Kansas City Bicycle Log |
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Posts, email, and ideas related to bicycling and bicycle advocacy. I post these mostly for my own convenience in being able to keep them archived and searchable, but if you get some use of them, more power to you! Among other interesting items here is a fairly complete record of my involvement with the grassroots effort in support of the BikeKC initiative in the Summer of 2002. You can find everything from press releases to letters to the city council to exhortations to other bicyclists to write letters to the editor. See what worked well and what caused us problems in the effort to pass BikeKC. From my point of view, this was almost a picture-perfect grass-roots movement. The result was that BikeKC was passed on August 15th, 2002. Now we have to work to make sure the plan becomes reality! Most of that is in the 8/25/2002-8/31/2002 archive.
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Monday, April 18, 2005
Ride of Silence May 18th in Kansas City
Ride of Silence May 18, 2005, 7:00 pm In more than 50 cities across the U.S.A. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, meet at the parking lot north of 63rd & Brookside (behind Breadsmith) Downloadable/printable flyers for the ride:
Why does this ride exist? To HONOR those who have been injured or killed To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD Email Laurie Chipman (chipdsn1@swbell.net) for more information about the Kansas City, Missouri ride. Visit RideOfSilence.org. Sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation. Raytown Mayor's Ride May 14th 8AM Mayor's Tour of Raytown Bicycle Ride-Poker Run Saturday, May 14th, 2005, 8A.M. Fund Raiser for the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program (REAP) . Download printable flyers:
Highest cards win prizes at the end. We've got some really good prizes lined up. Everything from bicycling stuff, $25 gift certificates, to free groceries. Starting Point Raytown South Middle School 8401 E 83rd St, Raytown 2, 4, 16, 25, and 45 mile routes Donation: $10/person $20/family Have Fun - Get in shape - Ride with the Mayor - See Raytown! The 16 mile route goes "park to park" in Raytown with supported rest stops. 25 and 45 mile routes are self-supported after the first 16 miles. Children under 16 only with adult supervision. Helmets are required. Ride Date: May 14th, 8AM (Rain Date: May 15, 8AM) Register on the day of the event at the starting point or pre-register by sending name, address, route preference and check payable to "REAP" to 10908 East 83rd St, Raytown, MO 64138. For more information, contact Chuck Martin, martinoffroad@yahoo.com, 353-3653. Sponsors & contributors include Bicycle Shack, Bike Stop, HyVee, Cosentino's Apple Market, Raytown YMCA, and others to be announced. Monday, April 11, 2005
Mayor's Tour of Raytown--Poker Run, May 14th 2005
The Raytown Bicycle Task force invites you to a Bicycle Ride-Poker Run on Saturday, May 14th, 2005, at 8:00 A.M. The ride is a Fund Raiser for the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program (REAP). The ride is a "Poker Run": Riders pick up cards at rest stops. Highest cards win prizes at the end. Starting Point: Raytown South1.5, 3, 16, 25, and 45 mile routes Donation: $10/person $20/family Have Fun - Get in shape - Ride with the Mayor - See Raytown! The 16 mile route goes "park to park" in Raytown with supported rest stops. 25 and 45 mile routes are self-supported after the first 16 miles. Children under 16 only with adult supervision. Helmets are required. Register on the day of the event at the starting point or pre-register by sending name, address, route preference and check payable to "REAP" to 10908 East 83rd St, Raytown, MO 64138. For more information, contact Chuck Martin, martinoffroad@yahoo.com, 353-3653. Rain Date: May 15, 8AM. Sponsors and donors include the City of Raytown, Bike Stop, Bicycle Shack, HyVee, Cosentino's Apple Market, the Raytown YMCA, and others to be announced. Download/print ride flyers in PDF format:
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Critical Mass KC poster
Here is a poster for Kansas City Critical Mass. The Mass rides the last friday of each month, meet 5pm, ride 5:30pm. Meet in Westport at the northeast corner of Southwest Trafficway and Mill Street, near the Sun Fresh Market. MapPoint map here. There is an email list; to subscribe send any email to criticalmasskc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Come ride & show that bicycling is a viable form of transportation . . . even in KC. Please note that this is a newly updated poster 7 Jan 2004 to reflect the newly re-discussed starting point in Westport. This will be the permanent starting point for criticalmasskc. Saturday, August 09, 2003
