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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Mixed bag on state park, historic site closings

Users of the Hennepin Canal Trail and the I&M Trail are happy that the two Northern Illinois trails have been spared from budget cuts that would have closed or limited access to the trails starting Monday morning.

Hennepin Canal Trail State Park, Channahon Parkway State Park and Gebhard Woods State Park were saved from closing earlier this month when Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich used his amendatory veto power to keep the parks open. The Illinois General Assembly had approved $2.1 million to keep 11 state parks and 12 state historic sites open, but Blagojevich decided to use the money to keep the only three parks listed above plus Kickapoo State Park open.

The League of Illinois Bicyclists was among the groups that pushed to keep Hennepin, Channahon and Gebhard Woods open. The League pointed out that by closing the Hennepin Canal Trail, the state would have been in danger of losing federal transportation money, which was used to build the trail and other state projects.

But as an Illinois history buff of sorts, I'm saddened that several historic sites in Southern Illinois were not spared. Among the sites that will close Monday are the Cahokia Courthouse in St. Clair County, Fort de Chartres, Fort Kaskaskia and the Pierre Menard home in Randolph County and the Vandalia State House in Fayette County.

The first four sites preserve key parts of Illinois' history before it became a state, even as far back as when the French, then the British, governed Illinois.

Kaskaskia was Illinois' first state capital, followed by Vandalia, before the capital moved to Springfield.

I realize the state is in the midst of a budget crisis, but I wish Blagojevich would have had a little more regard for the history of the state in chosing the sites that will be closed.

Labels: bicycling, Illinois, League of Illinois Bicyclists, trails

Roger 2 comments links to this post 8:37 PM

Friday, November 28, 2008

St. Louis County wants to require helmets for kids

St. Louis County wants to require children ages 1-16 who ride bicycles, scooters and skateboards to wear helmets.

Earlier this week, a bill was introduced before the St. Louis County Council that would require helmets throughout the county. The county already has a law requiring helmets, but that covers only unincorporated portions of the county.

(The proposal does not cover the city of St. Louis, which is not part of St. Louis County. The city of St. Louis does not have a similar ordinance.)

Under the proposal, children and their parents would receive warning for first and second offenses. For third and subsequent offenses within a 12-month period, the fine would be $10.

While the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the proposal has wide support within the council, not everyone else backs it.

Patty Vinyard, executive director of the the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, told the Post-Dispatch the county should focus on educating people how to ride a bicycle in traffic and ensure that streets are designed with pedestrians, wheelchairs and cyclists in mind.

"Those are two things that would do more to save lives than enacting a helmet law," Vinyard said. "Many places in the county are very scary for most people who are walking or biking to their destinations."

Shirley Scatcherd, a county health coordinator who is pushing the bill, said the main purpose of the law is to educate parents of the need to have their children wear helmets while cycling or taking part in another activity.

Labels: advocacy, safety

Roger 1 comments links to this post 7:17 PM

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Two fatal accidents, two different results

Randy Rasa, the author of the Kansas Cyclist blog, yesterday lamented a Kansas prosecutor's decision not to file felony charges against the driver of a car that struck and killed a lieutenant in the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

Lt. David Dillon, of Eudora, a deputy for the jail operations division of the sheriff’s office, died in the June 28 accident. Dillon, 44, was off-duty and riding his bike between Lawrence and Eudora when he was struck from behind by a 2003 Oldsmobile driven by Kyle Van Meter, 21, the Kansas Highway Patrol told the Lawrence Journal-World.

Van Meter was distracted both by his car radio and a cell phone, authorities determined.

Jackson County District Attorney Charles Branson did not offer an explanation to the Journal-World about why he did not pursue felony charges, but he recommended the Kansas Highway Patrol issue citations for unsafe overtaking/passing, following too closely and failure to wear a seat belt.

Here's what Randy had to say in his blog post:

Just incredible.

As long as the District Attorney has taken to make his decision, I’d begun to fear the worst, but now that it’s come to pass, I’m simply stunned.

Negligence, readily admitted, and yet no charges. How can this be seen as anything other than a gross miscarriage of justice?

In a Twitter post today, Randy referred to a story in The Coloradoan about Daniel Price, who hit and killed Fort Collins, Colo., cyclist Rebecca Allen with his car in July and pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular homicide under a plea agreement.

On the morning of July 22, Price's car hit Allen, 32, and cycling partner Jennifer Garvey, 36, near the intersection of West Drake Road and Moore Lane. Garvey was injured in the crash.

Price likely will receive eight years in prison, five years mandatory parole and two years of supervised probation under the stipulated sentence. Blood tests showed Price’s blood-alcohol limit was above the legal level for someone old enough to drink, which Price was not at the time of the accident.

