Bikey fun at CanFest!

The expression says it all.  Bikes and beer are that much fun!

Thinks you just shouldn't do on a bike....

....that are completely terrifying and awesome!

What will the Real Logo for Midtown Be?

Back in January of this year I came across this little picture of a t-shirt with a new Midtown logo.  I don't remember where...but it got everyone excited that midtown and apparently Midtown businesses saw bicycles as part of their business and philosophy.

Yeah...a great Midtown Logo.

 I'll argue that the statement was and still is true for many business owners in Midtown.  However, the current problem is some of the the "old" business owners of Midtown (who seem to have the ear of RTC and City Council) and could be generalized by terms junk, hardware, and records have a different logo in mind....

Wow...this is the new Midtown Logo!?

The funniest part about the whole issue is the business owners who seem to be most vocal about losing on street parking having on street parking relocated....are some of the business owners who have the largest parking lots in all of the Midtown District and the fewest on street parking spots to lose!

So, the question comes down to this.  Should a city and it's government cater to a small group of business owners (not even necessarily the building owners)....or should the government work towards what is best for the city and all the people who live in it.  We all know system is supposed to work for the good of the people...and this will be a great test case to see if the Reno city council remembers who they work for!  

And just in case you're interested in what regular people are saying about Midtown....

Canfest....perfect excuse for weekend bikes and beer!

Yep, Canfest is Saturday evening at the Peppermill.  A perfect excuse to grab your bike and find a nice back road route to the Peppermill!  Once you're there you can continue to show off your riding skills on the minibike course....so get your tickets now and join in at Canfest tomorrow! 

Midtown...the Old Boys Club of Reno...and Those of Weak Political Will.

***Warning this is a rant***

Oh...Midtown...What an ironic logo.

Well kids.  Midtown officially hit the skids in the last two days.  Thanks to some of the Midtown business owners who have long time contacts and personal inroads with city council and RTC board members.  

Unfortunately, only two of these folks seem to have much vision (far left if your wondering).  Truly sad...I thought this group was different.

Yep, apparently it's that simple.  Doesn't really matter if you organize, plan, start coalitions, provide detailed alternatives, sit on advisory boards designed for this purpose, or get the majority of public sentiment and votes on your side.  You really just need to be one of a few people associate with "junk, hardware, or records" and know who's ear to whisper (your poorly informed opinions) in to derail what could have taken Reno to the next tier of livable cities.

Don't get me wrong...Midtown will definitely get wider sidewalks.  The bus service should improve too.  However, if you want to ride a bike in Midtown you get two options with current plan.  Ride in the middle of the traffic lane marked with sharrows (currently planned at 30 mph!?) or what I suspect will be more common....ride your bike illegally on the nice wide sidewalk...which I suspect will be the default for many people.

So...thanks for nothing RTC and Reno City Council.  It was good to hear you throw words around like "Complete Streets" and "Great Streets" at the last years worth of meetings....but you clearly don't have the ability to follow through.

Perhaps in another 50 years when we redo the Midtown Virginia St. section again your children will get it right.  Sigh.....

RenOpen Streets....put it on your calendar!

Keep those heads up people!

Ouch!  Truth be told...I did something similar several years ago.  Fortunately, for me I looked up just in time and managed to hit that Volvo at a skidding 45 degree angle .  Still cracked the frame in half and gave me more road rash than I've ever had since.  So yeah, pay attention out there folks.

How do the people who live and play in Midtown feel about bikes?

This is just a template for what the Great Streets Coalition is hoping to show city leaders in our last push to get bike lanes in Midtown.  If you'd be interested in doing one please let us know.  And we want everyone who goes to Midtown for any reason.  Live there?  Great.  Work there?  Great.  Only go to Midtown for food and beer?  Great. 

If you'd like to get involved please leave us a message at the Great Streets Coalition Facebook Page!

Midtown....final push.

This post was written up by the Good Little City blog here in Reno.  I certainly couldn't have said it better so I'm just going to repost it!

30 Parking Spots are Blocking a Bike Lane that Would Connect 20,000 Students to Reno Businesses

Reno is on a path to rebuild it's most important street without a bike lane through its most important section.  When the street is complete, this section may have as few as 30 on-street parking spaces.  Here are 4 images that explain why sacrificing a bike lane that could connect an entire city for a few parking spots is silly, silly business.








