CAzBike working for you! 2010 accomplishments; year in review

The Coalition works hard all year round to improve conditions for Arizona’s cyclists. Our year conceptually ends in September, President Bob Beane noted these Activities & Accomplishments of the past year

Organizational/Membership:

  • Drafted the first written set of annual goals and objectives for the CAzB.
  • Added Sterling Baer and Wayne Cullop to Advisory Board.
  • Added or renewed these organizations as members: PBAA, PMBC, ABC, Bullshifters, Bicycle Vibe, Bike Barn, Bike Den, Fair Wheel Bikes, Trek Bicycles, and Parrish Insurance.

Fundraising/Events:

  • Received $72,392 from donations, including the Gorter Family of The Netherlands, the Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign, United Way and several individuals. 
  • Received $2,895 from memberships and events (Ride for Safety, Bike Swap Meet). 
  • Received support from Trek Bicycle Corporation for membership drive. 
  • Received sufficient funds to hire an Executive Director for a year. 

Advocacy:

  • Pima, Pinal and Maricopa County advocates meeting, February, 2010.
  • Met with Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition leaders and participated in “Celebrate the Red Rock Road” event in August, 2010.
  • Established initial connection with Flagstaff bicycle advocates.
  • MAG Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee and City of Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission participation (monthly).
  • Participated in the national bicycling summit in Washington, D.C., in March, 2010.
  • El Tour de Phoenix Expo booth, April, 2010.
  • Meeting with new ADOT District Engineer, Todd Emory, and Pima County bicycling advocates, December, 2009.
  • Letter to Pima County Sheriff’s Department regarding enforcement in Saguaro National Park (Gates Pass area) west of Tucson.
  • Presentation, letters and e-mails in District 3 (Phoenix) in defense of multi-modal bridge over 19th Avenue near Greenway.
  • Provided feedback on Pinal County and City of Chandler transportation master plans.
  • Multiple letters in giving feedback on designs and/or supporting TIP projects in various Valley communities (e.g. Highline Canal in Phoenix, planned Chandler multi-use bridge over Hwy 101 at Galveston St. and new path in Glendale).
  • Presentation of LAB Bicycle Friendly Community award to the City of Chandler, December, 2009.
  • Communication with Somerton PD regarding need to cite motorist in head-on collision with bicyclist.
  • Partnered with Mesa cyclists to help have an offensive display removed from a business.
  • Participated in evaluation of Arizona for LAB Bicycle Friendly State program.

Education:

  • Regular bicyclist education classes throughout the year.
  • Participation in City of Chandler TV program regarding Bicycle Friendly Community status, places to ride and safe bicycling techniques in February, 2010.
  • Program of distributing educational and bike safety materials to bike shops for Valley Metro and ADOT.
  • Proposal is pending at MAG to implement a law enforcement education program for Valley communities with CAzB having a pivotal role in development of curriculum and providing course materials and instruction.

Media/Public Relations:

  • Clear Channel radio interview/PSAs regarding Bike Month and bicycle safety.
  • Publication in Arizona Republic, Tailwinds and Ahwatukee Foothills News regarding AZ laws, motorist education and defense of bicycling and bicyclists’ right to the road.
  • Article for League of American Bicyclists’ American Bicyclist magazine covering the Red Rock Road (Sedona/Village of Oak Creek) advocacy effort and completion celebration.
  • Participated in MAG’s “I Ride” video production, speaking about ARS 28-735 (safe passing distance law) and safe driving around bicyclists.
  • Nominated Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club for LAB regional Club of the Year, for which they were a co-winner in our region with the New Mexico Touring Society.

Outreach:

  • Assistance to family of James Parsons who was hit/killed on Hunt Highway.
  • Partnership with Sterling Baer’s Not One More Cyclist on outreach.

Legislative/Legal:

  • Vulnerable user proposals are in development, as is a list of potential allies in the AZ Legislature.

New faces in CAzbike Leadership

Sterling Baer has been elected to serve as a board member of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. Sterling is the a founder of the Not One More Foundation, a group who is dedicated to ending the cyclist-vehicle accidents on the roads today; and provides support and outreach to cyclists injured as the result of vehicle-bike incidents.
Also, welcome to MaryKaye Black has joined our organization as an advisory board member. MaryKaye is active in cycling issues with ADOT in the SE region and Apache Junction.

Spectrum to Gateway Bicycle Boulevard in Phoenix

On Wednesday evening (11.03), City of Phoenix Traffic Engineer and Bicycle Coordinator Joseph Perez presented his proposal of a Bicycle Boulevard in Phoenix running from Spectrum Mall through the northern “Presidential” streets of downtown through to Gateway Community College (40th St & Van Buren). Several representatives from neighborhood associations on or near the route were present as well as a dozen or so concerned citizens, mostly cycling enthusiasts.

Three alternative routes through the downtown area are being studied and one of the goals of this meeting was to select the best. These routes use collector and residential streets, but no arterial roads so that vehicular traffic is not a deterrent to cyclists.
Objectives of the boulevard itself is to provide a well designated route to connect origin and destinations along the way likely to be used by cycling commuters and recreational cyclists such as:
Spectrum Mall
Light Rail stations
Phoenix Public Market
Hance Park
Arts and Culture locations
Grand Canal
Gateway CC
Access to Tempe
The boulevard will be marked by signs, Bike Lanes (where appropriate), and informational signs giving the distance and time to important destinations near the route. In certain areas “Bike Dots” will be used on the road surface to remind motorists and cyclists alike that they are using a shared roadway. Depending upon which alternative route is actually chosen, one to three HAWK signals will be installed to insure the safety of the crossings of the arterial streets.
Construction consists of paint, signage and signals, which can be done within the City Transportation on-going budget funds. No road rerouting, pavement or curbing work is needed. This looks like a great addition to the cycle-ability of Phoenix. If used as much as anticipated, other such boulevards can be added. This has happened in other cities in the US.

