Please join the Bike Virginia Tour for a public information session on February 27, 2013 at the Buchanan Theater from 6-8pm. The tour will visit the Lexington/Buena Vista to Botetourt/Roanoke area June 21-26, 2013.

This event will host up to 1,600 people from international locations and across the US. Read more about the tour on our website at www.bikevirginia.org and in our online press kit.

Details Below

What:

The Bike Virginia Tour Public Information Session- Attend this presentation and question/answer session to get details on the June event. Review our proposed bicycle touring routes and help us make the best tour possible to showcase your community.

Who:

Everyone’s invited to attend – residents, media, business owners, local officials, bicycling enthusiasts, and community leaders.

When:

Wednesday February 27, 2013
6:00-8:00pm
Light Refreshments will be served

Where:

The Buchanan Theater, 19778 Main Street, Buchanan, VA 24066

September 8, 2012

Richmond 2015 will hold a ride and BBQ in Richmond. Ticket sales close on Friday September 7.  Group rides will be offered on road and a new offroad trail will be available at the venue.  Learn more www.richmond2015.com

September 15, 2012

Richmond Area Bicycle Association (RABA) will hold their annual one day, The Heart of Virginia Bike Festival event in Hanover Court House. Routes of 10-101 miles will be available. Details at http://www.heartofvabikefestival.org/

September 29, 2012

The Northern Neck River Ride will be held in beautiful Kilmarnock on September 29. Enjoy routes along the water in a relaxed setting. Routes of 9-100 miles will be offered.

Online Classes

We’ve got a great recovery day activity too! Join in on one of our Webinars to learn more about biking initiatives. See our dates and topics here.

On August 29, a Chesterfield Virginia resident wrote a letter to the editor in the Richmond Times asking why cyclists should not be required to have license if they have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists.

Later in the day someone asked my opinion on the matter. My gut reaction was “No! That’s Terrible.” But I may have answered that wrong. The question nagged me as I drove home from my meeting and well into the afternoon. What I’ve written here are my opinions on the pros and cons of such an idea.

Barrier to Access

I first said no to this idea because the first thing that came to mind was that creating barriers for riding was harming people who need to be able to ride the most. While car ownership is common in the US, operating, maintaining, and owning a car is expensive. In some areas car ownership is not as important as other places and often depends on population density and availability of public transportation. Wikipedia has a chart of car ownership by city that provides some interesting data. We work in Virginia though, and understand that public transportation does not serve the bulk of the state’s residents.

Data from responsibleridesva.org suggests that rural Virginians are often without needed transportation; in some areas 1 in every 12 households does not have a car that needs a car. These families are often in the lowest economic levels and do not have access to good public transit. Biking is an important choice for them.

How many people that need to bike are undocumented or do not have good identification or even a permanent address? What about the now homeless man or woman that is trying to get back into society?

So how do people in this situation get around to work, run errands, and go to the doctor?

Walk. Bike. Bum a ride. Probably yes to all of these.

In my mind this is the group that would suffer most from having another barrier to biking for transportation.

A Hassle

Secondly, I think that having to get a license would be too much trouble for many people who might want to take a short bike ride for exercise or to run an errand. Would a license requirement be one more barrier to a highly effective and enjoyable form of exercise?

Biking burns more calories than many other forms of exercise. It’s easy on joints. It takes you to farther places. So making one more blockade might just perpetuate that cycle of obesity and failing health that our community is falling into.

I ask, why would we want to keep people from being active when inactivity and disease cost all of us money? Sickness and disease cost us all in higher insurance and healthcare costs. It costs our employers more (sick time and cost of benefits) and that’s money that could be going back into company development or salaries. You don’t just pay for your own health conditions, but that of everyone around you at work and in your community.

We should be encouraging everyone we know to exercise.

When?