*The Midtown district currently has approximately 100 parking spaces in this section.  The street redesign will cut the number to about 50.  Some private developers have stepped forward to say they plan to request further elimination of their street parking in favor of wider sidewalks or bike lanes.
We believe the final number of parking spaces after Fire Lanes and Bus Stops are in place may bring the number to about 30 spaces.  There is not enough width in the street to fit both bike lanes and on-street parking in this small 6 block section between California Ave and Vassar.  A choice must be made.

To learn more about the Great Streets Coalition, read our endorsement letter:
Endorsement Letter
Or visit our Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/greatstreetscoalition
Or find us on Twitter @greatstreetsco

Detours and traffic signage...from the bicycle and pedestrian side of the street.

Totally random, but Reno-Rambler is posting on a similar topic this morning.  Mainly construction signage and it's affect on folks on bikes.  I've posted several times that I hate it when they put construction signs and automobile detour signs in the bike lanes.

An example from an old post.....

However, this morning I wanted to point out that there's another type of detour and signage that's starting to exist in Reno.

An actual bicycle detour with signage....gasp!

Yep, they are actually starting to post real bicycle detours when they close dedicated bicycle paths like the river path and its associated route through downtown Reno.  This little gem is tied to the Virginia St. bridge replacement project and is partnered with an actual signed pedestrian route (that is separate).  So there are small signs (pun intended) that contractors and those who hire them are aware of some of the issues with signage, construction, and it's affects on bicycles and pedestrians....but we've obviously got a ways to go!

How to promote public transportation....make it cool!

Haute August Bikes Pics.

Another slow roll is in the books.  This time it kicked off over in Sparks at the movie theater and rolled down to the Marina and back.  All in all.....a good time.  So if you haven't made it out to a slow roll with the Reno Bike Project keep an eye out and join us next month!  And pictures....

Our little crew rolling down from the university neighborhood.

Look at those nice wide bike lanes.

A little quality time on the river path.

Meeting up with the group before the ride. 

The full crew.

Slow rolling through some fire trucks.

Some of us opted for a cooling ride through the fountains at the end of the ride!

Weekend fun?

Given my current schedule this probably isn't happening...but it needs to happen again soon.  So if you're bored this should definitely be on your list of things to do this weekend!

Click for more details.

The Battle for Midtown....Not Done Yet!

The unlikely group that is making Midtown a better place....cheers to all of you!

Progress has been made.  An "acceptable" plan for the street has been approved.  However, the fact that this little (but influential) group is back at Craft with beers in hand means there is still room for improvement.

Mainly for the two reasons in this picture....bikes and parking for cars.  The current plan leaves all the parking spots in Midtown untouched and asks cyclists to ride in the same lane as cars with painted sharrows (share the lane markers).  No bike lanes in a place that obviously attracts large numbers of folk on bikes. 

With time running out we going to give council and RTC one more push to have the vision Reno needs for the future.  So stay tuned....we might be needing people on petitions, people filling meetings, and people stepping up to the mic to make comments.  

Haute August Bikes!

Cruising in Sparks.  Nuff said.  Get the date on your calendar and join in!

Click to get to the facebook page.

Cyclocross Season is Coming!

Yep, it's getting to be that time of year.  This year we have a new event along with the Sagebrush Cyclocross events.

Click for more info and registration!

Cross Reno....basically a festival along with a high end cyclocross race.  It will be hosted in Rancho San Rafel, so something tells me that my back yard might just be home to some type of after party.  Parties aside, if you haven't been riding and you think this might just be your thing, get that bike off the shelf and put in some miles before the season is upon you!

Here's the course map if you want to get just a little bit of practice in!

One lucky guy.

Watch the guy on the bicycle in the background.  Guy doesn't even flinch and then just stands there looking disgusted after a the car takes out the bike he was riding seconds before.

Another way to make your morning commute more interesting....

Yep, eat it on the fun gravel section of a commute!  Not pictured... the nice road rash on the hip and leg that makes this a complete package for weekend conversations.  In my defense I was trying to get the bee out of my helmet (that was stinging away like mad) when this crash rapid dismount technique was executed.  The worst injury was of course to my pride....although I don't think anyone witnessed this little episode.

So while I don't necessity recommend it....it is another way to make your morning commute just a little more interesting!

Tell me you wouldnt' go see this band!

....and yes, this is still bike related....because the Simpsons definitely ride.

Women who ride....

I kinda think I posted this little clip in the past....but it's funny (with a subtle underlying point) and has some sweat riding from a gal who knows more than I ever will about being fast on a mountain bike!

It also points out that cycling has (and continues to have) some serious gender bias issues.  Yep, statistically if you ride a bike you're a 30ish year old white male.  The good news is that the number of women riding is increasing, along with many women who put their male counterparts to shame!  So ladies grab your bike tonight, announce you're going for a ride, and tell that boy to have dinner ready when you get back.

