The National Park Service is proposing regulation changes to allow bicyclists to use pathways at the Big Bend National Park in Texas and the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
The National Parks Traveler blog says that the Big Bend proposal is controversial, while the Grand Teton regulations aren't.
What's stirring up the hornet's nest at Big Bend is a proposal to build a 5-mile long paved path for pedestrians and bicyclists. The loop would start near the Panther Junction visitor center and the desert while affording scenic views of nearby mountains.
The Traveler blogger says some are questioning whether hikers would find it safe to use the trail with the faster-paced cyclists. Others are asking why a trail is needed for bicyclists ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/06/bike-access-proposals-at-two-national-parks/
Northern entrance of the Old Ore Road at Big Bend National Park. Big Bend photo
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/06/old-ore-road/
The Adventure Cycling Association is looking for photos that “capture the beauty and wonder” of bike travel for its 1st Annual Bicycle Travel Photo Contest.
The non-profit's blog also says:
“We are especially interested in images that showcase the wide range of bike touring experiences: road and dirt riding, rural and urban settings, scenery, people and their emotions.”
The winning image will be printed in the March 2010 issue of Adventure Cycling magazine and be featured on the Adventure Cycling website ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/06/photo-contests-adventure-cycling-and-alliance-for-biking-walking/
Imagine riding your bike to middle school and being met by state police and school administrators.
That's what happened this fall to Adam Marino, 12, on his way to school at Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Instead of receiving a proclamation for getting fresh air and exercise on his way to and from school, Adam and Janette Kaddo Marino, his mother, were reminded that biking, and walking, to school is strictly prohibited for elementary and middle school students. They ride anyway ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/05/7th-grader-rides-bike-to-school-in-defiance-of-district-policy/
The Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park opened this past weekend in Poughkeepsie, New York, drawing thousands of people on bikes and on foot to enjoy the new views of the Hudson River.
The 6,767-foot-long bridge is being touted as the world's longest pedestrian and bike-only bridge. It even surpasses the length of the 4,226-foot Big Dam Bridge over the Arkansas River in Little Rock.
The old railroad bridge will connect to 27 miles of rail trails and riverfront parks already built or planned for construction on either side of the river in Ulster and Duchess counties ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/05/new-bike-crossing-over-hudson-river-is-worlds-longest/
A newly opened pedestrian walkway crosses the Hudson River. Photo by caboose_rodeo at flickr.com
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/05/cyclists-and-pedestrians-cross-the-hudson-river/
Friday morning I biked down to City Hall to help tabulate the results of a bicycle-pedestrian count made earlier in the week.
Instead of planting volunteers on street-corners with clipboards and pencils, the Bellevue transportation planners had downloaded footage from the city's wide-ranging network of traffic cams to cover the locations they wanted to count.
So, after keypunching some survey results, I sat there for an hour in climate-controlled comfort watching cars and figures passing through the videostream on the computer screen. During the 7 to 8 a.m. time period on Tuesday, I counted scores of pedestrians, and just one lone cyclist. And he was riding on the sidewalk. (The other volunteer, known on Twitter as VeloBusDriver, counted just one cyclist as well.)
Although this isn't a prime cross-town route for bicyclists, it kind of illustrated the problem for bike commuting and Bellevue: Most streets in Bellevue are not bike friendly. …..
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/02/bellevue-trying-to-meet-the-needs-of-bike-riders/
I don't know if this will make an impact on Missouri lawmakers, but it should: The half-million people who watched September's Tour of Missouri bike race spent $38.1 million in the state.
That sounds like a good return on the $1.5 million that the state had to kick in to ensure the 7-stage bike race could go on this year.
Every year, that state infusion of money becomes a political football. In 2009, for instance, Gov. Jay Nixon included the Tour of Missouri funds in his millions of dollars of budget cuts to balance the state budget ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/01/follow-the-money-at-2009-tour-of-missouri-bike-race/
There are plenty of anecdotes from people who say they've been surprised by silent-running hybrid cars. I've even read where people say that crash victims may not have heard the hybrid coming.
Now here's a government report that has some statistics to back up those stories. The study issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration compares hybrid cars to internal combustion automobiles.
Essentially, the report finds that hybrids have a significantly higher rate of bicyclist and pedestrian crashes in low-speed conditions when compared with their noisier, internal combustion engine counterparts. ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/10/01/hybrid-cars-silent-and-deadly-for-bike-riders/
Bike commuting rose in 2008. That's good news if you believe in the Virtuous Cycle — the theory that there's safety in numbers for bicycle riders.
An estimated 786,098 people rode their bicycles to work in 2008, or about 1/2 of one percent of the nation's workforce, according to data contained in the US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey.
The Portland metropolitan area (which includes Beaverton, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington) once again led other metro areas for bike commuting and Oregon led the 50 states.
Comparing data with previous years, the League of American Bicyclists says that those bike commuters nationwide represent a 14.3% increase over 2007 and a 43.4% increase from the year 2000 ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/09/30/bike-commuting-climbs-in-2008-top-bicycling-states-metro-areas/
Adventure Cycling Association Trail biking Rails to Trails Conservancy League of American Bicyclists
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