A printable map of station locations is available online, along with an interactive online map that offers real-time information about station status, and, when open, bike availability.

Key new stations [...]]]>

To cap off 2011 Bike to Work Week, Nice Ride MN has announced the locations of  40 new bike-share stations to be located in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

A printable map of station locations is available online, along with an interactive online map that offers real-time information about station status, and, when open, bike availability.

Key new stations include several stops in North and Northeast Minneapolis — currently not well served by the network — as well as the Lake Street YMCA and light rail station. Funded stations in St. Paul will be near several of the colleges in St. Paul — Concordia, University of St. Thomas, Macalester College and Hamline, plus along Marshall Avenue and Summit/Grand, and several stations near/on University Avenue. The perky press release claims that “if you want to avoid congestion during the Central Corridor construction, Nice Ride will get you to your University Avenue destination fast!” but let’s all view that as publicity propaganda, because no one is getting anywhere on University fast via any mode of transport for some time. (Also, bring a breathing mask for the construction dust, gak.)

As expected, projected future St. Paul Nice Ride stations focus on downtown, the Macalester-Groveland area, and the Highland area. Aside from projected stations at the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus, stations are not presently planned for the Como and Phalen areas or Indian Mounds/Battle Creek, let alone the wilds of the North Side. Presumably in the longer term the park areas will be connected into the system, particularly Como.

It is good to watch this network expand, and it is to be hoped that future stations continue to reach into diverse neighborhoods and education centers.

This brings up the important safety question of what to do when the sky lets loose and you’re on your bicycle. Generally speaking, if you know there’s tornado warnings, you shouldn’t be wandering on out to go for a nice ride. That’s [...]]]>

Last night, Minnesota saw some yellow-green skies and golfball-sized hail. Spring has in fact sprung.

This brings up the important safety question of what to do when the sky lets loose and you’re on your bicycle. Generally speaking, if you know there’s tornado warnings, you shouldn’t be wandering on out to go for a nice ride. That’s somewhere between ‘kinda dumb’ and ‘evolution failed,’ depending on the warning and the notice you have, and the sort of ride you’re about to execute.

However, there are days where rain is predicted for ‘after 3.’ You leave at 10 AM, knowing you have plenty of time for some good miles and a stop for a double-scoop waffle cone. You blow a tire, and have to spend a bunch of time stabilizing it with duct tape and a dollar, then you cut your scoop short to a single. And the storm, it seems, is showing up at 2, not 3. In these situations, you need to have a duck-and-cover protocol.

As the sky starts turning green, consider your strategy. Do you know the area? If you’re in the country, is there a town or a gas station nearby? Even if it’s not necessarily in the proper path of your eventual destination, start heading towards the nearest source of shelter. If the sky is putting lime in its coconut, it’s not the time to be concerned about progress to endpoint.

In general, once the sky opens up and is pounding, let alone emitting hail, you should get off the road. There will be some cars who continue in the weather; depending on volume of downpour/hail and visibility, they are dumb. As far as you, on a bicycle, are concerned, the visibility factor is giant. You won’t be able to see or be seen, which can end badly.

Look for some form of cover. In the city, bridges and overpasses can work pretty well. If you’re fortunate, you may be near a shop — or better yet, a cafe. Nearby homes with garages or car sheds may also be an option. In the country, you may have some bridge or overpass options, but often you end up needing to show more creativity. A culvert won’t keep you dry, but it’s a safer place to be (short of flash flooding). I spent one hailstorm in Wisconsin hanging out in a crop-duster shed. If you’re really fortunate, you’ll be near the rural center of action and be able to get in to the town bar. While you may feel weird showing up with your bike and little bike shorts, the locals will typically be welcoming and nice about the fact that you don’t want to be hailed on. Stay away from metal objects, like metal picnic tables, and possibly your bike if you have enough space to put some distance between you and it.

