Due to the rain forecasted for Thursday, we have rescheduled Tour de Lights to next Tuesday, December 21. Everything will happen at the same time as planned.
Let's hope the current forecast for a sunny day in the 40s on Tuesday holds!
And, hey, this gives you another weekend to get battery-powered LED lights and put them on your bike, helmet, and/or trailer!
Kelley
www.knoxtrans.org
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Upcoming meeting and ribbon cutting
Oak Ridge Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan meeting
A draft of the Bicylce Pedestrian Master Plan will be presented at a public meeting on December 7th at the Civic Center A/B Room at 6 p.m. The draft plan is available on the City's website (www.cortn.org) for public review before the meeting.
Jean Teague Greenway extension ribbon cutting
This 0.4-mile piece has been the "missing link" of a continuous greenway system that goes from West Hills Elementary to the Carmike Wynnsong Theater in Cedar Bluff. The connection includes Ten Mile Creek, Jean Teague, and Cavet Station greenways.
When: Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
Where: The ribbon cutting will be held at the greenway extension's entrance, located in the parking lot of the West End Church of Christ, located at 8301 E. Walker Springs Rd.
Kathleen Gibi
Public Affairs Specialist
City of Knoxville Parks & Recreation(o) 865-215-2946(f) 865-215-2408www.cityofknoxville.org/recreation
A draft of the Bicylce Pedestrian Master Plan will be presented at a public meeting on December 7th at the Civic Center A/B Room at 6 p.m. The draft plan is available on the City's website (www.cortn.org) for public review before the meeting.
Jean Teague Greenway extension ribbon cutting
This 0.4-mile piece has been the "missing link" of a continuous greenway system that goes from West Hills Elementary to the Carmike Wynnsong Theater in Cedar Bluff. The connection includes Ten Mile Creek, Jean Teague, and Cavet Station greenways.
When: Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
Where: The ribbon cutting will be held at the greenway extension's entrance, located in the parking lot of the West End Church of Christ, located at 8301 E. Walker Springs Rd.
Kathleen Gibi
Public Affairs Specialist
City of Knoxville Parks & Recreation(o) 865-215-2946(f) 865-215-2408www.cityofknoxville.org/recreation
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I Bike KNX
With so many people squeezed into the upstairs of Barley's and the pizza coming out of the ovens, it just didn't turn out to be the right forum for a presentation. So I'd like to share what I was going to say on Sunday evening.
So you probably heard that we were named a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Bronze level. We got Honorable Mention two times before finally getting an actual metal. And yes, I have heard the laughter when someone hears that we got this award. So what is this award about anyway?
The League of American Bicyclists is a national advocacy organization (they used to be the League of American Wheelmen and they helped get roads paved for bicyclists). The BFC program started in 1996. Levels go from Bronze to Platinum. (I had a list of all the cities who have gotten an award as well as our own application.) Prospective Bicycle Friendly Communities are judged in five categories: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation/Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories to get an award. Applications are reviewed by staff and external reviewers and they get feedback from local cyclists and advocates. There are questions like: do you provide training for local engineers (and our answer is yes, we regularly host relevant webinars, and there have been two seminars in the past 5 years where engineers come for an entire day, all about bicycle facility design.) What have we done in the past 18 months to educate motorists and bicyclists on sharing the road, how do we promote bike month, what mapping info is available, how many people bike to work? The application is 19 pages long with small print, and there are 87 questions.
So what have we done to get this award? For those of you who only recently got involved with the Bicycle Program’s efforts, let me give you a quick background. In 2001, a few bicycle advocates convinced the TPO to start a Bicycle Advisory Committee. When I started working for the TPO in July of that year, we got to work quickly on a comprehensive bicycle plan covering the five E’s—engineering, enforcement, education, encouragement and evaluation. While many people thought that a bicycle plan should just be a map of desired facilities, we knew that it takes much more than bike lanes to make a great bicycling community.
