I expect most of you saw yesterday’s Savannah Morning News about new multi-use paths going in on Wilmington Island. It’s great news for folks in the islands, especially considering the high speeds on Johnny Mercer Blvd.  Here’s a portion already complete:

We are happy that the article focuses on connectivity rather than recreation, though they are not mutually exclusive:

The 550-foot-long, 10-foot-wide sidewalk is part of a multi-use path that will run alongside Johnny Mercer from its intersection with Bryan Woods Road to an existing trail that meanders through the woods at the Y.

“We’re trying to get connectivity all through there,” said Panther, a civil engineer who’s overseeing county projects on the islands.

“The ultimate goal is to get connectivity over to Wilmington Island,” he said of a process that could take up to four years and should “promote healthier lifestyles.”

The majority of the multi-use path will be composed of two inches of asphalt laid over a four-inch-thick rock base. A 1,700-foot-long asphalt section of the path will ramble from the eastern end of the sidewalk – constructed of concrete because it passes over a creek and a marshy area – into and through the woods alongside Johnny Mercer to the boulevard’s intersection with Bryan Woods.

Thank you to Chatham County — we look  forward to your continued commitment toward the goal of connectivity, to include the bridges that come on an off the islands as well!

As a footnote, we take issue with the use of the word sidewalk since a 10 foot swath of pavement constitutes a multi-use trail, and also since a law passed in the Georgia General assembly last year prohibits bicycling on sidewalks.

How many of you Campaigners out there get Savannah Magazine? Or at least read it while you’re waiting for your doctor or to get your hair cut? Us too!

We were thrilled to see so much about bikes in the 20th anniversary issue out this month. Gracing the cover are two great bike people, friends and SBC supporters Jake and Miriam Hodesh of New Moon of Savannah. They and other Savannah futurists see great possibility for our city in improving bikability and walkability. No less than 6 of the 20 idea makers including Martin Melaver (Living Above the Store), Scott Boylston (SCAD, Emergent Structures Project), Judy Jennings (Sierra Club, Riverkeeper, Wilderness SE), and others provide a specific mention of bicycling and bikability in their vision of Savannah 2030.  Two others make mention of livability and walkability, which of course go hand in hand with the same idea, not to mention Tom Barton’s notion of merging city and county government which might indeed make us more efficient.  All great ideas, and we’re glad we have so many of the same mind working together for the future of Savannah.

In the same issue, Anne Hart (also of SouthernMamas.com) wrote another article on new year’s resolutions, and while no specific text is devoted to cycling, the idea of bicycling as a family activity is not-so-subtly promoted in the photo. 

Also, before any of you gives Savannah magazine or us a hard time for displaying this photo of an unhelmeted child passenger, just remember that we all as adults braved the gauntlet of helmetless riding through many years as kids, this child is pictured on a trail where the laws of the road (namely those under 16 must wear a helmet in Georgia) do not apply, and this has all been staged for a photo opportunity to give readers positive messages about physical activity (i.e. it is not something dangerous to be avoided).  Just as an FYI, for my own kids the rule is still: no helmet, no bike.  For more info, these links take a look for some of the swirl of the helmet debate…

Campaigners! I hope you are all well in this frigid new year.

Our first LCI, Eve Seibert, will be teaching two Traffic Skills 101 courses in preparation for new LCI candidates, and there are spaces available in both classes!

WHAT: TS 101, Gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The course covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual. Recommended for adults and children above age fourteen, this fast-paced, nine-hour course prepares cyclists for a full understanding of vehicular cycling.
WHEN: Jan 9-10 and Jan 23-24.
Saturday 9-4 and Sunday 12-4 each weekend.
WHY: Ride safe.
WHERE: Downtown Savannah, 645 E Broughton.
HOW (much): All are responsible for the $10 book. The course is otherwise free to current Savannah Bicycle Campaign members. We ask nonmembers to consider joining or giving a donation. If you would like to take the course, please let Eve know and indicate which weekend, as each class is limited to 10 participants.

