Greenway opening article

This News Sentinel article features some local bicyclists!
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Ryan Cooper rides his bicycle 60 miles per week, preferably on Knoxville greenways to avoid traffic. Now he'll have an easier time getting to World's Fair Park, thanks to the opening of the Lower Second Creek Greenway.

"It's almost faster for me to ride a bicycle down here from West Knoxville than it is for me to get into a car and ride down here," he said.

Cooper and other greenway users were on hand Thursday at a ribbon-cutting celebrating the 0.15-mile extension's opening. The extension, along Second Creek across from World's Fair Park, connects 14.8 miles of greenways with a 1.1-mile trail in World's Fair Park.

Knoxville now has more than 16 miles of connected greenways. Bikers, runners and walkers can travel from Morningside Park in East Knoxville west to the Bearden Village Greenway.
The greenways provide users with a safe area to run, walk and ride bikes. Kerry Brown, 24, of North Knoxville commutes to work by bicycle and said riding on the road is stressful and dangerous. Now that she knows about the interconnected greenways, she said she plans to use them more often.

"If I have the choice between road and greenway to get to someplace, I'm definitely going to go with the greenway," she said.

(snip)

Knoxville has more than 40 total miles of greenways throughout the city. The new Lower Second Creek Greenway is an example of the system's continued expansion, Haslam said.
"This is part of a network and the more you connect it, the more the pieces work," he said.

Second Creek Greenway Ribbon Cutting

Mayor Bill Haslam and Interim University of Tennessee Chancellor Jan Simek will join others in opening the new Second Creek greenway on Thur, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. across the street from the Bridgeview Grill beside Neyland Stadium. This greenway restores a path connecting World's Fair Park to the Tennessee River along Second Creek.

The new greenway extension connects to World's Fair Park across Cumberland Avenue either by crosswalk at street level or by the pedestrian bridge. People can reach Neyland Greenway and Volunteer Landing via Second Creek Greenway by either taking the tunnel under Neyland Dr. or the crosswalk at the street level.

Haslam also noted that the City has plans to eventually extend Second Creek Greenway from the northern end of World's Fair Park into the Old City. People attending the Second Creek Greenway ribbon cutting may park at the lower parking lot on Cumberland Ave. across the street from the Convention Center. (ed. note: you could also bike or walk there!)

Lance promotes bike commuting!

Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong...plans in May to open a bike shop, commuting center, training facility and cafe in a 1950s-era building at the northwest corner of Fourth and Nueces streets.

"This city is exploding downtown. Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote (bike) commuting," Armstrong said Wednesday, gazing up at the towering 360 condos rising next to the site of his new shop. "This can be a hub for that."

Armstrong said he'd like to see Austin evolve into a place like Portland, Ore., where biking is part of the culture and people pedal to work, to restaurants and to run errands. "Walk outside, and the streets are lined with bikes — because they have a safe place to ride," Armstrong said of the city long known for its bicycle-friendly amenities and policies.
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Besides road bikes, Mellow Johnny's will sell commuter bikes, mountain bikes, triathlon bikes, fixed-gear bikes, low-riders, cruiser-style bikes and even hand-made "art bikes" that look as good hanging on a wall as they do rolling down the street. Stock will also include gear by Giro, Nike and Oakley.

Car Free Sundays

An article in the Feb. 11th issue of Gil Penalosa's newsletter, Parks, Greenways, Trails, Great Places to Walk & Bike & Read asks, "Do you want to get hundreds of thousands physically active, walking and bicycling? Using the infrastructure that you already have? No need of capital investment, just operational budget, political will (guts), and community engagement is needed. It works just as well in a city of 50,000 people than in one of 10 million, anywhere in the world. It is CAR FREE SUNDAYS.

From Street Films director/producer Clarence Eckerson:"Imagine 1.8 million people using 70+ miles of car-free streets to run, bike, walk every Sunday? Well, in Bogota, Colombia they do exactly that during CICLOVIA!'"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELa5CHsUepo

Way more info about bicyclists than you want

No, really, this survey is extremely interesting to bike planning geeks like me. Warning: it is very long and detailed!

The new study by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), is the most comprehensive look at bicycling ever done in the Delaware Valley, and may be the largest of its kind ever conducted in the United States.

'Bicycling in the Delaware Valley in 2005' provides information about the behavior of adult bicyclists and the trips they make. Data was collected about trip purpose, length and duration of the trip, use of supplemental modes of transportation (transit, vehicle), frequency of bicycle travel, reasons for riding, crash experience, safety habits and more.

