Ride Boldly! » st. paul

Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition Forming

Julie — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:16:06 +0000

In the ongoing movement for municipalities and cities to have their own advocacy groups to extend and support the work of state-wide organizations like the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, a new bicycle coalition is forming in St. Paul.

Locally-oriented groups are a key piece of the advocacy puzzle, as they are typically made up of local voters who live within a city or town. As constituents, members can further local and state-wide initiatives more effectively than state-wide groups coming in without the local support.

This organization has particular value, given the deactivation of the St. Paul Bicycle Advisory Board.

The group is involved in the attempts to extend the Midtown Greenway via the Ayd Mill corridor, and are also meeting monthly on the second Tuesday. If you’re a St. Paul resident, consider hitting their August 10th meeting.

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Recent Headlines

Julie — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:15:27 +0000

Pedicab quandary in St. Paul: Basically, pedicabs aren’t regulated in St. Paul, and there’s a question of if adding regulation would protect operators. It probably would, if St. Paul were capable of sensible regulation – something that can be debated.

There are some classic St. Paul-isms in this article that point to that very concept:

The woman and seven officers convened on the scene, where they talked for two hours before reaching a decision to ticket him.

Uh, two hours? Awesome.
Edina Bike Trail Controversy: Edina want to build a bike trail via the Nine Mile Creek watershed/wetland. A bunch of neighbors are opposed. Those opposed to the opposed neighbors are making it out to be NIMBYism. The opposed claim it’s about suitability because of the wetland nature of much of the route. Various groups are building websites and Facebook groups around their positions.
I’m not familiar with the entire run of the trail, but I suspect a middle ground is pretty accurate. The public land is pretty narrow and tends to mud, high water during spring thaw that creates trail erosion and maintenance issues and, of course, skeeters. (It’s a creek!)

There are a couple of quotes around facilities issues in the Strib piece that stick out:

“Just like you don’t put a playground in a parking lot, I wouldn’t put a bike trail on a roadway unless there is completely no other way.”

That’s because when you build it on-street, it’s definitionally not a trail. Depending on construction protocol, there are lots of terms for on-street bikeways. Bicycle facilities encompass a lot more than happy little trails.

For me, it also comes down to a question of purpose. It appears the approach is as a recreational trail. A roadway route has greater merit in connecting bicycles to destinations and driving greater multi-mode adoption. Many end-to-end recreational trails, particularly smaller ones in neighborhoods, don’t actually have a lot of community impact on mode shift. As such, I’d rather see them working on on-street facilities that help connect users to community destinations, rather than happy views of the creek.
Legal Roadblocks to Greenway Extension: A judge has ruled in favor of the Canadian Pacific in a right-of-way dispute over the Ayd Mill railway corridor, a target for those who wish to extend the Midtown Greenway to downtown St. Paul. There is a meeting about ongoing vision and next steps for Greenway extension planning on July 28.

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Group Riding Skills Seminar – May 8

Julie — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:01:10 +0000

On behalf of the Twin Cities Bicycling Club, I will be teaching the League of American Bicyclists Group Riding Skills curriculum in Saint Paul the morning of May 8.

This event is free to TCBC members. If space permits, non-members may be able to attend as well. If you are either a TCBC member, or an interested non-member, course information is online at Eventbrite. Non-members can contact me for information and space availability.

I also do custom programs for other organizations, groups, events and ride marshalls, etc. etc. Contact me for info on that if you’re interested in such a program.

Recent News & Headlines

Julie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:38:33 +0000

Been pretty busy lately, but as the (first) thaw gets underway, there are goings on here in the tundra and elsewhere.

The Winona Bridge, about which I have written a billion times following its brief closure in Summer 2008, is now scheduled for ‘rehabilitation’ in 2014. Everyone gets to take their chances on this fracture-critical structure until then.
A Complete Streets bill is under consideration in Minnesota. I recommend against even going NEAR the comments on the linked article, as they are full of standard-issue hatred of bicyclists and the same tired arguments about licensing, taxes, and etc. that we have heard many times before.
City of St. Paul is starting pothole patching this week. Hooray. I think we’ve all encountered a few doozies lately. MPR’s user-driven pothole map is pretty epic.
The National Bicycle Summit is next week in Washington DC. I’ll be there! Watch this space for coverage of the sessions, plus I’ll also provide a summary of the bills we’re advocating for on Capitol Hill – the Active Community Transportation Act of 2010, the federal Complete Streets bill, the Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act and the reauthorization of Safe Routes to School.

New Rest Stop Opens on St. Paul Grand Round

Julie — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:37:50 +0000

The St. Paul Grand Round is probably one of the best-known and best-mapped routes in St. Paul. Pieces of it show up in many routes through St. Paul, including several in the maps area of Ride Boldly!