Furthermore, we are pleased that with the support of the city of Savannah, a League Cycling Instructor certification (See below or here for LCI details) course is being held in Savannah the weekend of Feb 19-21. It will begin in the late afternoon on Friday and extend through Sunday afternoon.

You need to be an League of American Bicyclists member ($35) to take the LCI certification and have taken TS101/Road I (see above for available times). The $200 course registration will be paid by the city of Savannah in return for your commitment to at least 3 classes in Savannah over the next 3 years. It’s a great way to serve your community through education, so if you or someone you know may be interested, we’d love to have you join us!

Online registration for LCI certification through the League of American Bicyclists is available at this link. Please contact us if you are interested in having Savannah pay for your certification, and pleave us a comment or send an email if you would like more info.

Stay warm and ride safe!
Drew

LEAGUE CYCLING INSTRUCTORS
Becoming a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) certified to teach BikeEd is a great way to help cyclists in your community. Certified instructors can teach BikeEd classes to children and adults. Help bring the joy of safe cycling to others. If you are an experienced cyclist and would like to teach others please consider taking the next step towards certification.

As a dad and bike enthusiast, my kids were highly motivated (mostly by me) to move to the next level of bicycling, graduating early from training wheels (5 and not quite 4). There are a few sources that suggest one or another method, but I have now successfully shed training wheels from 4 or 5 kids’ (fortunately not all mine) bikes with a minimum of fear and skinned knees. I hear the question from time to time, and Santa is on his way pretty soon, so I thought more might be interested in this little how-to on going from training wheels to two wheels.

Step one, wobble your training wheels:
Once your child gets some comfort riding with training wheels, move them up so there is a little wobble back and forth, then maybe a little more. Wait another few days and then you will be ready for the no training wheels try.

Next, push and glide:
First, take the training wheels and pedals off your child’s bike. Lower the seat so they can comfortably put their feet on the ground while sitting on the seat. Give them a few minutes to push the bike around with their feet. Tell them to pick up speed and then pick up their feet and glide. Once they can push and glide for 5 seconds or so, you’re ready to put the pedals back.

Third, add pedals:
Reinstall the pedals and with the seat still low, hold the back of their seat and give them a solid, single push (no need to run) and make sure they know to start pedaling. With the low seat, they will be ready to put a foot down if needed. Now they are on two wheels!

The final step: self starting. Once your child has made a few passes with a quick push from you, they may be ready to try to start on their own. It’s second nature to you, but no so for them. Tell them to put one “power pedal up” in the 1-2 o’clock position, kick with the other foot and start pedaling, or for an easy way for them to remember: “Power pedal up, one kick and go!”

Some final notes. Some advise the push bike (a bike without cranks, pedals, etc) a marketer’s invention to speed the transition from tricycle to bicycle. I agree with the late great Sheldon Brown (whose more detailed article on this subject is available at the Harris Cyclery website here) that the push bike (like-a-bike, others) is a dead end in that once kids know how to glide, they are ready for pedals again, so you might as well just take the pedals off a fully functional bike so you will be ready for that time.

Also, you are probably aware that kids under 16 are required by Georgia law to wear helmets. Please be sure your kids put a lid on. Happy cycling!

We hope everyone had as much fun riding as we did putting on the ride today. Some good press from WTOC, and some photos on SMN Spotted in addition to our own in this slideshow…

Thanks again to the City of Tybee, in particular City Manager Diane Schleicher, Mayor Jason Buelterman, and City Councilman Paul Wolff for their help in organizing the ride, Fat Tire Bikes for bringing bikes back to Tybee, Savannah Outriders for sponsoring the rest stop, and All Points Cafe for the coffee at the start!

We should also relate an interesting story from the ride: the mayor got two flat tires while on the Tybee section of the ride. Running back to his house to borrow another bike, he fell behind and lost the escort. He pressed on and faced the hair raising danger of the Lazaretto Creek Bridge without the cocoon of safety the police provided all of the other riders. How is that for raising awareness?

We raised a small amount of money today for the Coastal Georgia Greenway’s efforts to build trails in coastal Georgia. If you believe strongly in the call for safety and economic development that bringing a trail connecting Savannah with Tybee would provide, please support their mission and consider becoming a member.