There are too many great projects and programs to cover. So here are just a few of the highlights that I think helped us get Bronze:
--The Neighborhood Bike Ride turned 10 this year. Tina Rosling couldn’t be here today but it was her idea and I will admit to not believing anyone would want to come on a short ride of nearby neighborhoods when she suggested it. But 125 people showed up that first year! Tour de Lights is celebrating it’s 4th year next month. I still can’t believe we had 455 people last year and expect even more this time. People apparently love to decorate their bikes and come in costume!
I think an indicator of a bike community is not just what the government does but the organic rides -- the alley cats, the Freedom Thighs, the New years rides…I’d like to thank everyone who organizes those events.
--we have provided more than 400 bike racks throughout the region at just 20% of the cost with a grant program.
--we have conducted training on bicycle issues for all enforcement officers in Knoxville, Knox County, Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County.
--due to tremendous efforts by more than 10 volunteers, especially Mike and Paige Winck, we are presenting to all high school drivers ed classes in Knox County on sharing the road with bicyclists, every semester.
-- Knoxville is about to have three signed destination-based bike routes. That means the routes go from point A to point B and the signs actually tell you where you are heading, like UT, downtown, West Hills etc. The signs will be installed soon. The routes have been on our website for years with cue sheets and maps, but it’s much easier to follow signs than hold a cue sheet while you’re biking!
--we’ve offered bike classes on riding in traffic since 2006. We have 12 certified instructors and are increasing our efforts at getting the word out about the classes for 2011. We also held two kids bike rodeos last spring and had more than 150 kids complete the courses.
--we have been conducting bicycle counts since 2005, mostly in the center city, and have seen a tripling in the past 5 years. And to add credence to those counts, recent Census data shows that Knoxville’s bike commuting rate doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is now running at twice the national average.
--the complaint I hear most often is about hostile motorists. It’s very difficult to get a message across to the general public, but we have developed a campaign called “I Bike”—you can see the banner over there featuring Sherry Wiles, a local bicyclist. The message is that bicyclists are people--your neighbors and your co-workers—so please be careful. There are tips for sharing the road as well. The second banner features Linda Gray, who is also on our advisory committee. These have been on display at West Town Mall and the Regal Pinnacle, Regal Riveria and Kroger in Fountain City. If you have ideas for where else they can be displayed, let us know! (We’ve been turned down by many places, but are still searching.)
--our most recent accomplishment is the Bicycling Ambassadors program, which uses volunteers to do outreach and education to bicyclists and motorists about sharing the road and greenways safely. We’ve got our booth set up right here and would be very happy for you to visit it and get your burning questions answered.
So what is next? We got Bronze after applying three times. Chattanooga has had Bronze since 2003 and is working toward Silver. I would like to beat them to Silver…how about you?
We can’t do it without your help. Please let me know if you want to volunteer! kelley.segars@knoxtrans.org
So you probably heard that we were named a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Bronze level. We got Honorable Mention two times before finally getting an actual metal. And yes, I have heard the laughter when someone hears that we got this award. So what is this award about anyway?
The League of American Bicyclists is a national advocacy organization (they used to be the League of American Wheelmen and they helped get roads paved for bicyclists). The BFC program started in 1996. Levels go from Bronze to Platinum. (I had a list of all the cities who have gotten an award as well as our own application.) Prospective Bicycle Friendly Communities are judged in five categories: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation/Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories to get an award. Applications are reviewed by staff and external reviewers and they get feedback from local cyclists and advocates. There are questions like: do you provide training for local engineers (and our answer is yes, we regularly host relevant webinars, and there have been two seminars in the past 5 years where engineers come for an entire day, all about bicycle facility design.) What have we done in the past 18 months to educate motorists and bicyclists on sharing the road, how do we promote bike month, what mapping info is available, how many people bike to work? The application is 19 pages long with small print, and there are 87 questions.