As such, it’s always nice to see new rest stop opportunities open up along the route. Yesterday, near Raymond and Territorial, just north of University, a great new cookie shop opened up. The St. Paul Classic Cookie Company is just a half-block west of Raymond on Territorial, and serves up a variety of homemade cookies and muffins, and offers old-fashioned cups o’ joe too.

I sampled several flavors of oatmeal cookie there last week, and I will be plotting bicycle routes that go through this stop, particularly when riding with my son. Delicious!

Upcoming Events in Minnesota

Julie — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:20:45 +0000

There are a few upcoming events of note to cyclists in Minnesota:

January 21 – Design open house for the Highway 52/Lafayette Bridge replacement project, t the Wellstone Center in St. Paul. More info: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy52-stpaul/
January 25 – Surface Transportation Reauthorization Outreach Meeting with Secretary Ray LaHood and Congressman Jim Oberstar in Minneapolis. More info: http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikeadvocacy/minneapolis_mn_invite_01%2012%2010.pdf
February 25 – Celebrate 25 years of the Neighborhood Energy Consortium at Summit Brewing. Tickets are $25 per person and may be purchased with VISA/MC by calling 651.221.4462 ext 136. More info: http://thenec.org/
March 20 – First day of spring!

The National Bicycle Summit is also upcoming, taking place in Washington DC in March. I will be in attendance, and connectivity be kind, will provide complete blogging coverage of the proceedings.

Keys To Family-Friendly Routes

Julie — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:37:12 +0000

While I don’t have a lot of experience in the topic, I think regular exposure is one of the keys to bringing up a child to like being outdoors and to like cycling. I am attempting to test this on my own child, who is really the child of two cyclists – so perhaps there’s pre-bias in our favor, I don’t know.

Right now, the littlest cyclist rides in a trailer. He gets a bit bigger, we may use a child seat for a while before graduating to tag-a-longs and eventually a tandem. With any of these options, I think routing is a key to making the experience good for parent and child. here are key elements I’d want in any route used for family cycling:

Reasonable distance: Distance is both a factor of parental fitness (especially with a trailer!) and child willingness. Know your kid, and plan accordingly. Toddlers require input and diversion. This can either be built in as stops to allow for longer mileage, or shorter mileage can be planned to accommodate the kiddo.

Destination/Rest stop: As above, where will you be stopping? With a toddler, a chance to play and run about a little is nearly essential. Ice cream or a tasty snack – either carried along or purchased on route – is also a big plus. My kid loves the ice cream stops – a genetic predisposition, to be sure.

Terrain: With any sort of extended trailer, trail-a-bike, etc., be sure to avoid anything especially technical. The idea of taking the downhill next to Fort Snelling, which is steep and has a sharp left turn at the bottom? Just say no. If the kid is an active participant, ease into hills.
Timing: We like to time rides such that they coincide with Natty’s nap. The gentle rhythm of the trailer puts him straight into zonk-zone.

This last weekend we rode 18 miles, mostly via trail or trail-option routing. We stopped at DQ. It was flat and shady, and Natty got Blizzard and hot fudge. Happiness.

Ice Cream Sundae – 18 miles (jpg)

July 4 by Bike

Julie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:22:35 +0000

As you light up your bike and make your way to fireworks via two wheels, a few gentle reminders:

Motorists trying to leave fireworks tend to be cranky about the traffic.
The Stone Arch Bridge is closed to bicycles during the fireworks and after.
Traffic patterns and bicycle routing near Harriet Island in St. Paul will be odd, and they usually close part of the river path for fireworks.

Get some friends and go down to the Big Rivers Trail near the confluence, sez me. You can watch fireworks from about 6 shows there, and it’s quieter for the escape.

Map for 6/25/2009

Julie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:40:37 +0000

This is the map for tonight’s group ride that I am leading.

It’s a slightly revised version of my Great Googly Moogly route, as featured in the Minnesota Bike Atlas. In this case, we dodge the havoc that is the Como Avenue destruction. Rest stop is Dairy Queen.

Map is clickable for a full-size version.

Lilydale Park Upgrades Planned

Julie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:36:46 +0000

Upgrades are planned for St. Paul’s Lilydale Regional Park, which is excellent news for local bikers. Beyond providing a scenic connection between downtown and the Big Rivers Trail, it’s been the site of popular time trial events over the years.

Per the MinnPost, a number of improvements are planned. Those that will best impact cyclists include:

A creek along the Water Street roadside, intended to capture runoff from the bluffs and address the near-constant standing water/ice on the roadway.
Three ‘resting spots’ along the River – which will be great as safe ‘pull-off’ areas for those with flats or other mechanicals.
Eventual picnic shelters and restrooms
Butterfly garden and native plant restorations

These projects will be raising funds and getting started soon.