Key findings included:
- Nearly two thirds of daily bicycle trips are for utilitarian transportation purposes, rather than for exercise or recreation.
- Approximately 60 percent of adult bicyclists were observed without a helmet.
- One out of three bicyclists reported having been in a crash or fall in the preceding year and slightly more than one in six were involved in a crash involving a motor vehicle.
- Bicycle lanes are favored by bicyclists over any other facility type; other popular facilities included wide roadway shoulders and education of motorists on sharing the road.

Yield to Life

This group seems to be just getting started so there is a lot of "coming soon" on the website, but it looks promising.

Yield to Life will engage in a vigorous awareness campaign to promote positive attitudes toward cyclists and replace any hostility that exists between motorists and cyclists with understanding, respect, and appreciation for all life on the road. Safety for every cyclist is the top priority of Yield to Life.

Cycling is a healthy, life-affirming, environmentally-sound activity that adds value to anyone’s life. Since cyclists' lives are often in motorists’ hands, motorists must understand the vital role they play in a cyclist's safety.

Yield to Life will concentrate on road-rule education programs for motorists and cyclists alike through driver's education programs, public awareness movements and media campaigns in order to ensure a safer and more harmonious environment for all those on the road.
Yield to Life will engage in a hands-on educational program with target audiences that range from school assemblies to corporate conventions. Workshops will be created to arm cyclists with tips for navigating through traffic and tools for riding in a safe and responsible manner. Yield to Life will work on a database for cyclists to find the best, the safest and the most accommodating roads for commuting and for recreation.

KnoxRevolution greenway ride

KnoxRevolution bike club is leading a greenway bike ride this Saturday (Feb 16). Meet at the old Bi-Lo parking lot on Forest Park Blvd (off Kingston Pike across from Mayo's in Bearden) just before 1 p.m.. The ride will head to Ijams, mainly on greenways. On the way back, there will be a little tour of downtown, returning to Bi-Lo by about 4 p.m..

(Even though KnoxRev is a women's bicycling club, they welcome non-women to come along for this ride.)

Club website: http://www.knoxrevolution.com/

Valentine's Day Bike Ride

From the KnoxVegasBikeForum on Yahoo Groups:

KNOXVILLE CYCLISTS! Get ready for the LOVE PARADE! Join us and other cyclists to celebrate Valentine's Day. Meet at the Sunsphere on Clinch Ave around 6 p.m.. We're riding around Downtown, including visits to UT Campus, 4th &Gill Neighborhood, the Old City and Market Square. Handmade Valentines will be handed out to Businesses/Points of interest in Knoxville that we love! There will be music along the way....dressing up and decorating bikes is encouraged.

To join the knoxvegasbikeforum group:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=42879/*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnoxVegasBikeForum

Gold star bicyclist!

Talk about a dedicated bicyclist. Ryan went out with a shovel and cleared Third Creek Greenway behind West High. It had become overrun with mud, making for a slippery ride. It's now safe to ride again, thanks to Ryan!

Knoxville By Cycle summer ride series

We're starting to plan the 2008 summer ride series. Last year, we had the Ice Cream Ride, a Scavenger Hunt, a tour of historic homes and a ride to Ijams. With the popularity of the Tour de Lights, we can probably get more creative this summer. Do you have ideas for a ride theme or route? Share them here in the comments section!

idea for getting kids to bike

From Missoula, MT:
"The Missoula County School District meeting room was full. Parents, students, teachers, volunteers, elected officials and others interested in the safety, health and welfare of children were engaged in dialog. High school students were busy taking notes. Professor Running talked about the effects of climate change and how we could each do our part. He has been a life-long bicycle commuter and continues to ride to work at the University. He shared his personal dilemma; he could not convince his daughters to ride their bikes to Hellgate High School. 'It seems that riding a bike is not cool,' he said."

Professor Running answered questions from the audience. As questions slowed near the end of his speech, a man in the back raised his hand and walked forward, placing his hands on the shoulders of a young lady -- a senior at Sentinel High School. He looked at her name tag and said, 'Gracie, what would it take to get you to ride a bicycle to school tomorrow?' The table erupted with comments from her fellow students -- a new bike, helmet, fancy riding clothes and so on. After a few minutes of loud discussion and deliberation, she looked up at the man and said '$10.00.' He said 'Great!' He then pulled ten dollars from his wallet and handed it to Gracie. He turned to the crowd and said, 'I am willing to give my high school daughter $50.00 per week to ride her bike to school. I will be saving money by doing it."

'Think about this, no second or third car, less insurance, no parking fees, no new tires, and most important to me, no passengers in a vehicle with my child at the wheel. I cannot own and operate a vehicle for $200.00 a month.'