Don’t decide the storm is over too soon. If you have been unable to get into a building situation with wether radio or TV, this can be a challenge. In the situation with the crop duster shed, I was a mile from the rest stop for the event, and I knew there were cookies there (cookies!). I was already soaked. The wind had eased off and the rain was much more sensible. I figured I could make a break for it. About a quarter mile out, POW. Got hailed on. Not recommended. So don’t trust me to give you tips on telling when the storm blew, just try to figure it out and hope.

Be safe out there.

Bikeability is a public-private partnership in the UK that teaches cycling skills for the 21st century. Three [...]]]>

Via the League of American Bicyclists’ LCI group, I recently learned of this study from the UK that examines the impact of a cycling training program on the bicycling behavior and perceptions of children who have gone through the program.

Bikeability is a public-private partnership in the UK that teaches cycling skills for the 21st century. Three levels are taught, each awarding “certificates and shiny luminous badges” for children who complete each course. The website for the program is brilliant and quite a lot of fun (example: “If you are a child and you want to do your Bikeability, speak to your mum, dad or guardian. Or hassle your teacher at school!”)

To gauge the impact of the Bikeability program, a survey was conducted on behalf of Cycling for England and the Department of Transport to establish attitudes towards cycling, current cycling behaviour and awareness of, participation in and experience of Bikeability. While Bikeability is available to all ages, the survey focused on children in school years 5 and 6 and their parents.

Key findings:

• Children who took part in Bikeability feel safer and more confident
  when riding on the road (86%)
• Their parents feel more confident in allowing their children to ride on the road (87%)
• Children who have participated feel more confident about riding their bike more often (87%)
• Parents report an increased frequency in cycling after their children taken part in
  Bikeability (51% of children say they ride more; 49% of parents report an increase)

Per the study, participation in the education program encourages children to make new types of journeys using their bike. Children who have taken part in the program are more likely to cycle to get to places (friends’ houses, shops) and more likely to say that they always cycle on the road than those who have not.

This is a powerful study with potential application into the United States. A program of bicycle education for children is highly compatible with Safe Routes to Schools, and could be executed using League of American Bicyclists curriculum as part of a SRTS program. Many schools who take part in SRTS and who receive grants from the program do various levels of training and outreach to students and parents to encourage safe cycling behaviors. This study suggests that putting together a more comprehensive program that can be implemented at the local level using national curriculum could be a powerful driver of increased cycling and confidence.

Photo by David Kelly, via Flickr

The Ironman is a typical one-day event ride with the mild twist of offering a metric century and a century route early in [...]]]>

The Minnesota Ironman Bicycle Ride – a 45-year spring tradition in Minnesota – is starting a new tradition this year by adding a Gran Fondo (the Minnesota Gran Fondo) to their already solid event.

The Ironman is a typical one-day event ride with the mild twist of offering a metric century and a century route early in the season. Given that some years it has been snowing during the event, and the weather is always unpredictable, some of the ‘iron’ of the event is hauling out of bed and putting butt to seat. (True fact: The nicest weather for this event in recent memory occurred in 2007, a year I was unable to attend.)

A gran fondo is a timed event, but not a race. It’s a mass start event for all ages and abilities, and allows individuals to measure their own time more formally. Ironman will be offering this option on the 68- and 100-mile routes. Participation will require showing up and checking in at Lakeville at a proper time – although, really, to hit the rest stops on the 100-miler, this was always an unstated requirement of Ironman participation. Riders not participating in the gran fondo will likely want to start earlier or later to avoid the mass start!

Adding a gran fondo to this event is a great enhancement that fits well with the routes, and also with the sense of achievement shared by those who complete the longer routes. The mass start will also be an exceptional opportunity for cyclists to create community and meet other riders of similar ability and ambition. While I don’t always see it happen, I find large community events such as the Ironman are a great way to network with other cyclists and meet people outside your normal circles.

The river paths are popular with many recreational cyclists, and the shoulder on that [...]]]>

I was along Shepard Road in Saint Paul this weekend, and saw a beautiful sight: The section of trail between the Highway 5 bridge and the I35E bridge is being regraded, widened, repaved, and generally upgraded from ‘OMG suck’ to ‘pretty darn nice.’