Price/Hwy 101 Frontage roads Edge lines are back!

Due to the involvement of the CAzB and a number of other concerned individuals, ADOT was persuaded to re-stripe the Price/Hwy101 frontage roads with edgelines to reconstitute the “bike lanes” (striped but not marked as bicycle lanes) that were previously marked prior to the recent re-paving project. Many bicyclists who live and ride in the area weighed in on this…which illustrates the value of the bicycling community coming together to create a strong, unified voice.

Shortcuts to cycling-related websites

For AZ State Law, the form is www.tinyurl.com/AZ28### where ### is as follows:

101 – Definitions, one sub-section of which is the definition of a bicycle
735 – 3-foot passing law
812 – Bicycles are subject to same rights and responsibilities as motorists
815 – Conditions when keeping “…as far right as practicable…” is required, or not

Please note that capitalization after the “/” is important, both those above and those below.

For other websites, the form is www.tinyurl.com/cazbike## where ## is as follows:

01 – Light Rail safety for cyclists, Power Pt images on PhotoBucket
02 – Not available
03 – Photos of Washington & Jefferson St Bike Lanes next to Light Rail tracks.
04 – Photos of Highline Canal Multi-use path, mostly before 2010 upgrade.
05 – Photos of Abandoned RR track south of downtown Phoenix.
06 – Valley of the Sun Bike Rack map.
07 – US Secretary of Transportation Ray La’Hood at the 2010 Bike Summit in DC.
08 – CAzBike Fan Page on FaceBook.
09 – NTHSA Bicycling Tips for Adults, 7-min video produced by LAB
10 – online TS101

Bicyclists are urged to attend the Public Meeting this Thursday 5:30 pm Sunnyslope High School, 35 W Dunlap Rd, Phoenix

There will be a public hearing this Thursday to talk about a tunnel to be built under 7th Avenue to facilitate bicycle travel along the Arizona Canal.
Your attendance is needed to show support of this project.
There are already more than enough detractors of bicycling projects.
Thanks,
Joseph Perez

When:

October 28th, 2010,

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where:

Sunnyslope High School

35 W. Dunlap Avenue

Phoenix, Arizona 85021

East Parking Lot in the

Viking Conference Rm.

Questions:

Call the 24-Hour Hotline at:

1-877-349-1433

LAB’s Traffic Skills 101 class – Explained

[check Arizona class schedules: cazbike.org/BikeEd]
Traffic Skills 101 is a hands-on class of effective cycling. It was originally created by John Forester and taught as a college-level class at Berkeley. Over the years, the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has refined it and the current version is known as Traffic Skills 101. The name is more telling of the content as well as the level of detail included.
TS101 or similar classes are taught by a few organizations and individuals in Arizona. TS101 consists of four hours of classroom instruction (talk, video and powerpoint) and five hours of on-bike instruction, some of which is done in a protected parking lot and some is done in real-life traffic. This may seem like a large amount of time, but to properly cover the following subjects, it is barely enough to do them justice:
  • Bicycle and helmet fit, and why each is important.
  • Pre-ride check of your bicycle to catch problems before they spoil your ride.
  • Respect for and from other users of the roads.
  • Best lane position regarding your destination, road conditions and traffic conditions.
  • Visibility, both day and night.
  • A fine-tooth comb examination of applicable state law, and what it requires of both motorists and cyclists.
  • The pros and cons of both properly installed bike lanes and road markings that are often, and sometimes disastrously, mistaken for bike lanes.
  • Parking lot skills training for precise control of your bicycle as well as maneuvers to avoid mistakes of others.
  • Actual crash and injury data showing the contributing factors, thus giving the ability to anticipate mistakes of others, as well as what not to do yourself.
  • Knowledge of what skills to use should you need to protect yourself.
  • Tire changing and flat fixing. What tools and spare parts to bring with you.
  • Hydration and eating.
  • Best pedaling rate for endurance and how gears are used to help you in this matter.
  • Special cases, such as, railroad crossings, up and down hill rides, wet weather and cycling on multi-use paths where slow and fast cyclists, children, pedestrians and horses may be sharing the path.
  • Actual riding in traffic on a predetermined route that includes many considerations covered in the classroom. Includes many stops for rest and evaluation of conditions encountered.
  • Written test that is a review of classroom and road experience.
  • Graduation, the proof of accomplishing these objectives.
  • Finally, our mantra, over and over again: “Cyclists fare best when they act as, and are treated as, drivers of slow vehicles.”
Cycling fun increases when confidence increases. TS101 increases confidence by replacing fear with knowledge and skills. These classes are still the only nationally recognized bicycle safety classes taught by certified instructors. Most of these instructors simply have a passion for their favorite mode of transportation and sport, and desire a safe and mutually-respectful use of the roadways by cyclists and motorists alike. Every blown stop-sign, etc. by a bike rider breaks that mutual respect as does any form of disrespect of cyclists by motorists. Building that mutual respect is the way to increase everyone’s safety. That is the objective of Traffic Skills 101.
Gene Holmerud
League Cycling Instructor, #1193