Posts from — March 2007

The city of Minneapolis is doing an online survey of bicyclists in support of their many worthy cycling facility improvement initiatives.

However, I’m a bit put off by a bunch of their questions for bicyclists, sorry to say. While I love things like the commuter trails (Cedar Lake, Midtown Greenway) and their winter-care, a lot of these questions show a particular bias for bike lane and trail construction. Consider this question:

Then, explain what infrastructure improvements could be made along the segment. What would make your ride safer and easier (for example, add a bike lane from Minnehaha Pkwy to 46th St & widen the bike lane from 46th St to 15th St)?

With my background in marketing analytics, I understand the need to provide some examples. But these seem to pander to the misconception that cyclists are safest in ’segregated’ facilities. We see this again later:

I consider myself to be
An ‘A’ Rider (Advanced rider who is able to ride in the same lanes as vehicles on high-volume streets)
A ‘B’ Rider (Intermediate rider who is able to ride in bike lanes, or in the same lanes as vehicles on medium-volume streets)
A ‘C’ Rider (Beginner rider who is able to ride on trails, sidewalks, or in the same lanes as vehicles on low-volume streets)

I might give this a bit of a slider, as this may be more reflective of common misconception. Given a choice of being on a high-volume street with no shoulder, or one of those infernal Lakes trails, people are almost invariably safer on the street regardless of their own speed. Bikes are safest when they act like and are treated as vehicles. Period.

There is a good section of the survey which seems to be a perception survey on what rules apply to cyclists (are they restricted to bike lanes and trails, car-cyclist passing distance, etc.). I hope they fly with this, although given what publicity this has received, I’m not sure the answers won’t see massive knowledge skew. Ignore the collected stats and do PR around it regardless. I mean, I have been told to ‘get on the trail!’ when riding on a road where there’s a nearby trail, all while within sight-distance of a ‘Share the Road’ sign. I doubt those fine individuals are taking this survey.

That’s part of why I find the whole topic of ‘build more bike lanes’ so tiresome. Build wider lanes with room for multiple users, and avoid creating ‘facilities’ that create misperceptions of where in a lane a cyclist is safest and most visible, or where a cyclist even may legally ride. The number of bike lanes I see that create bicyclist going straight to the right of right-turning cars situations, or please ride in the door zone and good luck to you gambles is icky. It’s even ickier the number of accidents I’ve had to clean up in such facilities.

Build right. Re-educate the ignorant. And, dare I say it, ride boldly.

Jon and I were eating bad Chinese buffet the other day. I got the following fortune:

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

Naturally, this confused me. Everyone knows that carbon fiber is lighter than steel, but sometimes a bit more fragile. How this relates to character in man, though? Baffling!

Then, to cap the bafflement, Jon got this fortune:

Character cannot be purchased, bargained for, inherited, rented or imported from afar.

If carbon is to character, it can, too, be bought, sold, and all of the above.

I am certain that this would make sense after several beers.

For those of you following the link from the Natural Search Blog on in-house SEOs, you’re probably thinking: eh?

This is, in fact, a site-in-development on cycling safety.

My personal site on online marketing, also in development, is located at www.betweenstations.com.

You probably want to go visit that site, not this one, if you’re an online marketing geek.

Oh yeah: My name was spelled wrong. Snerk.

Bike to Work week is scheduled for May 14-18 nationally. Many communities have a specific day in which they encourage or celebrate cycle commuting.

However, it’s easy to cycle commute in May. Here in Minnesota, we’ve received 10-14 inches of snow in the last two days. With that in mind, I’d like to salute both the well-equipped guy on a mountain bike with tire chains I saw this morning on the roads, and the guy on the rusty 10-speed tentatively navigating the sidewalks on East 7th Street, Saint Paul.

Those guys both get full credit for dedication and need. It’s easy for we the spandex-clad and well-equipped to forget the people who need to cycle commute based on finances or legal issues (lack of ID, DUI conviction, etc.). Work for cycling-friendly communities benefits these ‘hidden’ workers of our economy just as much as it does families out for ice cream on a sunny summer Sunday, or the die-hards who will ride in any weather by choice, not necessity.