Get on your bikes and ride!

It’s a huge weekend for the bike people. Starting bright and early tomorrow, Friday Nov 6 (did you forget?) is 2Wheels 2Work — join us at the Habersham Village start at 7:30am, at the Johnson Square finish or anywhere along the route (mostly Habersham and Lincoln) for the monthly commute with Jittery Joe’s coffee and some yummy breakfast treats.

Then, Saturday night join the geeks at Geekend Block Party at SEED Eco Lounge at Montgomery and Broughton. Our own Minister of Foolishness, David Acuff, and his band of bike minions will be operating the bike powered blender to mix drinks for you. Your donations are, of course, welcome.

Finally, don’t miss out on the first Tybee-Savannah Trailblazers’ Ride Sunday morning at 9am.  Just a few spaces left until we reach our cap of 150 riders, so be sure to head on over to active.com and register now!  We’ll finish at Johnson Square for a celebration of the East Coast Greenway Alliance’s national meeting in Savannah, so catch us there if you miss the ride!

Hello all!  Good news on many fronts:

1. The MPO’s Long Range Transportation Plan framework was adopted last Thursday including Complete Streets recommendations and a promise to devote $98 million to nonmotorized transportation over 20 years. That’s big, y’all!  It’s also a testament to the work done by our members and supporters at all the public meetings — thank you all.
2. The Midnight Garden Ride was a huge success as many of you can attest.  Thanks to all who joined in the fun — check out the ride gallery posted to midnightgardenride.com.
3. Our education program is moving forward with a Traffic Skills class for the SCAD bike club coming in the next few weeks.

Hot on the heels of all of this, we’re planning another ride — the Tybee to Savannah Trailblazers’ Ride! Often when people start to talk about bicycle facilities in Chatham County, the discussion migrates to the unridabiliy of US-80 between Savannah and Tybee, with 2 narrow bridges and rumble strips filling the shoulders between the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek:  see previous posts here and here. We’re in full agreement that something needs to be done, so we thought a ride is in order to kick things off. With the aid of the Tybee and Savannah/Chatham County police for protection, we will ride with the first 150 registrants from Tybee to Savannah on Sunday Nov 8 at 9am. We have a page devoted to it on bicyclecampaign.org, and registration is now open at active.com.

Don’t be left out — join in this fun and important ride for the future of cycling in Chatham County.

It wouldn’t be fall without a mini media blitz from the Campaign.

We were thrilled to see Bill Dawers’ City Talk column this past Sunday in which he praised the Midnight Garden Ride and mused on why folks don’t ride at night more often in Savannah: “The streets belong to all of us — that’s true both day and night. The more citizens on the streets, the safer they become.”  So true.

We were also pleased to see his support, like ours, for improvements in the draft Long Range Transportation Plan slated for adoption this Thursday at the CORE MPO meeting (10am, 112 E State St), in particular the promise of Complete Streets provisions during the next phase of the plan.

September brings college back to Savannah at SCAD, Savannah State, and Armstrong, and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to address that large mass of bike users of widely varying abilities with a column in Connect Savannah’s college issue this week. It gives some good (of course they’re good, we wrote them!) tips for anyone getting started on a bike in Savannah including basics on driving your bike and general information on preferred routes, so please check it out online or in the print edition.

Thank you to board members Ben Allen and Eric Breen and former board member Paul Razza for their excellent work on this motorist focused PSA, released today in the 2Wheels 2Work press conference with Mayor Johnson. We are very excited to have the help of the city as well, and through their generosity will be showing this piece on local cable stations across the dial. Thanks also to our talent: Rob Gibson of the Savannnah Music Festival, local cyclists Kristine Gum and Mike Grabowski, and our own board secretary David Acuff for putting themselves out there, and also to Paul for subjecting himself to unwanted mullet syndrome for the cause.

The goal was to drive home points but keep it from being preachy, all the while pointing out that those people you see on bikes from your car could be your neighbor or co-worker. Hopefully this will make a dent in the excessively high number of car vs. bike crashes in Chatham County.

Watch. Enjoy. Share.