So, would you license the 5 year old or the 80 year old? Riding a bike is one of the great freedoms that we enjoy, no matter the age. When you are too young to own and drive a car and when you are not able to drive your car any longer your two wheeled friend is ready and waiting. If you can pedal, you can ride. Heck, even if you can’t pedal you can get an electric assisted bicycle!

Know the Rules

On to the pro side of things. I can understand the point that the commenter was making, bicyclists should have to demonstrate a knowledge of the rules of the road. I completely support the idea that we should know the traffic laws for biking. Bicycle law would be a great thing to teach in school. It could easily be part of PE or driver’s ed. We could have more bike specific questions on the driving exam.

Obey or Pay

Every vehicle on the road should obey the traffic laws that are designed to make everything flow smoothly and keep YOU and ME safe. Cyclists should signal their turns. Ride predictably. Stop for traffic signals. When cars fail to do these things it’s a problem. And there are consequences such as tickets and fines and insurance increases. I think that cyclists should face consequences too. I’m fine with tickets and penalties. As a matter of fact, it’s happening now, more people are getting tickets for cycling infractions like failure to stop.

What is the Right Answer

I’ll admit, this problem like many in life has no easy answer. I do think communities could do a lot to raise expectations for people that ride bikes. The culture of both knowledge and respect should be there, in the faces of residents who ride and drive.

Cycling is a good solid answer to many problems. Crowding and congestion. Parking and greenspace balances. Lower Cost Infrastructure. Affordable ownership and Operation. Exercise. Social connectivity to the places where we live, work, and play.

• Start in schools. Include conversations about bicycles from early on. Teach the possibilities and the responsibilities.
• Send the message to the masses. Teach everyone what it means to Share the Road. PSA campaigns. Ads. Billboards. Go big and LOUD with the information that everyone should know but may have forgotten or never learned.
• Enforce. If your community tolerates bad behavior from cars and bikes alike then the blame lies across the board.

Changes like this take time. Every community will need to assess their own unique situations and needs. It’s not hard to begin though, you can start today in making a positive change, read up on cycling and Share the Road Tips and biking laws on our website. Pass it along to someone you know. You can also become a partner in Cycling and Pedestrian Awareness Week, we’ve got lots of resources for communities, businesses, and individuals.

Inspiration. Ideas. Answers. Learn how to make your community a better place to live, play, and work.

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9/5 10am  Dr. Ralph Buehler, Virginia Tech Assistant Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning “Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling: Lessons from Europe and the U.S.”

Get inspired by Dr. Buehler. This visual tour is great for planners, interested citizens, advocates, community leaders, and policy makers as it explores the possibilities for better practices, infrastructure, and programs.

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9/12 3pm Dr. Kim Perry Executive Director Bike Virginia and Dick Elder Vice Chair of Bike Virginia  “Creating Safer Group Rides for Clubs and Events”

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9/19 3pm Thanh Dang, Public Works Planner in Harrisonburg and Jeremy Holmes, Coordinator of Sustainability Programs at Roanoke Valley “Paths, Safe Routes, Open Streets Festivals, and the Car-less Brit Experiment”

9/26 3pm Christy Dunkle, Berryville Town Planner and Berryville Police Chief Neal White “The Berryvile Police Department Bike Rodeo Program and Education Efforts”

An ongoing bike education program in Berryville Virginia reaches children with important bike safety messages. Learn how they do it and how you can start a program in your own community.

REGISTRATION OPENS SOON. Check back here for a link to our Webinar Hosting Provider.

The formula for PMT is as follows.

In the whitepaper on the study Dave explained the unit of measure, Thus, a bus with 20 people that travels 5 miles has completed 100 passenger-miles-traveled (PMT). A bicycle that travels 5 miles has only completed 5 PMTs.”

Two graphs are provided below from Dave’s white paper showing the Lifecycle Assessment results. Clearly, human powered forms of transportation including bicycling and electric bicycle are ideal choices for positive environmental impact. The study also showed that there is important economic impact, in the form of lower fuel needs for human powered transportation.