The Sidewalk to Nowhere
The latest in my little series of photo-essays about bike/ped accommodations in Missouri is now online: The Sidewalk To NowhereOthers in the same series: Kansas City Streets as seen by a pedestrian How to contact MoDOT about a bike/ped issue MoDOT designs and administers most major highways and thoroughfares in Missouri. This includes a surprising number within the boundaries of towns and cities. If it is a numbered or a lettered route in the state of Missouri, there is a good chance MoDOT has a hand in it. Even if it is more commonly known as "Main Street" or whatever, if Main Street is also 47 Highway, then MoDOT is either running it or will have a strong say in any local decisions that may be made. If it is within a city or town, often MoDOT works with local authorities in making decisions. This can get pretty complicated. The message below was written in response to someone who wanted to know how to report the use of unsafe grates in new construction on a commonly used bicycling street within Kansas City, Missouri. The street happened to be US 24, so that brought MoDOT on board. Here is what I understand is the best way to report such problems--a way that is not guaranteed of success, but which at least has some chance: 1. Go to the MoDOT feedback page at http://www.modot.org/asp/request_information.asp?comments 2. Write a message explaining the problem. Be polite and persuasive. Include basic information such as, exactly where the construction is taking place, the city it's in, etc. 3. Explain why this is an important/often used/necessary bicycle route. Do cyclists (including yourself) often use it? Is it used by commuters, by group rides? Is there a high number of cyclists in this area of town? Is it the only, or the best, or one of the best, through routes in that area of town? Is it near, or does it connect, trip generators like commercial areas, residential areas, parks, schools, etc.? 4. Explain why the current situation is a problem, why it is dangerous, etc. You might propose a solution (in this case, bike-safe grates should be used; you might mention that you have heard that there is a proposal working its way through the MoDOT bureaucracy to use curved-vane grates in this type of situation). But also make it clear that you are not stuck on "your" solution but are willing to look for any workable solution that allows for safe travel by cyclists. 5. I like to include the relevant bits of TEA-21 (the federal transportation bill that funds all of these projects and which MoDOT is supposed to be following):
Then just nicely point out that 6-foot wide bike-eating grates would be a very un-safe feature of this project for bicyclists. Once you have made the case that this road is commonly used by bicyclists, or is an essential link, even if not commonly used, you have just ended the discussion about whether or not consideration of bicycle facilities is "appropriate". If cyclists are currently using the route, or if it is the only reasonable route between important destination, then bicycle facilities must be considered. As you can see, the definition of bicycle facilities is pretty expansive--replacing crappy grates with bike-safe grates would make these curb lanes "improved lanes . . . for use by bicyclists" and therefore a "bicycle transportation facility". Some MoDOT engineers know this, but some don't, or have forgotten. So it is worth jogging their memory. 6. Send the message; remember to keep a copy for yourself. 7. You'll probably hear back, at least an acknowledgement that they received your message, within a few days (MoDOT is really working on "customer service"). It may take some time (several weeks?) to work out the details if they are seriously considering your issue. 8. It can work, but don't expect miracles. The earlier you get involved in the process, the better your chance of success. By the time they are laying down asphalt on the streets, it is very, very late in the process. It CAN happen, but don't count on it. RE: this specific problem with bike-eating grates: For bike-safe grates, the difficulty is that the bike safe designs don't allow as much water flow as the bike-eating grates. So you can't just replace yucko grates with good ones. You have to allow for MORE grates (or at least do a bunch of calculation to figure out whether or not you'll need more). But, still, it's well worth asking. Bike eating grates shouldn't be used, and they need to hear that from us. Over and over, if necessary. MoDOT's bike/ped coordinator is telling them this story, over and over, but it all takes on an entirely new light when it is requested by a regular citizen. 