GEARs | Greater Eugene Area Riders

ACT NOW- Call to Save Bike & Pedestrian Funding in Transportation Bill

Shane MacRhodes — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:29:30 +0000

We’ve been riding on extensions of the Transportation Bill for over two years, waiting for a new one to come out. We’ve been through waves and cycles of thinking it was actually going to happen. Well it’s happening now! It may not make it all the way through the process but it’s the first time that something real has come out as “the next transportation bill”. However, that new bill has the look and feel of a 1970 Highway bill more than a 21st century transportation bill that considers active transportation and well funded transit as key pieces of the transportation system! The new bill takes out funding for Transportation Enhancements (where A LOT of our local bike/ped projects have been funded from), Safe Routes to School (SRTS), and pretty much takes out any program or project that mentions bicycles or pedestrians, including state ped/bike coordinators at DOTs.

That’s why it’s essential that you call or write to urge DeFazio to take on the leadership roll of making sure active transportation dollars are dedicated as part of the next transportation bill! Do this before noon on Wednesday!

Currently there are three amendments already in motion for the bill. Those include an amendment that would restore Transportation Enhancements and SRTS back into the transportation bill, one that would add funding for “transit operation assistance” and another that would include funds for bridge repair (the draft bill doesn’t even require bike/ped projects on new bridges which the old bill did). Ask DeFazio to support these amendments that create a more complete transportation bill and ask him to take a leadership roll in insuring bicycle, pedestrian, and transit funding are included in our next transportation bill. He needs to hear from his local constituents! Contact him now!

You may have heard a ‘call to action’ a month or two ago… this is another, even more important one, and I won’t say it will be the last. This fight to keep funding for cycling and walking infrastructure is going to go on until the new bill is voted in (maybe this session, maybe not). But THIS is a pivotal moment. Call now.

Rep. Peter DeFazio

Phone:(202) 225-6416

Fax:(202) 226-3493

or:

Bike Willamette Campaign Meeting Tonight

Shane MacRhodes — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:20:06 +0000

Bike Willamette Campaign for full bicycle access on south Willamette St. — Meeting two is this happening tonight, Friday, Jan. 27 at 6:00-8:00 P.M. Come join those working to make this important corridor more accessible and safe for everyone.

Campaign general meeting two:
In this upcoming meeting we’ll review our goal and the grouping of our strategies and activities from last meeting. Then we’ll add whatever seems to be missing. As quickly as possible we’ll designate some logical categories and split into smaller action groups.

Where?
Agate Alley Laboratory Restaurant, 2645 Willamette St., on the east side. In the banquet/meeting room.
(If you’re hungry or thirsty you’ll be able to order food and drink.)

In the meantime:
Do you have something to contribute to the campaign’s list of strategies and actions? Would you like to clarify anything which you offered at the Jan. 13 meeting? Please send to: input@bikewillamette.com

Questions?
Call 541-954-3843 or email input@bikewillamette.com

Bike Willamette Campaign meeting one recap:
The Willamette Street Campaign for dedicated bicycle access rolled out to an astounding start on Jan. 13th. Fifty-five energized and creative people gathered with less than 24 hours notice! After a statement of the campaign goal and a brief recounting of recent planning activity involving south Willamette Street, we circled the room for self-introductions of participants.

The majority of the meeting time was spent generating strategies and actions that will lead to dedicated bike access. The over-seventy contributions were as varied as engaging with local businesses to regularly *practicing*/experiencing our *vision* of riding on South Willamette at 8AM on Saturdays.

Coming soon will be a draft compilation of strategies and actions sorted by categories. The categories could be the basis for establishing committees/work groups.

General Meeting- Riding Across Southern Utah Yes!!

Shane MacRhodes — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:28:55 +0000

Tuesday, January 24th
6-8 PM
Countryside Pizza, 645 River Road

It’s mid winter in Oregon, 2011 and Jeff Sprague and his wife MaryAnne were “shopping” for a cycling vacation. They had concerns about the Euro/Dollar exchange rate and decided that the U.S. was a good destination. He scanned the ads in the back of Bicycling Magazine and the Adventure Cyclist also ran a nice article on a number of multi- day supported cycling tours in the U.S.

The ride from Moab to Cedar City is an amazing adventure through 5 national parks and several state parks. The route is fairly simple (go right or left at the national parks and mostly stay on Utah state highway 12). They also cycled in Zion national park as a bonus. The roads were lightly traveled for the most part and the scenery is amazing! Come and share this cycling experience with Jeff as he “rides” us through his trip!