So what have we done to get this award? For those of you who only recently got involved with the Bicycle Program’s efforts, let me give you a quick background. In 2001, a few bicycle advocates convinced the TPO to start a Bicycle Advisory Committee. When I started working for the TPO in July of that year, we got to work quickly on a comprehensive bicycle plan covering the five E’s—engineering, enforcement, education, encouragement and evaluation. While many people thought that a bicycle plan should just be a map of desired facilities, we knew that it takes much more than bike lanes to make a great bicycling community.
There are too many great projects and programs to cover. So here are just a few of the highlights that I think helped us get Bronze:
--The Neighborhood Bike Ride turned 10 this year. Tina Rosling couldn’t be here today but it was her idea and I will admit to not believing anyone would want to come on a short ride of nearby neighborhoods when she suggested it. But 125 people showed up that first year! Tour de Lights is celebrating it’s 4th year next month. I still can’t believe we had 455 people last year and expect even more this time. People apparently love to decorate their bikes and come in costume!
I think an indicator of a bike community is not just what the government does but the organic rides -- the alley cats, the Freedom Thighs, the New years rides…I’d like to thank everyone who organizes those events.
--we have provided more than 400 bike racks throughout the region at just 20% of the cost with a grant program.
--we have conducted training on bicycle issues for all enforcement officers in Knoxville, Knox County, Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County.
--due to tremendous efforts by more than 10 volunteers, especially Mike and Paige Winck, we are presenting to all high school drivers ed classes in Knox County on sharing the road with bicyclists, every semester.
-- Knoxville is about to have three signed destination-based bike routes. That means the routes go from point A to point B and the signs actually tell you where you are heading, like UT, downtown, West Hills etc. The signs will be installed soon. The routes have been on our website for years with cue sheets and maps, but it’s much easier to follow signs than hold a cue sheet while you’re biking!
--we’ve offered bike classes on riding in traffic since 2006. We have 12 certified instructors and are increasing our efforts at getting the word out about the classes for 2011. We also held two kids bike rodeos last spring and had more than 150 kids complete the courses.
--we have been conducting bicycle counts since 2005, mostly in the center city, and have seen a tripling in the past 5 years. And to add credence to those counts, recent Census data shows that Knoxville’s bike commuting rate doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is now running at twice the national average.
--the complaint I hear most often is about hostile motorists. It’s very difficult to get a message across to the general public, but we have developed a campaign called “I Bike”—you can see the banner over there featuring Sherry Wiles, a local bicyclist. The message is that bicyclists are people--your neighbors and your co-workers—so please be careful. There are tips for sharing the road as well. The second banner features Linda Gray, who is also on our advisory committee. These have been on display at West Town Mall and the Regal Pinnacle, Regal Riveria and Kroger in Fountain City. If you have ideas for where else they can be displayed, let us know! (We’ve been turned down by many places, but are still searching.)
--our most recent accomplishment is the Bicycling Ambassadors program, which uses volunteers to do outreach and education to bicyclists and motorists about sharing the road and greenways safely. We’ve got our booth set up right here and would be very happy for you to visit it and get your burning questions answered.
So what is next? We got Bronze after applying three times. Chattanooga has had Bronze since 2003 and is working toward Silver. I would like to beat them to Silver…how about you?
We can’t do it without your help. Please let me know if you want to volunteer! kelley.segars@knoxtrans.org
Monday, November 15, 2010
I Bike KNX party photos
We had more than 240 people turn out yesterday for the party at Barley's! Thanks to all the volunteers for making it possible, as well as our sponsors: Knox Revolution, KnoxVelo, EdgeReg and Borderland Tees.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Ijams biking opportunities
Come explore Knoxville's newest multi-use trails at Ross Marble Natural Area, Mead's Quarry and the Greenway Trails.
Where:Rent bikes at Mead's Quarry
When:Saturdays in November
10:00am - 12:00pm
12:00pm - 2:00pm
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Reservations:Call River Sports to reserve a bike @ Tel: 865-523-0066
Bike Rental Rates: $20 for 2 hours, $35 all day.
Portion of proceeds benefit Ijams.
Discount for Ijams members with current membership card.
Check out our new trail map detailing Mead's Quarry and Ross Marble Natural Area. Multi-use trails are highlighted in orange.