By no means am I an expert on Kansas or Colorado traffic law, but I suspect the difference in the two cases was that Price was legally drunk, which frequently leads to a felony charge in fatal accidents.

Unfortunately, the Kansas accident sounds too familiar to the 2006 accident near Urbana, Ill., that killed cyclist Matt Wilhelm. The woman driving the car that killed him had been downloading a cell-phone ring tone at the time of the accident.

The woman wound up only being charged with a traffic offense, but Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz had the guts to explain her reasons for not filing a felony charge of reckless homicide in that case. She said current Illinois state statutes and current case law would not back up a stronger charge in that particular case.

To her credit, Rietz has attmpted to change the law in Illinois. She served on a task force led by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White that recommended the creation of a charge of negligent vehiclular homicide. Under the proposal, the offense would be classified as a Class 4 felony and will subject the individual to a jail sentence of 1 to 3 years, up to a $25,000 fine and revocation of driving privileges for no less than one year.

As cyclists, pedestrians and motorists, we in Illinois need to remind our legislators and Gov. Rod Blagojevich of the task force's findings and urge them to take action on them.

Labels: advocacy, fatal accidents, safety

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:24 AM

Friday, November 14, 2008

Need something to do this weekend?

If you're a St. Louis bicyclist needing something to do Saturday night, here's a couple of suggestions:

Bicycle Bash -- A Salute to Cycling: The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation will be putting on its Bicycle Bash -- A Salute to Cycling from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at the William A. Kerr Foundation, 21 O'Fallon St. in St. Louis on the edge of the Laclede's Landing district. The party will celebrate another successful season of bicycling fun! Entertainment by Big Budget Blues Band. Bring a dish for the buffet table if you like, or just show up. Admission is a suggested donation of $10 at the door. Proceeds will go toward the Bike Fed's ongoing work.

Einstein on a Bike Trivia Night: Trailnet, the St. Louis-based organization that promotes the construction of trails in the St. Louis region and bicycle riding through its Bicycle Fun Club, will be putting on its first-ever Einstein on a Bike Trivia Night at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Blvd. in St. Louis' Central West End. The good news for Trailnet -- but the bad news for you -- is that all the tables are booked for the event. That means unless you know somebody who needs an extra player for his or her team, you're out of luck.

On its Web site, the Bike Fed apologizes for scheduling its bicycle party the same night as the Trailnet event, but the group is hoping that many people can still make both events.

Beyond this weekend, mark your calendar for these events:

• Highway 40 West End Opening Celebration: The STL Bike Fed and Big Shark Bicycle Co. are planning the Ride 64 bicycle event, which tiedto the Missouri Department of Transportation's West End Opening Celebration on Sunday, Dec. 14. The west section of the rebuilt Interstate 64-U.S. Route 40, better known as Highway 40 to the locals, reopens to motorized traffic on Dec. 15.
  
  Bike 64 consists of a fun ride on the westbound lanes of the highway from noon to 2:30 p.m. and a 9-mile time trial, also on the westbound lanes of the highway, also from noon to 2:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required for both events. The cost of the fun ride is $25 for adults and $10 for kids 15 and younger and go up to $35 and $15 respectively after Dec. 3. The cost of the time trial is $25. Proceeds from the fun ride will go toward the Bike Fed's efforts to install bike racks in St. Louis city and county.
  
  You better ride it while you can. Once the road reopens to motorized traffic, bicycles are prohibited from interstate highways in Missouri.
  
  
• Cranksgiving Day Food Ride: St. Louis BicycleWORKS will be putting on its third annual Cranksgiving Day Food Ride at noon Sunday, Nov. 23 at BicycleWORKS' shop at 4109 Shenandoah Ave. in St. Louis. Last year, 72 riders donated hundreds of food items to those who needed them. BicycleWORKS hopes to triple the amount this year. Each participant on the 5- or 25-mile routes will be asked to buy at least $20 in food and be able to carry the goods with them on their bicycles. The rain date is Sunday, Nov. 30.
  
  
• Friends of Hostelling Trivia Night: The Gateway Council of Hostelling International, which puts on the Moonlight Ramble, Tour de Stooges and other great cycling events, will put on a Trivia Night on Jan. 16 at the Maryland Heights Community Center at 2344 McKelvey Road in Maryland Heights, Mo. The cost of the event is $120 for a table of eight, and all proceeds will be use for the development of a hostel in north St. Louis.
  
  
• Tour de Stooges: Speaking of the ride that I lead for the Gateway Council, the 12th edition of the Tour de Stooges will take place Saturday, May 2, in Highland, Ill. I expect to update the site in the next week, and registration for the event likely will open in the neighborhood of Jan. 1.