9. If they change the grates, thank them profusely. Even if they don't, thank them for considering it and firmly request that bike-friendly grates be used from now on in our area. 10. Also it is well worth sending the same letter to the relevant city public works department. OR just call them up and have a chat with them about it. In the case of KCMO, here is the contact info: pubworks@kcmo.org. KCMO has a bike/ped coordinator, and you might CC: a copy directly to him: john_stufflebean@kcmo.org. (Information current 8/2003.) Strangely enough, sending your request to the general public feedback address seems to work better in most cases than sending a fancy letter to the head of the department. The reason is that your email message will work its way through their customer service system and end up in the hands of the engineer who is actually working on your project. This is the person who can actually make the changes you want. A fancy letter to the bigwigs often results in a fancy reply that has been carefully vetted to remove any actual content--but little direct action on a specific project. I hope this helps! I just discovered this approach myself. Even though they were already re-paving 350 Hwy when I wrote with my concerns, the engineer actually went back and analyzed ALL the drain grates and also totally re-thought the approach to rumble strips. The result--NO rumble strips and NO problem grates. I about fell off my chair when I read the reply from the project engineer. I'm pretty sure that NOBODY had thought about bike-safe grates for this project before I brought it up, and I'm pretty sure they were also planning on rumble strips for much or all of re-paved section. The grates and rumble-strips could have taken a very decent bicycle route (350 Hwy between Raytown and Lee's Summit) and totally wrecked it. So--don't count on it as guaranteed, but it CAN happen. It's worth sending an email or two! --Brent Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Some members of Congress try to slash bike/ped spending.
Tuesday's issue of Salon has a story about Rep. Istook of Oklahoma and his plan to remove the Transportation Enhancements section of the federal transportation budget. This is the bit of federal transportation law that funds everything from the Katy Trail to Share the Road signs to state bicycle maps. Read MoBikeFed Advocacy Alerts to find out what you can do about it. Monday, June 16, 2003
Lewis & Clark Route Report
I just posted a report of my ride from KC to St. Joseph along a route proposed for the Lewis & Clark bicycle route across Missouri. The Adventure Cycling Lewis & Clark Route bypasses the Kansas City metro area, missing about 50 miles of the river. Missouri cyclists have proposed an alternate route that stays very close to the river through the KC metro area and for the next 60 miles north to St. Joseph. Since I work in St. Joseph I decided to ride the proposed Lewis & Clark Route from KC to St. Joseph to try it out. The ride report, with plenty of photos and my always pithy[1] observations, has just been posted. You can see an outline of this "improved" Lewis & Clark Route here and here (it is the orange route that generally follows the river). --Brent [1] Well, either pithy or long-winded and boring--take your pick . . . Wednesday, May 28, 2003
BPCC ride report
Due to two 7-month-old twins in our home this summer, I knew I wouldn't be able to do any nice long rides like RAGBRAI or the like. Since my sister-in-law happened to be visiting for the week anyway, I decided that it would be fun to make a sort of "Ride Across Kansas City (Repeatedly)" bicycle vacation during BPCC week. RAKC(R) was a sort of "busman's holiday", as Randy put it. I guess some of us are easily amused . . . Most of the mileage I'm reporting below didn't count towards BPCC (which counted to & from work only . . . ). But that wasn't the point. The point was simply to Ride Across Kansas City (Repeatedly) . . . I know that all of you are on the edges of your seats now, to now the gory details of each and every last mile. So here goes: Between Mon & Fri I rode a total of 297.4 miles, or an average of 59.5 miles per day (I didn't realize I was so close to 300 miles or I would have gotten "lost" for 2.6 more miles somewhere). Altogether this took 23 hours actual riding time, average 12.9 MPH. (It was just a year or two ago when any "long" trip--say over 30 miles--I would be doing good to average 10.5 MPH and often only 9.5 or so . . . so I felt pretty happy about the average speed.) MONDAY Monday I rode Jan out to Lenexa on the tandem for an all-day work-related class. Then I rode home alone and rode out again in the afternoon to pick her up. Was forced to devour an entire huge Indian dinner in Lenexa, because of running out of fuel on