Do I have to reserve a bike?
No, if there are bikes available, we’ll be happy to rent on the spot.
What kind of riding will there be?
There are both off-trail and paved greenway options. It’s good for both beginners and those with a little experience.
Group Ride on Saturdays in November!
Meet at 8:30 for a FREE beginners guided mountain bike ride.
Ride will last about 1.5 hours. Bike rentals available for the ride, call to reserve.
Where:Rent bikes at Mead's Quarry
When:Saturdays in November
10:00am - 12:00pm
12:00pm - 2:00pm
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Reservations:Call River Sports to reserve a bike @ Tel: 865-523-0066
Bike Rental Rates: $20 for 2 hours, $35 all day.
Portion of proceeds benefit Ijams.
Discount for Ijams members with current membership card.
Check out our new trail map detailing Mead's Quarry and Ross Marble Natural Area. Multi-use trails are highlighted in orange.
Do I have to reserve a bike?
No, if there are bikes available, we’ll be happy to rent on the spot.
What kind of riding will there be?
There are both off-trail and paved greenway options. It’s good for both beginners and those with a little experience.
Group Ride on Saturdays in November!
Meet at 8:30 for a FREE beginners guided mountain bike ride.
Ride will last about 1.5 hours. Bike rentals available for the ride, call to reserve.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
I Bike KNX
Join the celebration of Knoxville's designation as a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community, and learn how you can help in our race to beat Chattanooga to Silver level!
Sunday, November 14
Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria
4 - 6 p.m.
$5 suggested donation covers appetizers, pizza and soft drinks
Great door prizes at 4:30 p.m., pizza at 5 p.m.
Thanks to our sponsors, Edgereg, Knox Revolution, KnoxVelo and Borderland Tees who will donate $1 to the Bicycle Program* for each attendee so bring all your family and friends!
Please RSVP at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RDJMJJ6
Join us for a bike ride before the party! Three rides to choose from:
Cedar Bluff area to the party
2:45 p.m.
Start at Ten Mile Creek trailhead at Carmike Wynnsong (off N Peters Rd)
3:15 p.m.
Pick-up point at Third Creek Greenway trailhead on Forest Park Blvd (Earth Fare shopping center)
End at Barley’s around 4:15 pm
Beginner bicyclists welcome.
Approx. 12 miles one way.
7 mile loop ride to Ijams Nature Center
2:30 p.m.
start and end at Barley's
Beginners and families welcome for this casual paced ride, led by Knox Revolution
50-mile loop ride
1:00 p.m.
Start & end: Barley’s
This ride follows the route of the Barley's Autumn Classic http://www.mapmyride.com/route/united-states/tn/knoxville/683128569991438063
For more info, kelley.segars@knoxtrans.org
*Bicycle Program funds go toward awareness campaigns, Bicycling Ambassadors program, and local match for bike racks.
Sunday, November 14
Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria
4 - 6 p.m.
$5 suggested donation covers appetizers, pizza and soft drinks
Great door prizes at 4:30 p.m., pizza at 5 p.m.
Thanks to our sponsors, Edgereg, Knox Revolution, KnoxVelo and Borderland Tees who will donate $1 to the Bicycle Program* for each attendee so bring all your family and friends!
Please RSVP at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RDJMJJ6
Join us for a bike ride before the party! Three rides to choose from:
Cedar Bluff area to the party
2:45 p.m.
Start at Ten Mile Creek trailhead at Carmike Wynnsong (off N Peters Rd)
3:15 p.m.
Pick-up point at Third Creek Greenway trailhead on Forest Park Blvd (Earth Fare shopping center)
End at Barley’s around 4:15 pm
Beginner bicyclists welcome.
Approx. 12 miles one way.
7 mile loop ride to Ijams Nature Center
2:30 p.m.
start and end at Barley's
Beginners and families welcome for this casual paced ride, led by Knox Revolution
50-mile loop ride
1:00 p.m.