Loaded Bike Touring in Zion via Flickr user Velaia

Newsletter Call Out

shanerh — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:10 +0000

Starting in February 2012 the monthly GEARS Newsletter is going all electronic – no more printed newsletters.

Ruthy Kanagy has generously taken over the GEARS newsletter editor position (with Paul Adkins as the electronic wizard) and she would like to ask for your help in getting her off to a good start by sending her articles, poems, trip reports, news, photos, items for sale, best rides of 2011 reports, your cycling resolutions for 2012, and anything else you can think of, to:

ruthyk@bikefriday.com

Not a GEARS member yet? Please join, so you, too, can enjoy the benefits of receiving the latest news, not to mention discounts all over town from our Bike Rewards Program - for only $12 a year. http://eugenegears.org/membership

Write a Letter to Support 24th Improvements

Shane MacRhodes — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:56:13 +0000

Update/Reminder: The general meeting of the Friendly Area Neighbors is tonight 7-9 at the Washington Park Cottage (2025 Washington). I heard from the City that they are presenting at 7:30 pm and there should be time after their presentation for questions/answers.

Now would be a great time to write a letter to City Staff & Elected Officials to support their proposed design for 24th Ave. (Friendly to Chambers) which will include consolidating parking to one side of the street, removing the small bulb outs, adding bike lanes, removing the painted center line (for greater traffic calming), and adding a marked crosswalk and school zone near ATA/Family School.

There have been two community meetings where city staff collected input and gave information to over 30 people at each meeting. No opposition was voiced at the meeting that the city showed their recommended design, however a letter from the Friendly Area Neighbors Executive Board (most of whom were at both meetings) has been written to the City opposing the design and asking the city to keep parking and the bulb outs and instead of installing bike lanes to add sharrows and signs to the street. Those measures will do nothing to make the street comfortable for anyone but the most confident and secure cyclists. Both TransPlan and the PedBike Master Plan call for bike lanes on the street for a reason! Write city staff and the City Council now and encourage them to move ahead with their recommended changes.

Here is a great letter from GEARs Advocacy Committee Chair, Sue Wolling, that should give you some ideas for your own letter (to mayorandcc@ci.eugene.or.us):

Dear City Officials,

I strongly urge you to accept the planned improvements to 24th Avenue that would include bike lanes and a pedestrian crosswalk, removal of on-street parking and bulb-outs as necessary, and unstriped travel lanes intended to help slow traffic speeds. This design will encourage transportation choices both for the people who live in the neighborhood and those who travel through, including families attending the nearby schools and using the playing fields at Westmoreland Park.

The planned street would make it safer to walk and bicycle on 24th Avenue. This was a high priority among those who attended public meetings concerning the design of the road, and matches the City’s goals of supporting active transportation. The current street design, even if sharrows and signage were added, is adequate for confident adult cyclists, but does not provide the safe environment needed to encourage inexperienced cyclists and children to walk or bike

When we build “complete streets” that accomodate all modes of travel, compromises are necessary. In this case, staff has chosen to reduce the amount of space dedicated to automobile storage in order to provide bike lanes. Since all houses along the street have garages and driveways, and since parking remains available on one side of the street and on cross streets, giving up the underutilized parking on the south side of the street is a reasonable compromise. While adjacent homeowners might suffer some inconvenience from the loss of on-street parking, they, like others, will benefit from better opportunities for active transportation. When choices must be made, we have to favor using streets for transportation over using them to store vehicles.

I congratulate staff on moving forward with Council’s directive to provide transportation choices and promote sustainability, and urge you to accept this well-designed plan that already has considerable buy-in from the neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Sue Wolling

All Comer’s Mountain Bike Meetup

shanerh — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:32:30 +0000

The announcement below comes from Disciples of Dirt and sounds like a great day of mountain biking (and more). The All Comer’s Meet is the biggest open-to-everybody mountain bike event in the local area and the WhyPass trails are awesome

You will be able to “break into ride groups depending on pace/skill level. ACM is an all-abilities fun ride day—it is not a race. Invite your friends—everyone is welcome!” So break out of the road, commute, utility, or whatever bike rut you may be in and try out some great mountain biking with some new folks.

Youth without supervision must check-in at the Trips for Kids-CAT table, so they can lead them to the best riding group.

Bring your own mountain bike and join the fun!

All Comer’s Meet

Event Date : Sun, 01/15/2012 – 9:45am

Location: WhyPass trail system near Lorane, OR

Announcing the 8th annual All Comer’s Meet hosted by the Disciples of Dirt. Folks will gather at 9:45 am at “The Pile” and break into ride groups depending on pace/skill level. ACM is an all-abilities fun ride day—it is not a race. Invite your friends—everyone is welcome! Helmets are required.