Labels: bicycling, Gateway Council of Hostelling International, St. Louis, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, Trailnet

Roger 1 comments links to this post 2:49 PM

No Tour de Georgia in 2009

Professional bicycle racing in the United States took a blow today with the cancellation of the 2009 Tour de Georgia.

After struggling to pay its 2008 obligations and missing out on Lance Armstrong's return to racing, the Tour de Georgia announced that it's going to skip 2009 and focus on returning in 2010.

"The rise in the cost of gas" and the current "tough" economic picture hurt us, Phil Jacobs, a member of the race's board of directors told the Savannah Morning News.

In a Tour de Georgia press release, Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said: "Since April, we have had an enormous response from our partners on ways we can strengthen the Tour for the future, and we have been listening. Our host cities want to have time to prepare tourism packages and our health providers are enthusiastic about developing plans to use the Health and Wellness expos to spread their message across the state. Our cycling friends from across the state want to partner with us to create participant activities which are inclusive of the whole family. We have listened to their advice and have decided to skip one year so that the Tour de Georgia can once and for all be ahead of the game in the planning process. This is a decision I feel is wise and one that will strengthen the Tour de Georgia for years to come."

While the race still drew good crowds in 2008, the newspaper noted that race organizers had to reach settlements to pay portions of their bills.

Tour de Georgia organizers also were hoping Lance Armstrong would return to race in 2009 as part of his comeback, but Armstrong has indicated he will be racing some of the European classic races and the Giro d'Italia next spring.

Georgia-based Medalist Sports manages and promotes the Tour de Georgia as well as the other two major U.S. stage races, the Amgen Tour of California and the Tour of Missouri. So far, there is no evidence that the Missouri and California races are in the same condition as Tour de Georgia.

The re-election of Peter Kinder as Missouri's lieutenant governor probably assures continued state backing of that race until Tour of Missouri organizers can come up with enough sponsors from the private sector to support the race without state help.

Labels: cycling, racing

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:39 AM

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tour of Missouri to get airtime on NBC

National exposure for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race is growing.

This Saturday, the Jeep World of Adventure Sports will do a segment about the Tour of Missouri that will air Sautrday on NBC (1:30 to 3 p.m. CST on KSDK-TV, Channel 5, for those of you who live in the St. Louis area; check your local listings for other parts of the country).

The segment will include behind-the-scenes footage from Team Garmin-Chipotle shot throughout the seven-day race. Garmin-Chipotle rider Christian Vande Velde, an Illinois native, was the overall winner of the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

(Note: Garmin and St. Louis-based Energizer are partners with Jeep in sponsoring the show.)

Saturday's episode is the final episode of the 2008 season and marks the debut of the Jeep World of Adventure Sports “Green” initiative. Segments dedicated to raising awareness for the issues affecting our environment globally will continue to air throughout the 2009 season.

Labels: cycling, racing, television, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments links to this post 6:11 PM

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Bicyclists, dog walkers to get first dibs on Highway 40

Construction on a stretch of Interstate 64/U.S. 40 -- better known as Highway 40 to St. Louis-are residents -- is running about a month ahead of time.

Because of that, bicyclists and dog walkers will get the first chance to legally use the stretch of highway between Interstate 170 and Interstate 270 before that stretch of Highway 40 opens. There's anecdotal evidence that bicyclists and dog walkers already are using the reconstructed highway, but be warned that it's illegal to do so.

No date has been set for the Highway 40 fun day, but the Missouri Department of Transportation is planning a Friday press conference to talk about progress on the road.

KTVI-TV, Channel 2, in St. Louis reports the Highway 40 fun day will include a 5k run, a time trial for bicyclists and then be open to the public for everything from dog walking to family picnics.

One of the groups happy about the fun day is a Cub Scout troop from Incarnate Word School in Chesterfield, Mo. The troop has had to detour around the shutdown zone to get to ride to the Big Shark Bicycle Co. in St. Louis.

"It'll be a nice, big, wide-open piece of new concrete, give people a chance to come out and ride their bikes, walk around and legally walk their dogs," project spokesman Dan Galvin told Channel 2.

Right after the Highway 40 fun day, the section of Highway 40 from I-170 to I-270 will reopen to cars and trucks. The second phase of the $535 million project from I-170 to Kingshighway in St. Louis, will shut down immediately for about a year.

Labels: bicycling, Missouri, St. Louis

Roger 0 comments links to this post 7:35 AM

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Own a piece of history — and an example of my handiwork!

The Belleville News-Democrat, like an overwhelming number of U.S. newspapers, sold out Wednesday because of the election of the junior senator from the great state of Illinois, Barack Obama, as president of these United States.

In response to that, the News-Democrat is selling commemorative items to mark the historic election.

You can download the Nov. 5 edition of the News-Democrat, including the historic front page reporting Obama's win, by going to the News-Democrat E-Edition. For $1.50, you can download the entire Nov. 5 edition, but that offer is only available through Tuesday, Nov. 11.