Interestingly Dave concluded that bus transportation can be the most environmentally friendly form of travel and also the worst form of transport for the environment. The impact was drastically affected by the number of riders on the bus, poorly populated buses are both resource and emission intense.

To read more on this study check out the whitepaper and later revision. In speaking with Dave about this study she indicated that these documents are not peer reviewed but the study was conducted using valid standards and that she hopes this work will encourage conversations and smart decisions about resources and emissions related to transportation.

Dave’s revised findings are displayed in the graphs below.

Yesterday  I read the blog called Eatocracy which talks about a variety of food related topics from social subjects to recipes. The featured story was about small farmer’s challenges in making ends meet, “Who you calling rich, a farmer shares some hard data”. The story was eye opening and as I read all the way through the post and the comments section I started to think about the similarities between bicycling and sustainable slow food  or locally grown, small farm produced sustenance. Both biking and local farming are simple solutions to a complex problem. Solutions that go well back into our earlier history, back before mega farms and super highways.  Seems as though everything has gotten bigger…including or especially waistlines.

No longer do we have quaint small towns with sidewalks and low speed roadways that connect the places we live with the places we work, play and shop. Instead we have strip malls and urban-sprawl-mega-plexes. To venture out of most neighborhoods you must get inside your steel cage on wheels.

Long gone is the day of growing our own foods or relying on what is grown seasonally in our region. We have farms that raise thousands and thousands of animals in feed lots and acres of accelerated crops that have been genetically modified to produce more yield in less time.

We’ve turned our back on one of the most simple forms of transportation. Our body. We neglected to foster the growth of human powered movement in biking and walking and opted instead for what is faster and bigger, first the motorbike, then the car, then the SUV and 18-wheeler. This convenient forgetting about simple transportation happened at the same time we slid from local agriculture to feed lots and heavily polluting farms, and we’ve shifted to a highly processed diet that’s filled with GMO foods and an every decreasing biodiversity. Have you seen the perfectly shaped vegetable the strawberries that are as big as you hand? Nature didn’t work that way to begin with until industrial farming got in full swing just as we didn’t grow with a steel exoskeleton and a 5.7 liter V8 engine although you practically need one to survive getting to work these days.

When our governments were investing in those giant 5 lane roads and letting development sprawl out into disconnected cul-de-sac neighborhoods that let our town centers wither and collapse they were also giving subsidies to the biggest of big farms but letting the small farms die.

Our communities would be healthier in so many ways if we’d revisit these very simple ideas. The physical health of residents would improve if they could bike for errands and to school and work. Communities are healthier when they have access to affordable, fresh food. Exercise and nutrition are the foundation of wellness on every level.

We’d be more economically sound. The cost of operating a bicycle is extremely low, estimated at around $120 (Bikeleague.org) per year while the cost of operating a car costs is well over $5,000 per year (AAA.org).  Access to affordable transportation makes enormous impacts on families. One in four needy families does not have a car. Imagine communities were you don’t have to depend on cars, but can bike to the store, or walk to good jobs.

Creating an environment that supports local agriculture on small farms makes this same kind of economic sense. This could bring jobs through agriculture. This could preserve land for agricultural use. Small farm farmers make excellent stewards of land. Local agriculture can bring not only work, but affordable healthy food within reach, to communities that are now sometimes food desserts. 

The economic benefit of biking infrastructure and local food does not stop there. A growing number of people want to live where they have transportation choices and where they can access good food. Studies have shown increased property values in homes and businesses adjacent to bike paths. Businesses show benefit from having locations that can be accessed by bike and foot in addition to car and also benefit from being in low speed corridors where they are visible to the passerby. Housing trends have shown an increase in property sales in communities where you can walk or bike to work and to shop.