the second to last leg. Our route was 67th Street west across 435, then Gregory west all the way across town, then somehow make our way down to Santa Fe for the final bit. This was really quite a pleasant ride--far more pleasant, despite the length, than riding to the Plaza. Daily total 66.6 miles, average 13.0. TUESDAY Tuesday I rode Jan on the tandem to her work at 47th & Main. Route is Raytown Rd to Coal Mine Road, then Blue Parkway to the plaza. Total for the day, 40 miles. Average was 14.4. WEDNESDAY Wednesday I took Jan to work on the Tandem again, same route (20 miles). She walked/rode the bus home so as to rack up miles for BPCC (she was really getting into it by this point). In the evening I started my commute to St. Joseph by riding to Randy's house in KCK (17 miles). THURSDAY Thursday & woke up bright & early to cross the Platte Purchase bridge before it got too jam-packed. This is actually quite a nice way to cross the MO as long as you pick the right time of day to do it. Both the outward & return crossing & managed to pick times of day when I was passed by only 2 or 3 cars as I was crossing. No worse, really, than riding down Raytown Road on a light traffic day. (But Randy says that if you catch the bridge at shift change it can be monstrously busy . . . ). Then I took 9, FF, 45, and 59 through Parkville, Weston, and on to St. Joseph. This is part of the proposed Lewis & Clark route that has been worked up by members of MoDOT's BPAC committee (particularly Bob Kirkman), which is one reason I was anxious to ride it. Adventure Cycling's route bypasses Kansas City--and the whole section of the river I road, plus maybe 50 miles more--altogether. Mileage for the day was almost exactly 70. I arrived at the college at 2:30PM. That was perfect timing as my first appointment was at 3:30PM. FRIDAY Thursday night I slept like a log at a colleague's house, woke up bright an early at 10AM and was on the road by Noon. I returned by the same route, which was somewhat busier on Friday afternoon than it had been Thursday morning. The only really "bad" stretch on the route is Hwy 45 in between Weston and the turnoff for route FF. That was just a little busy, two lanes, 55 MPH, no shoulders. Most of the time there was room for cars to pass easily, but several times (particularly Friday) a small string of cars happened to come along behind at the same time a string was approaching from the front. The rest of the route, though, had either low-traffic two-lane roads with no shoulders, or higher traffic two-lane roads with decent shoulders. I stopped & chatted (too long) with Randy & Kat in KCK, so I arrived home about 10PM. From KCK I went up to lower level of the 12th Street viaduct, then north on Beardsley Road to 5th Street. I was going to divert over to Cliff Drive but it seemed like too much of a detour so instead I rode all the way acrosss Independence Ave. (quite a thrill . . . ). When I got into the Blue River bottoms there was a train dead stopped blocking ALL the railroad crossings. I could see it wasn't going anywhere soon so I just went back up & crossed via the Truman Viaduct, then Manchester Tffy to Raytown Tffy home. Mileage Friday was about 85. Total mileage for the St. Joseph trip was 170.8 miles. Average, 12.4 MPH (according to bike speedometer). I found I could "make" 10 miles an hour, even including rest breaks, as long as rest breaks weren't 3 hours long like when I stopped at Randy's Friday . . . --Brent Monday, May 19, 2003
Our plans for this week's Bike/Ped Commuter Challenge
May 19-23 is the KC-area "Bike/Ped Commuter Challenge". Here are our plans for the week. Note that these are PLANS and very subject to change in case "we don't feel like it" or any other vitally important reasons along that line: I'm planning to ride Jan to work then ride out & pick her up on our tandem Mon, Tues, & Wed. We live at 59th & Raytown Trafficway in Raytown; her work is at 47th and Main (except Monday, when she has a class near Antioch and 87th Street). That's about 8 or 10 miles each way. Then Wed. late afternoon I will start on my trip to St. Joseph, just going about 15 miles to get a leg up for Thursday. Thurs. I'll ride the rest of the way to St. Joseph and attend my meetings, etc., that are planned for late in the afternoon. Then I'll ride back to Raytown on Friday. That should be about 80 or 90 miles each way. (By the way, I dreamed up the idea of riding out to St. Joseph last year on Bike to Work day--I thought, "Everybody else is riding to their work, why shouldn't I?") Meanwhile, Jan is thinking that on Thurs & Fri she will ride her bike down to meet the 63rd Street bus, take the bus across 63rd Street to Main, then ride the bike on in to her work. Saturday, we will collapse. |
