The April edition of the Dump the Pump alternative commuting event is ready to roll this Friday, April 10. Two groups of cyclists will leave from Habersham Village Shopping Center and Baldwin Park (41st and Atlantic) at 8 a.m., each bound for Davant Park on the southern tip of Colonial Park Cemetery. Once there, bicycle commuters can enjoy free coffee and snacks from bicycle-friendly coffee purveyors Jittery Joe’s (located inside Ex Libris Bookstore) and pick up information from the Savannah Bicycle Campaign and Bikes Belong.

For local residents, who have never tried riding their bikes to work, Dump the Pump provides an easy and fun way to take bicycle commuting for a test drive. The bicycle caravans travel at a moderate pace and are led by experienced cyclists, who can answer questions about bicycle commuting along the way.

Originally scheduled for April 3, this month’s Dump the Pump was moved to April 10 due to the threat of bad weather. What will happen if rain clouds appear this Friday? We won’t let rain hold us back. If the skies are gray, wear a rain jacket that day. And a helmet.

Many thanks to the South magazine for their recent piece on bicycling (mostly the Savannah Bicycle Campaign) in Savannah.  We were pleased to see the attention.  The full article is only available in print, so pick up a copy while there are still some available!

The number of ideas and initiatives floating around these monthly meetings are matched by the number of passionate cyclists longing and working for improved conditions for the sport they love. These attendees of the SBC’s Moon River rendezvous represent a diverse collection of local biking organizations and informal groups, each with their own needs and desires for which to rally, and each encouraging lifestyles bolstered by biking.

Though sport is only the start — recreation, transportation, fun!

Now that we’ve moved into the darker part of the year, the subject of visibility becomes very important. To drive home that point, below is an incredibly cheesy takeoff on an already cheesy 1981 hit, brought to you in part by the folks who made this previously referenced video.

On that note, stay tuned for the full details later this week, but note this date: Saturday December 6 at 5:30pm. Strap your lights to your bike and join Savannah Bicycle Campaign in the last Wheelie of the year for the River Street Christmas Parade. Lights and a helmet will be required, and, here’s the best part: the best holiday themed rider/bike costume setup wins a new cruiser from Quality Bike Shop. More to follow soon.

The bottom line is that you are at much greater risk of being struck by a car without lights at night. Georgia law requires at minimum a white headlight and a rear red reflector, though a white headlight with a rear red light is better. We even know a few folks who have been ticketed in Savannah for riding without a headlight, so keep that in mind if the risk of serious bodily injury is not enough to sway you.

In the wake of a near miss of NOLA by Gustav and the upcoming potential for lowcountry havoc from Hanna, let’s take a look at some recent horrific events that have nothing to do with the weather.

Here at the SBC, we believe that cyclists of all creeds, speeds, shapes and sizes are in this together. As such we recognize that the changes needed to make more people get on bikes will be beneficial to everyone who rides from the hard core roadies to the SCAD fixie hipsters to families and casual recreational riders. Therefore, here are some points in the news of late, highlighting the general need for education, tolerance and understanding of the rights of cyclists to the road.

First, this shocking hit from behind in Miami where a cab plowed into a club ride, striking eleven, six of which were hospitalized, one in critical condition.

Next, an LA physician who intentionally sped by two riders and slammed on the breaks, causing them to fly into his rear window. Apparently, he tried this assault technique at least one time before.

Finally, this June 2008 photo of a race held in Mexico, where an intoxicated driver plowed head on into the peloton.

The Share the Road concept is something we could and should be promoting together in conversations with friends and neighbors, in the media, really everywhere we go. We hope to continue to involve all area cycling groups in the dialogue for better education and cooperation among road users.

Yesterday we discussed the need for education to expand our network of bicyclists.  Today we will discuss expanding the infrastructure to include bicycles on a day to day basis in transportation planning.  We all think of Copenhagen as the model for this, and we should, but they have been working at it for 50 or 60 years, and even Portland, Oregon has been at it for 30 years to get where it is today.

As noted in this excellent piece from planetizen,

A proper bicycle network is comprised of four basic types of bikeways: bicycle lanes, bicycle boulevards, shared streets and off-street paths. Although bicycle use is not common in many American cities, planners and government officials must acknowledge that such activity is unlikely to increase without a sufficient bicycle network in place. Cities and towns interested in developing or expanding their bicycle network must consider plans that include all four types. Doing so creates a tapestry of options for the three types of bicyclists and their individual requirements (outlined in my previous post). Portland, Oregon and Berkeley, California experience some of the highest bicycle mode shares in the country precisely because they use a layered approach.