Our carbon affect on the environment would be lessened by both local food and bicycling programs. We can reduce the dependence on fuel burning transportation. Food miles equal carbon fuel use in almost every situation whether transported by truck, rail, or air.  Cutting car miles has the same impact. An individual can reduce their carbon footprint by 90%. The carbon impact of riding a bike is practically non-existent and has only to do with manufacturing of the bike equipment. Once you hit the road you’re running on calories, and on a good day a little bit of a tailwind.

While there are many similarities in the great things that both slow food and biking can do for our lives, the battle to bring both of these practices into focus is a long hard climb. Public misconception and lobbying against giants compete hard to be the biggest hurdle. In the Eatocracy blog article someone posted a comment that said we should not have to pay for food after all those government subsidies paid to the farmers. We hear the same kind of shallow, uninformed comments on the bike. One of the most common arguments against bicycles on roadways is that we don’t deserve to ride on the road because we didn’t pay taxes. The irony is that we all pay for the roads, and 99% of bicyclists also use or own a car. And the sad truth in the farming world is that only the giant company farms are getting government subsidies for a very specific kind of crop yet the public has a very different perception. The reality is actually that the average net earnings on 75% America’s farms was $2,615. That kind of truth has lead to an astounding fact that 330 farms go out of business each week, and we have 5,000,000 fewer farms than in the 1930s.

I hope that the public will become more aware of how these simple ideas, growing food in our communities and supporting bicycling can help create better health, economic well being, and ease the burden on the environment. That’s why I am here trying to do my part in getting communities on the road to better biking. The data is clear that so much could improve if we’d just add bike lanes and paths, just like it makes sense to work on sustainable food supplies, now we just need to get the right people to listen.

I’ve always loved grass roots movements. Those companies with employees that make great things happen or political movements that start with a single voice are really inspiring. It’s wonderful to think of what we can do when we set our mind to it!

When I was studying for my doctorate in Educational Leadership, I spent a significant amount of time exploring the idea of grass-roots, employee driven success in companies and schools. Who better knows a business than the person who works the front line, the one who hears customers voices. It’s hard to imagine that someone in a palace office surrounded by glass should ever discount what their employees see and envision. I grew to appreciate the idea of listening to the dreams and hopes and concerns of the people that worked for me, the front line and learned that by far the majority of people can make great improvements if just given the chance.

I think communities work best this way too. Where voices on the front line call for change and create the vision of what can be. Bottom to top leadership.

Now, let’s talk about bicycle advocacy in that light. Shouldn’t elected leaders listen to the people who live, and work, and play in their represented communities. Yes, they should.

I’ve found that in many many cases this works. An idea, a vision, a letter, even a complaint sometimes can be the trigger to make an elected official start paying attention. Sometimes it is just a matter of being heard. Then heard again.

A single voice is the beginning.

If there is something you believe, you should take it to the top. Ask for it, for that bike path, or that park, or getting a bike lane striped on the roads. Point out how the change in your community will benefit everyone, not just you. Make a big case with facts. It will be hard to forget.

Then get your friends involved. Reach out to other people. Think broadly. The more people from diverse backgrounds that you can get to speak up, the more power your movement will have.

Three people did this very thing in Richmond, Shane Cusick, Jay Paul, and Champe Burnley. We featured their story in our Case Studies  section on our resources website. Cusick, Burnley and Paul asked mayoral candidates how they felt about biking. Then they pursued a meeting with the mayor upon his election. Today, 3 years later there’s a 20 plus multidisciplinary member Mayor’s Commission specifically addressing bicycling and pedestrian issues. Real change is happening and it is thanks to the voice of those three men.

Here’s how to mount a “Mission” for bicycling in your community.

