NC Bike Routes

In the 1970s the State of North Carolina created a series of bike routes throughout the state. If you go to their site you can order paper maps of the routes, but all you get are crudely photocopied pages they are very difficult to read. And another issue is that traffic levels have changed in the 40 years since they were created. So a great system was in need of an update.

Fortunately the NC DOT agrees. They have hired Alta Greenways to revamp the system. I don't have too much detail on the timelines and plan, but they are currently soliciting input from the public via the North Carolina Bike Routes web site.

I find myself pretty excited about these routes. I have been researching the Cape Fear Run route from Apex to Southport roughly along the Cape Fear River. There are chance for camping along the route and a couple of battle fields and related museums for visiting. I would love to see a web site dedicated to planning rides on the routes, similar (but hopefully better) than the C&O Canal Bicycling Guide.

I'll be following the progress and result and keep you informed.

- Pedal For Fun

Sad Story

I hate that a tragic story has moved me to resume blogging, but I wanted to have this blog cover cycling issues in the Research Triangle Park and this story certainly fits.

On Wednesday July 4, Steven Jordan, the Director of the North Carolina Division of Mental Health Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, was killed when he was hit from behind by an empty logging truck.

The driver of the truck, Clifton Paul Ellis, struck Steven Jordan from behind. Evidently Ellis could not move farther left because of traffic. I will save my comments for later.

This is a tragic accident and I will bring more information. I am waiting for the police report to be available online. Also I have been looking at Google maps and street view. I hope to show details of the area. I will also be reporting on what I can find on the process and decision from the Wake County District Attorney's Office.

Cary Versus Portland

Information Signs at Major Points

Portland is known as the having the strongest bicycle culture in the USA as well as some of the best infrastructure for cycling. But recently I saw an article on Bike Portland about new way finding signs on the off street paths known as the Intertwine. They look informative but no more so than Cary's greenway signs. Plus Cary's signs are way more attractive. So at least in one bicycling attribute a Triangle community has one up on Portland.

Portland Intertwine Way Finding

I really like the Cary signs. The information is great and the signs are attractive. When I first decided to commute on the greenways I spent a Sunday afternoon exploring the routes. The only signs just said the greenway closes at sunset. There are lots of side trails and discontiguous sections at road crossings. Figuring out which way to was very much a trial and error process. Now Cary has signs at the intersections of greenway trails like these. The post is on one side of the trail and the arrows are oriented according to the way you are facing. One the other side of the trail is a larger sign with more information about destinations and the distance from your current spot.

Looking toward Northwoods Greenway

Looking down Black Creek Greenway

More Information Across Trail

Ride On Washington

Leading up to the National Bike Summit was the Ride On Washington. This ride was organized by Tim Johnson, of cyclocross fame, who wanted to get more professional bike riders involved in the Bike Summit. This year there were 20 people doing the whole ride from Boston to DC. They used the ride as a Bikes Belong fund raiser. The had various sponsors including Volkswagen who published this video.

VW and the Tim Johnson's Ride on Washington from Bikes Belong

They had a plan for people to join the ride as thy came through DC. Since I drove to Arlington and then rode my bike into DC. I rode the Ride On Washington route backwards and panned to meet up with the group. I found a group waiting for the ride and decided to wait with them. It was fun riding in. The first part was a two-way bike lane on the side of 15th Street. Then we turned onto Pennsylvania Ave which was bike lanes in the middle of the road. It all went very smooth and I chatted with some of the local riders as well as several people who had riden all the way from Boston.

It was a good prelude to the Bike Summit. I learned my around the part of DC I needed for the Summit and started feeling some of the excitement. One of my favorite parts of the week was being around people who liked talking about bicycle issues and even bicycles themselves.

Some of the riders in front of the Capitol

The crowd wasn't all spandex and carbon fiber as shown by these two photos.

Gunnar was ready to ride

Ivette from Bikes Belong

National Bike Summit

I am heading to the National Bike Summit this week. Watch this space for reports with a North Carolina perspective.

Tuesday: Hopefully joining the last leg of Ride On Washington
Wednesday: Getting on message with the Bike League and others
Thursday: Visiting Capitol Hill
Friday: Ride with staff, Congressmen and Senators

Fall Flowers - I Love My Commute

Today I stopped and took a few quick pictures on my way home. This is one of the reasons I love to commute on the greenways. These fall flowers are so much more enjoyable than a bunch of cars.

Get a local bike map, pull up Google maps and find you a good route. The fastest way is not always the best.

Witnessed a Bike Collide With a Police Car

On my ride home today I witnessed a bike collide with a police car. I looked up the location on Google maps and added some visual aides. The green line is where I cross on my commute. The blue rectangles are two police ars that were in the parking lot. The red line is where the cyclist was riding on the side walk. It is downhill had he had picked up some speed. The police car rolled forward like you would to see around the wall and bush on his right. His front bumper moved into the part of the driveway that would intersect the sidewalk path just as the cyclist arrived. He hit the corner of the front bumper and took a spill in front of the car. 

An officer got out of each car and checked on the rider right away. He seemed a little stunned but OK. He had a scrape on his shoulder and elbow. He was not wearing a shirt or a helmet. He said he was 18. If the collision had not involved a police car I suspect he would have gotten up riden away. But the police insisted he wait for the ambulance. The officer asked if I had seen what happened and when I said yes, he asked me to stay and talk to his supervisor.

Before the supervisor arrived, a fire department vehicle arrived. Three guys got out and started attending to the rider. Then an ambulance arrived and the rider received more attention. Next a fire truck arrived, I guess just to make sure enough traffic was blocked. Finally the supervisor arrived and took a statement from me.

This was the kind of incident that shows why it is dangerous to ride on the sidewalk if you are not a child. This rider was moving fast and on the sidewalk where he was moving toward traffic. The spot is a blind one. I don’t think you can see a car pulling out because of the wall and bush and the car can’t see the sidewalk for the same reason. The parking lot is also downhill from the wall which makes it even harder to see. It is not up to me to decide fault, but it is clear a rider moving quickly down the hill on the the sidewalk is taking unnecessary risks.