Beer Bike....

Yep, it's happening this weekend kids.  A friend of mine is celebrating getting older and this is his method of choice.  I've never actually had a chance to hop on one of these yet, so I'll be interested to see if it's as much fun as my usual beer and bicycle endeavors.  Follow up post after the weekend.

My Morning Commute....Biking vs. Driving.

Ok, we've all heard it.  In an urban environment for distances under 2 miles, bicycling is often faster or equivalent to driving.  It factors in all the normal things....stop signs, stop lights, traffic, etc.

Home and Work locations and roughly a 6 mile diameter circle.

My commute is roughly 6 miles (one way) and slightly down hill in the morning....and I'm officially going to say it is now (significantly) faster for me to ride than to drive!  It hasn't always been this way....it used to be about a tie....or even perhaps a little faster to drive. 

To be fair....to get to my office (driving) I usually have two choices....take 80 through the spaghetti bowl to 395 and then Mill St. over to my office.  Should be easy, but construction has made the spaghetti bowl straight up impassable this summer.  No problem I think....I'll just stay on 80 until I hit Rock blvd. and take that to the office (it has a lot of lights but it works).  Nope, everyone and their brother has shifted to this route.  To the point that the Rock blvd. ramp backs up onto the freeway (which is also frickin' dangerous).  Today with the ramp backup and the backup on Rock due to lights it took me 30 minutes to get to work!?

It takes me less than 20 minutes to ride!  How ironic that I drove today to save time and arrive early for a 8 am meeting.  Also, I did not arrive early.

So folks, look at that circle.  I'll bet many of you live and work inside it.  My question is are you really saving any time by driving....

Keystone Complete Street is a Reality!

At the top of the "hill" Keystone and Coleman Ave.

Well, the latest project that received a "blow back" fight on getting complete streets throughout Reno is officially in place.  There were (and will be) other locations that received similar blow back, but this one is near and dear to me since it's in my neighborhood.

Anyhow, the new sidewalks are in, curb diverters have been poured, and paint is on the ground.  It's been kinda in place since last Friday and so far I've ridden and driven it about a half dozen times.  I haven't seen any evidence of delays or backups so far and that includes the Monday morning "rush hour" to get out of the neighborhoods and off to work this morning!

It also has slowed down the traffic speeds already and makes the whole area feel more like a neighborhood again rather than two neighborhoods separated by a small highway!

Drop bars....an interim post.

Ok, drop bars aren't for everyone and don't really make my top 10 list of interesting things.  However, it was a rainy morning and I didn't take any good pictures so this is where we're at.

Salsa Cycles has some kind of non traditional takes on drop bars....e.g. the Woodchipper that I run on my Salsa Fargo.  Really wide flares...like kind of hard to get through a doorway wide.  I like this because it gives almost mountain bike (flat bar) like control when needed but it's also kind of a pain just due to the flare factor.  They had another option, the Cowbell, that was "wider"...compared to a normal drop bar, but it never held much appeal to me because it didn't give enough flare to give subtle trail control.

Apparently, I haven't been too worried about it because I completely missed that back in late May Salsa matted the Cowbell and Woodchipper to create an unfortunately named but perfectly proportioned Cowchipper bar!  Suddenly, I appear to be in the market for a new set of bars!

So...have you ever thought about it?  What type of drop bars should you really be riding!?

Traffic lights.....

Apparently, traffic lights are 101 years old today.  While this seems kinda non-bikey, it did get me wondering.  The first ones were undoubtedly simply timed to change at certain intervals....making equal opportunity for each sides all traffic to pass.  My question is how long have they been "smart" enough to recognize traffic and "prioritize" or change a signal for waiting traffic?  Or perhaps restated....exactly when did they stop working for people using anything else but cars!? 

July Megapost....Part Two.

Moab Trails are fun even in the summer!

Especially if there's a creek along the trail!

Trail running with the dog.

With mandatory stick throwing in all big pools.

12 year old dog can still move when she wants to!

In case you want to find the trial...

Camping on the San Juan in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Cruise a thon "race"!

Fruita, CO mountain biking heaven!

Trail view.

More trail views.

Back to Reno and decided to visit Erica's Ghost bike while out on a ride.

What can I say...it was a hot day.  I found double relief with a beer at Craft and some time in the cooler!

And rode home with a cool sunset.

Wrapped up the vacation with some Reno food truck action (wood fired pizza truck).

And a little Ace's baseball.  Which I can now attend since they finally paid their taxes.