So, with that in mind we turn to the update of our local transportation plan that will happen over the next year or two.  The plan needs to include bicycles wherever possible, expand the network of on and off road facilities, and obviously including the routes of the Coastal Georgia Greenway.

The best strategy, and one we will push for with the city and county during this time, is adoption of a complete streets policy.  This idea, already in place for our neighbors in Florida and South Carolina, requires pedestrian and bicycle facilities be included in all new road projects and expansions.  Assuming we allow for exceptions where this is excessively costly, we could grow our infrastructure incrementally and continue to build the bicycle friendly place we know Savannah could be.

UPDATE:  Bicycle “improvements” are usually the first thing to get cut from a project to limit cost; nevertheless, they are very inexpensive when compared with the total cost.

Furthermore, if a motorist argues the old lie that their tag and gas taxes pay for the roads, point them to this from Texas (see last paragraph), or this older study.  The bottom line:  income and property taxes are necessary to build and maintain roads which are tremendously expensive and usually much less than half paid for by gas and tag taxes.  As such, we need to change our thinking and funding of transportation to include other modes besides personal autos.

So, when we start to talk about how to make things better for the average bicyclist in Savannah or anywhere, it is a pretty complex task using the personal auto-centric transportation grid currently in place. Experienced riders may go just about anywhere except restricted access interstate type highways, but less experienced cyclists will need some help.

In order to move a greater proportion of casual cyclists to take their bike out of the garage and start using it to get from A to B, we need to first educate on best practices in often unfriendly roadways. This involves both safe route selection and understanding how to ride safely.

The former is best accomplished by talking with people who are already riding around town regularly — i.e. networking with the bicycling community. SDRA has produced this map of the bike routes downtown, some local routes are already available at bikely.com, and recreational rides at mapmyride.com, but none of these is comprehensive. Therefore, so that longtime residents, visitors and newcomers will know about safer roads to travel, we at the SBC plan to develop a mapping system to rate specific roads’ suitability for cycling.

The second point of education, safe cycling, is not so complicated. We have previously referenced a video on the topic, but the bottom line is that as a cyclist, you are a vehicle operator with the same rights and obligations under the law as the much heavier and faster vehicles with whom we share the road.

This means that with few exceptions, sidewalks should be avoided as your visibility is deceased and your chance of a car vs bike crash is much increased, not to mention the risk to pedestrians from bikes. It means that while traveling on wider roads, one should stay to the right and allow cars to pass. It means that on narrower lanes (even and especially where multiple lanes are travelling in the same direction) and there is not enough room for you and a car to share the lane, your safest choice is to take the lane. The potential for a sub-30 second inconvenience to a handful of motorists exists, but this action is supported by the law and could save your life.

Finally, a helmet is important as your last line of defense against a car — you will be glad to have it when a careless motorist knocks you down. If you worry about helmet head or sweat, just think how unfashionable it would be to wear a hospital gown the rest of your life. There are some more fashion forward models out there now and ways around the sweat issue as well.

Stay tuned for part II of bicycling networks — how should we reinvent our infrastructure to make it accommodate cyclists better?

Here’s a great idea for your fireworks viewing pleasure:  Ride a bike to the display!  You’ll get home faster not waiting around in traffic — just make sure you have some lights and wear your helmet.  And if you need inspiration for the helmet, take a look at this video from the B:C:Clettes:

By the time we see them it’s too late, but here is an interesting study of the relationship of bumper stickers (which this researcher refers to as territory markers) and the tendency to road rage from the Washington Post. Even more interesting was that the nature of the message did not affect the behavior and the more stickers, the greater the correlation.

Photo by niznoz

This is not particularly helpful to bicyclists as we only know when a driver is aggressive after they have needlessly blown their horn or knocked us off the road, but it does provide some insight into territorial behavior on the road.

It also reminds us that we need to protect our territory — when the road is not wide enough for you to ride and a car to pass, move to the center and take the lane. It is allowed by law, and you will be safer even if you provide some mild irritation to someone. Better to find routes that avoid such a situation, but you can’t always count on that. And even if you like to put stickers on your bike, by all means be friendly out there. Smile and wave as if you know a driver who yells at you. They will be at worst confused and at best won over, and you will have taken the high road.