Start & end: Barley’s
This ride follows the route of the Barley's Autumn Classic http://www.mapmyride.com/route/united-states/tn/knoxville/683128569991438063
For more info, kelley.segars@knoxtrans.org
*Bicycle Program funds go toward awareness campaigns, Bicycling Ambassadors program, and local match for bike racks.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Neighborhood Bike Ride ponderings
We had 50 people respond to the post-bike ride survey. The overview of the results is here http://www.knoxtrans.org/bikeride/2010/survey_results.pdf
We had many comments and I wanted to offer a response to some of them. First of all, thanks for all the positive ones! We are glad you had fun and we did, too!
Several people, as they do every year, wonder why we can't do these rides more often. There are a few different reasons. One is that I don't think people grasp how much effort goes into this one ride. It may seem simple to pull off, but it's a lot of work. We have some great volunteers but they have full-time jobs so it would be impossible to ask them to do something every month. Another reason is that we tried having monthly rides for two summers (remember the Knoxville By Cycle series?). It was fun, but a lot of work, and we only had about 30 - 60 people each month. The Bicycle Advisory Committee discussed it, and considering the amount of effort it took to do the series, we decided to concentrate on the two rides that got the most turn-out. So we have the NBR and the Tour de Lights. We love having big events, but we are working on a lot of other programs and projects to make bicycling safer and better in our community, so we need to be sure we leave time and energy to work on those as well. See http://www.knoxtrans.org/plans/bikeprog.htm for more info on our other efforts.
We had a comment or two about the location this year. Someone said we should pick a less busy date so that we could go back to downtown. Maybe they don't realize this, but there is not a less busy option on Saturday anymore! Farmers' Market takes up Market Square and Market Street, which is terrific, but meant we were pushed down to the block between Clinch and Church. In addition to Farmers Market, there were several other downtown events going on that morning because it was an away game weekend. Many people do drive to the ride's start, and it's difficult for them to get themselves, their kids and their bikes/trailers from the parking garages or parking spaces through all the crowds and booths to where we are. We cannot have the ride on a home game weekend because we need KPD support and they are slightly busy on home game days. That's why all the other events happen on away game weekends as well. I really did think that Happy Hollerpalooza would have been more obvious by the time we got back to the start location so that people would have stuck around and joined in the fun. But one reason everyone took off immediately after the ride could have been that they were scheduled for one of the many other activities going on that day!
No one really complained about missing the after-ride pizza, other than wishing for something to get people to stay and socialize. I'll just say that the reasoning behind not having pizza was not wanting to step on toes of the businessnes in the vicinity by offering free lunch instead of urging people to patronize them. That's why we came up with the discount card idea.
Another comment was that we should have an optional longer route. We tried this in the past and it didn't work very well. The main point is that there are many, many bike rides to choose from that are more than 10 - 15 miles long. We were trying to have a ride friendly to casual bicyclists, which is really rare. The point is to have a large group of bicyclists out seeing parts of the city they don't usually see, be together on the roads to send a message to the public that there is support for bicycling, and have fun. If bike clubs want to have a longer ride after ours as an option, they are more than welcome to. When we decided to drop the summer ride series, I invited the clubs to take over, but that hasn't happened. That's a pretty good indication to me that they recognize the amount of effort it takes to make these events happen.
After 10 years, we have done the routes from downtown several times, so one idea for upcoming years would be to start in a different part of the city and be able to see different neighborhoods that we could never reach from downtown. What does everyone think about that?
We had many comments and I wanted to offer a response to some of them. First of all, thanks for all the positive ones! We are glad you had fun and we did, too!
Several people, as they do every year, wonder why we can't do these rides more often. There are a few different reasons. One is that I don't think people grasp how much effort goes into this one ride. It may seem simple to pull off, but it's a lot of work. We have some great volunteers but they have full-time jobs so it would be impossible to ask them to do something every month. Another reason is that we tried having monthly rides for two summers (remember the Knoxville By Cycle series?). It was fun, but a lot of work, and we only had about 30 - 60 people each month. The Bicycle Advisory Committee discussed it, and considering the amount of effort it took to do the series, we decided to concentrate on the two rides that got the most turn-out. So we have the NBR and the Tour de Lights. We love having big events, but we are working on a lot of other programs and projects to make bicycling safer and better in our community, so we need to be sure we leave time and energy to work on those as well. See http://www.knoxtrans.org/plans/bikeprog.htm for more info on our other efforts.