Things to Bring:

Fenders… there will be mud on hand
Post-ride snack… bring enough to share
Camp chair… for sitting around the post-ride bonfire
Pop-up shelter… if you have one
Firewood… if you can

The DOD will Supply:

Refreshments by Ninkasi Brewing
Homemade chili and chili dogs
DOD branding irons

Directions to WhyPass

W 24th Avenue Street Rehabilitation Project Open House II

Shane MacRhodes — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:31:51 +0000

A final neighborhood open house has been scheduled for Thursday, January 5^th to discuss the street rehabilitation project for 24^th Avenue (from Chambers St to Jefferson St).

There will be a presentation and discussion on design alternatives for this street. Alternatives discussed will include removing on-street parking on one side of the street, installing bicycle facilities, and changing the nature of existing traffic calming devices.

The Ped/Bike Master Plan calls for bike lanes on this section of 24th and it is the best East-West corridor for cyclists in the area. Come give your input on the importance of completing our active transportation network with safe and comfortable facilities for cyclists.

Agenda:

Presentation of alternative street configurations
Questions and answers
Discuss project timeline

Location: Adams Elementary School (Cafeteria/Multipurpose Room), 950 West 22^nd Avenue, Eugene, OR 97405

Date: Thursday, January 5^th

Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Questions? Please contact Reed Dunbar at reed.c.dunbar@ci.eugene.or.us or (541) 682-5727

Sustainability Commission to Discuss Ped/Bike Master Plan

Shane MacRhodes — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:06:06 +0000

As the official liaison between the Sustainability Commission and GEARs, I wanted to let you know that the Sustainability Commission will be discussing the draft Ped/Bike Master Plan at its meeting this Wednesday, Dec. 21. The meeting is:

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 5:30 p.m.

McNutt Room, Eugene City Hall, 777 Pearl

There’s an opportunity for public comment at the beginning of the meeting. The Ped/Bike Plan is on the agenda for 7 p.m.

While the Commission is generally supportive of bicycling and walking, it wouldn’t hurt to have supporters of bicycling tell them that we’re counting on the Sustainability Commission to push the City Council for a strong commitment to bicycling. We’d also welcome any specific comments or recommendations you have about the Ped/Bike Plan. You’ll find the Plan athttp://www.centrallanertsp.org/EugeneTSP/PedBikePlan/Home

In addition, any time you have any issues, concerns or questions you’d like to bring to the Sustainability Commission, please don’t hesitate to tell me, and I’ll try to make it happen. That’s the whole point of our having liaison relationships with various groups involved in Eugene’s efforts toward sustainability.

Thanks–and I’d love to see you at Wednesday’s meeting!

Sue Wolling

Bike Tour Japan with a GEARs Member

Shane MacRhodes — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:30:47 +0000

If you’ve ever wanted to tour Japan by bicycle, but didn’t know how, here’s your chance:

October 10-20, 2012: Kyoto & the Inland Sea Islands of Japan

Explore ancient Kyoto’s World Heritage temples, shrines and gardens on 2-wheels and ride the premier cycling route in western Japan – the Seto Inland Sea Islands. Fall is an ideal time to visit Japan and you’ll see first hand how bicycle-friendly a country it is. Experience the old and new, urban and rural settings – including citrus farms and fishing villages on 10 islands linked by a series of spectacular bridges. Ride the bullet train with your bike, take a hot spring bath, and stay in a traditional inn.
Tour begins and ends in Osaka, 500km west of Tokyo.

Your Personal Guide: Ruthy Kanagy, GEARS member and owner of Japan Cycle Tour LLC.
For details, email info@japancycletour.com

For more inspiration see this series of photos on Picasa of the tour.

Reminder- General Meeting & Bike Swap next Monday

Shane MacRhodes — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:55:16 +0000

Monday November 28th 2011

GEARS will hold its annual meeting and Bike Swap on Monday November 28th from 6 to 8 pm at Hilyard Center, 2580 Hilyard St. All GEARS members are invited to join for free Pizza and a soft drink ($5 for non members)! We will vote on a By-Law change, have a presentation about the bRamble and elect and present the Executive Board. A Bike Swap, from 7-8pm, that will offer cyclists an opportunity to sell and exchange bicycles, bike parts and accessories, will follow this. Each “seller” who is not a GEARS member will be charged $5. Memberships are available starting at $12/year at the event or online athttp://eugenegears.org/membership

Both events are open to the general public.

Recycle Your Bicycle