1. Study up on your subject that you want to ask for? Get to know what’s happening in the bike world related to your idea or need. You might like to read this blog post on How to Talk to a Conservative
2. Create a concise “elevator speech” of no more than 2 minutes.  Get your facts out fast, don’t be aggressive. Be factual and determined but nice about it. Remember the old saying “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”.  It’s a good idea to consider the different opinions of your audience. Check out this article about “how to talk to a conservative about cycling.”
3. Figure out who are the decision makers in your community. Plan on contacting a few people. Maybe a board of supervisors, or the Mayor and his staff, look for a regional transportation planning office.
4. Create a letter or email. Have someone proof read it and give you opinions. Ask the right person to do this. Think teacher, mentor, other community leaders, etc…
5. Find fellow supporters. Give them a sample email or letter with the right contacts. Make it super easy to follow through. The less effort the better. Be sure to thank them in advance for taking the time do to this important task.
6. Follow up. Write again. Ask for a meeting. Attend a public meeting. In general, keep the topic alive.
7. Look for local media that might like a story. This is a great way to draw attention and get other people to come forward to support your mission. Just remember this also opens you to public critique. That’s not a bad thing, it can help you strengthen your case by identifying what people’s passions on the topic are. Just don’t let this aspect discourage you.

Lately I’ve been getting more engaged with slow food and locally grown agriculture, a philosophy in the food circles seems to ring true to bicycling. Chef Jay Pierce of Greensboro NC (Eatocracy.com) and Author Wendell Berry wrote recently that every food purchase we make is a political act. When you buy local, or buy organic, or insist on products without High Fructose Corn syrup you are making a statement. I think we have the same power to effect change in biking too. Every time we get on the bike instead of taking a car we are making our desires known. Every time we write to our elected leaders we make our needs heard. Those actions can have major rewards. You’ve just got to raise your voice in just the right way to be noticed.

Dye’s beginnings as a rider are humble. His first ride on the trail left him with legs that were nearly noodles, a recent article in Blue Ride Outdoors accounts. After increasing his fitness Dye began his longer regular rides of the trail. Now the 80 year old still enjoys the fitness aspect but says the people are what keep him coming out day after day.

The Virginia Creeper Club recognized Dye as their official Trail Ambassador. His service to the trail has gone beyond riding and cleaning up, he’s also served as a board member for the club which oversees trail maintenance and sustainability.

Each year the trail receives over 200,000 visitors. A thriving economy has been built around the trail’s users in a once economically challenged area. The benefits of the trail on both the health of the community and the economy of the trail have been well documented.

The trail building was not without conflict though. Early in the process landowners were hostile in their attempts to reclaim the land from the railroad. Murray, writing for Blue Ridge Outdoors described “lawsuits, heated town council meetings, and a series of sabotages”. Thankfully trail advocates prevailed and the benefits of the trail continue to be felt setting an example for the world on the true potential for multi-use trails.

A Study by the University of Georgia for the Virginia Department of Conservation found just how powerful the trail’s impact is. See some of the facts and numbers here…

June was the first recipient of the Trail Angel award from Adventure Cycling and the award now bears her name. She played host to over 11,000 riders on the Transcontinental Bike Route (Bike Route 76) on the leg of the route located in Nelson County Virginia.

Riders from all 50 states and 50 countries met June and enjoyed her warm hospitality. In an interview June said she loved meeting the riders because she had always hoped to travel but was never able to. Meeting people from far and near connected her to a world she would never get to see.

Read a lovely news story from 2009 about June here. June’s health began to fail some time ago and she passed from complications of a stroke at age 91. Sure to be missed, June’s memory is now lives on in the hearts of riders around the world.

The guide has been called “an indispensable resource for those who want to start or improve open streets initiatives in their own communities.”

Virginia is currently home to only one Open Streets initiative, the Roanoke Cyclovia. Our organization is proud to have been a sponsoring entity of that event at it’s conception. The event, based on the Winnipeg Open Streets Model, uses a 1.25 mile section of road that is closed to motor vehicle traffic for the day. The first event was held in 2009 and the project continues to grown and improve each year. Ride Solutions/Bike Roanoke are the founding and organizing coordinators.

The printed copy of the guide sells for $24.95 and is available here through the Alliance for Biking and Walking. Download a free copy here.