quite sure the introducers of the bill plan, getting an approval vote of two
thirds of a committee historically non-supportive of people who ride bicycles,
would be next to impossible and likely kill any local efforts at reducing high
speed traffic and adding safe bike lanes and facilities for pedestrians. The
following text is from the bill itself:
“AN ACT TO REFORM
VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE LAW RELATED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT.”
A provision in the
bill appears to make it more difficult to accommodate bicyclists, seems to
contradict the state’s Complete Streets policy, and seems to politicize local
development decisions by requiring approval by the politically-appointed
Transportation Board. The bill provision is as follows:
(b)
Reduction of travel lanes to accommodate the addition of bike lanes within the
existing paved and marked travel lanes of any State highway system street or
highway located within a municipality shall be approved by a vote of two-thirds
of all the members of the Board of Transportation.”
On a more hopeful note, House Bill 232 would direct the NC
Department of Transportation to review and investigate existing laws aimed at updating
safety laws regarding bicycles. North Carolina hasn’t revised those rules since
around 1974 so there is a hope that a new review will result in laws that
advance the safety of people who ride bikes in this state. The original
membership of the committee raised some concerns that there were insufficient
representatives from the bicycle community on the study group. Latest word is
that those concerns were addressed by the bill sponsors. The bill has passed
the House and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
And finally… On Wednesday of this week, one of the heavier
rain days, I noted bicycles on bike racks at two local businesses and a third
person riding a bike in downtown Waynesville. The first bike I noted was at a
local mattress store and was there through breakfast and lunch so I’m guessing
an employee rode to work. A second bike was located at the new bike rack at the
new Bojangles at lunch and the third bike was unfortunately being ridden on the
sidewalk in downtown Waynesville, which is both unsafe and against local
ordinances for the downtown area. Still, it was good to see people riding bikes
even in inclement weather.
Until later,
-Zeke
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