The river paths are popular with many recreational cyclists, and the shoulder on that part of Shepard was no great treat for condition either – keeping in mind that many bicycle riders wouldn’t go near it regardless, due to Shepard’s high speed limit. However, it was consistently strewn with debris and glass, and featured some pretty epic cracks and potholes.

The upgrades to the path are basically eliminating the shoulder, which will be a bit of a nuisance for the more serious, road-oriented cyclists who have been willing to deal with the somewhat questionable shoulder conditions as a trade-off for speed (and avoidance of the really crummy trail condition + inexperienced/slow riders). However, the trail upgrades are pretty considerable: The trail has been widened, and along most of the route features separated bicycle/pedestrian paths. Foliage has been trimmed such that it won’t stab people. New lighting is being installed, as is new fencing. Landscaping will be ongoing, given that August/September is not the best season for some of that work.

The project, given that it has included moving the roadway railing, regrading of the trail area, and protection of the cliff to Crosby Lake, has cost about $1.6 million dollars. The bulk of funding via the the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and DOT grants.

The big grand opening of the trail is scheduled for September 8, but with cooperative weather the trail should be done by Labor Day.

Selma’s has traditionally been a popular stop in Afton for cyclists and motorcyclists, ith a large garden and large ice cream portions. For a biker, regardless of which direction their journey will take them, the coffee, cocoa and cones are a fine bit of fuel for the [...]]]> The revolving door of ownership at Selma’s in Afton continues.

Selma’s has traditionally been a popular stop in Afton for cyclists and motorcyclists, ith a large garden and large ice cream portions. For a biker, regardless of which direction their journey will take them, the coffee, cocoa and cones are a fine bit of fuel for the coming climb out of town. (The climb is more considerable for those going south, but going back towards Hudson or Woodbury isn’t exactly flat either!)

It went through some flux starting in 2007, when longtime owner Laine McGee sold it to Joe Farrington. He was adding a pavilion, which created new regulatory requirements for the 19th century building. His death later in the year started a process of ownership changes. In 2008, it was purchased by the owners of the local Panino’s restaurants, and began to serve the sandwiches alongside the traditional ice cream parlor treats. However, this spring the restaurant didn’t reopen.

Now, it’s owned by a bank after a foreclosure sale. There is no word on the bank’s intentions with the building or business.

With Selma’s closed, one of the best bets for cyclists coming through Afton is now the Afton Bean. It’s 2 blocks further up St. Croix Trail, but before any popular turns to go towards Stillwater, Woodbury, or other points north for those going northbound; southbound, there aren’t any typical turns for 3-4 miles.

Wired Magazine are ‘crowdsourcing’ reviews, asking people to try their route and see what comes out of the system. It’s a generally savvy crowd, so they [...]]]>

Now that it’s been live a full 6 days, reviews are coming in on Google Maps for Biking. As with everything involving bikes and media coverage, feedback is a bit mixed.

Wired Magazine are ‘crowdsourcing’ reviews, asking people to try their route and see what comes out of the system. It’s a generally savvy crowd, so they aren’t assaulting Google (or their data sources) for errors.

Meanwhile, others are claiming Google is providing hazardous directions. The notable in this category is the NY Post, who found that Google’s data on NYC bike routes is not accurate. Commenters on this article are embracing the general run of bike-hater joy, discussing running bikers off the roads, how this is all a liberal conspiracy, etc. You know, the usual.

As someone who works with Google services every day (for money!), I’ll say that I come closer to the opinions of the Wired folks. It’s a beta project. The pedestrian walking routes instructions have also been notably erratic (routing people onto highways, onramps, sidewalk-free zones). There are prominent buttons to provide feedback. Garmin and other GPS instructions haven’t been 100% either.

GPS services and Google Maps are always going to be limited by their data sets. I think anyone going somewhere unfamiliar, or coming in from out-of-town, needs to view Google Maps as a guide. Talking to a good local bicycle shop, or a local bicycle club, will ever be your best bet for getting the real (and most current) poop on local bike routes, including road construction, reality of what traffic levels are like, and even if they’re scenic or not. No online data set will ever match the know-how of the local cyclists!