We had a comment or two about the location this year. Someone said we should pick a less busy date so that we could go back to downtown. Maybe they don't realize this, but there is not a less busy option on Saturday anymore! Farmers' Market takes up Market Square and Market Street, which is terrific, but meant we were pushed down to the block between Clinch and Church. In addition to Farmers Market, there were several other downtown events going on that morning because it was an away game weekend. Many people do drive to the ride's start, and it's difficult for them to get themselves, their kids and their bikes/trailers from the parking garages or parking spaces through all the crowds and booths to where we are. We cannot have the ride on a home game weekend because we need KPD support and they are slightly busy on home game days. That's why all the other events happen on away game weekends as well. I really did think that Happy Hollerpalooza would have been more obvious by the time we got back to the start location so that people would have stuck around and joined in the fun. But one reason everyone took off immediately after the ride could have been that they were scheduled for one of the many other activities going on that day!
No one really complained about missing the after-ride pizza, other than wishing for something to get people to stay and socialize. I'll just say that the reasoning behind not having pizza was not wanting to step on toes of the businessnes in the vicinity by offering free lunch instead of urging people to patronize them. That's why we came up with the discount card idea.
Another comment was that we should have an optional longer route. We tried this in the past and it didn't work very well. The main point is that there are many, many bike rides to choose from that are more than 10 - 15 miles long. We were trying to have a ride friendly to casual bicyclists, which is really rare. The point is to have a large group of bicyclists out seeing parts of the city they don't usually see, be together on the roads to send a message to the public that there is support for bicycling, and have fun. If bike clubs want to have a longer ride after ours as an option, they are more than welcome to. When we decided to drop the summer ride series, I invited the clubs to take over, but that hasn't happened. That's a pretty good indication to me that they recognize the amount of effort it takes to make these events happen.
After 10 years, we have done the routes from downtown several times, so one idea for upcoming years would be to start in a different part of the city and be able to see different neighborhoods that we could never reach from downtown. What does everyone think about that?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Inspiration!
We just heard about Bill, who lost more than 65 pounds by getting on a bicycle! In his own words:
My bicycle was purchased and "stored in the garage" for three years. Following a negative doctor's visit, I decided changes had to be made. No magic pill, ointment, or procedure...I just decided to do what I've heard countless times: "Eat right, and exercise." I fell in love with biking while visiting area neighborhood parks & trails. Each trail offers its own spin to my healthier lifestyle. What I enjoy about biking is that it continues to challenge as I mature as a biker. Hills are no longer barriers, but challenges! My speed, endurance, and drive to maintain is constantly growing with each turn of the pedal.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Neighborhood Bike Ride photos
Old North
Happy Holler
The home stretch:
Leaving the rest stop:
The starting line up! 
Thanks to Jim Hagerman and Luke Grieve for great photos!Bicycle Friendly Community sign unveiled!
Mayor Bill Haslam helped unveil a sign announcing that Knoxville is a "Bicycle Friendly Community" and officially accepted that designation from the League of American Bicyclists during a Tuesday morning ceremony in Tyson Park. Haslam joined Mike Nix, a member of the League's Board of Directors, and Kelley Segars, with the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, to unveil the sign from the bicycling group that that will be posted in the city. Segars and the TPO led the city's effort to earn the hard-to-get recognition. Cities earn the designation by taking steps - in areas ranging from engineering and education to enforcement, encouragement and evaluation - to welcome bicyclists by providing a safe environment for riders and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation. Haslam said Knoxville has made significant efforts to encourage people to ride and to increase bicycling opportunities in recent years and is committed to continuing those efforts in the future.
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