You can purchase a commemorative item showing the front page of the paper reporting Obama's win by going to The BND Store. Posters, sweatshirts, polo shirts, baseball jerseys, bags, cups, even beer steins are available — for prices as low at $11.99, and each item will show the front page reporting Obama's historic election.

In case you haven't figured it out, I designed the front page of that particular edition. While a lot of papers went with big, impressive poster fronts, which you can view at Newseum's front page archive from Nov. 5, we decided to put other stories on our front page that were important to our readers in addition to the big news about Obama. I was happy with the page.

And in case you're wondering, no, I do not get a commission if you buy one of those nifty commemorative items!

Labels: Belleville, newspapers, politics

Roger 0 comments links to this post 2:28 PM

Around the horn

The publication design class I'm teaching this semester at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville continues to gobble up vast quantities of my time, thus I've been lax at both cycling and writing about cycling.

Anyone who thinks teaching is easy would be wrong. It would be safe to say that I'm basically earning minimum wage this semester because of all the prep time needed when teaching a class for the first time. Because this is a visual course, I've spent hours creating visual presentations for the students.

For the most part, I think the students have responded well to what I've tried to do. I have one student who probably needs a swift kick in the butt -- figuratively, not literally -- strong words of advice to motivate her to work up to her potential, but the vast majority of students are working hard and trying to improve their skills.

I must say that this has been a learning experience for me as well, especially because this is the first time I've taught a class at any level. I've had to learn that I need to be as specific as possible in writing tests and assignments, and I constantly have to remind myself that these students are still trying to learn a complicated software program, QuarkXPress, that I've been using for more than 10 years.

Here's some other items of note about the world of bicycling:

BUBBAFEST KICKS OFF: When I scheduled my vacation time for 2008, I fully intended to be on BubbaFest, the weeklong ride my longtime cycling friend Bubba Barron puts on every November in the Florida Keys. However, the class and the higher cost of living we've all experienced this year prevented me from making the trip.

One of my college buddies and longtime Tour de Stooges volunteer Doug Kaufman is making the trip, and I'm sure many of my cycling acquaintances are along for the ride. This morning, they are riding 52 miles from Key Largo to Knights Key Campground. After a layover day Monday on Marathon Key, they'll ride 42 miles Tuesday to Key West.

As I write, it's 39 degrees in beautiful Belleville, Ill. By contrast, the temperature in Key Largo is 75 degrees.

Man, I wish I was in Florida right now!

IOWA BOWLING ALLEY WINS COURT BATTLE: A bowling alley owner in Wall Lake, Iowa, who faced suspension of his liquor license after a half-naked customer slid down a beer covered bowling alley during RAGBRAI in 2004 will be able to keep his license, The Associated Press reported.

The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division threatened to suspend Darrin Boger’s liquor license after the incident at Lake Lanes, but the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in Boger’s favor. The case revolved around rumors that Boger planned to sponsor a naked beer slide for riders on the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

The man was arrested for indecent exposure and state regulators wanted to suspend Boger’s license for alleged violations of a law that deals with nude peformances.

Court records show a state trooper stopped in Boger’s business and was monitoring the crowd when a man dropped his shorts and ran toward the beer-soaked plastic.

“Having a liquor license doesen’t give you the God-given power to know when someone is doing to take off their clothes,” attorney Robert Tiefenthaler said. “So this was a good win. And it was a long time coming.”

Gateway Council of Hostelling International is planning a weeklong ride next year along the Missouri alignments of Route 66 that would start in the St. Louis suburb of Eureka and end with a jaunt along Route 66 alignments in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Labels: Adventure Cycling Association, bicycling, journalism, League of Illinois Bicyclists

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:31 AM

MIssouri man runs for those he lost

A Lee's Summit, Mo., man who lost his father and niece last year when they were struck by a motorist is running in memory of them and to increase awareness of the need to share the road.

Brad Gaunt hung up his bike after the accident and took up running. He and his brother Timothy recently competed in the Chicago Marathon. They dedicated the run in to their father and niece.

“I finally decided I had to do it for dad,” Brad told The Examiner newspaper. “I think he’d be proud of me on a number of levels. If I thought this was something he wouldn’t want me to do, I wouldn’t do it.”

Larry Gaunt, 52, rode with his 14-year-old granddaughter, Sierra Gaunt on Aug. 6, 2007 to begin their training for her first MS 150 Bicycle Tour. William Johnson, 49, was driving his 12-year-old son to football practice along the same road, and his 1983 Chevy pickup struck Larry struck them, killing them both.

Johnson was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, but a jury earlier this year found Johnson not guilty of the charges.

Labels: fatal accidents, Kansas City, Missouri

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:15 AM