Looking at all of this snow got me search the Web for ideas for winter bicycling. I found this on the NPR.org site to share with you, from a 2007 blog posting by Jill Horner. Look out for those moose holes. – Terry

Jill Homer of Juneau, Alaska, is training to ride 350 miles in the human-powered Iditarod. The race, which starts in February, follows the same route used by the famous dog sled teams.

People sometimes say, “Wow, riding a bike on snow — that’s great. But how does it work?” Snow-biking can be different from regular cycling, so I’ve compiled a list of 10 tips for riding a bike on snow.

1. Think surface area: If you’ve ever used snowshoes before, you know that all that mass at the bottom of your feet can mean the difference between coasting atop power or wading knee-deep in it. Snow bikes work they same way. They incorporate wide tires with a flat profile in order to distribute bulk (you) as evenly as possible, allowing for maximum floatation.

2. Fat is the new skinny. As long as there have been bicycles, there have been weight-weenie types trying to shave grams off wheels. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see a spoke-free wheel sporting tires as thin as razors. But once you slice into snow, skinny tires might as well be razors. Snow-bikers know that fat means float, and have been developing bicycles to accommodate increasingly larger wheels for years. I predict that not too far in the future, someone will build a bicycle frame with room for motocross tires. Look for it.

3. There is no shame in walking. Cyclists hate to admit when they come to a hill or an obstacle they just can’t conquer. I have seen cyclists blow out their knees and face-plant over logs just to avoid suffering the indignity of getting off the bike and walking. Snow-bikers have no such pretensions. We know that bikes are not ready-made for snow, and vice versa. If snow is too soft, or too deep, or too wet, we simply step off and amble along until we can ride again. We learn to enjoy it, like walking a dog, but without the constant slobbering.

4. When in doubt, let air out. Often, snowy trails are what we would call “marginally ridable.” By letting air out of tires, you can increase the surface area and improve your floatation. Sometimes it means riding on nearly flat tires at a pace a snail wouldn’t envy, but, despite what I said in the previous paragraph, it’s still better than walking.

5. Learn your snow types. It’s been said that Eskimos have dozens of different words of snow. Snow bikers also understand the myriad varieties: powder, sugar, corn, hard-pack, sandy, slushy, and so on. Each type comes with its own challenges. But understanding the nature of the white stuff you are trying to ride atop, you can adjust your riding and wheels to meet the conditions.

6. Don’t be disappointed when you fail to set a land-speed record. Snow, like sand, puts up a lot of resistance, and snow bikers are not known for their speed. I have often heard accounts of cyclists who said felt like they were careening down a hill, only to look down and see they hadn’t even breached the 10 mph barrier. In snow races, 10 mph is considered fast. Eight mph is average. Six mph is respectable, and four mph isn’t uncommon. When asked to describe the nature of the 2006 Iditarod Invitational, which was plagued by cold temperatures and fresh snow, third-place finisher Jeff Oatley said, “It was about as intense as a 2.5 mph race can be.”

7. All brakes are not created equal. When contemplating what brakes to put on their bikes, cyclists have all kinds of reasons to choose between disc or rim. But snow bikers, who often find their rims coated in a thick layer of ungrippable ice, have the best reason of all: Rim brakes could mean an icy death by gravity. Go with disc.

8. Re-lubricate and be free. There is nothing that will slow down a snow biker faster than having their hubs freeze up, which is always a possibility when the mercury drops below zero. We have to lube up our moving parts with a special low-temperature grease, sold widely in cold regions like Fairbanks and Minnesota.

9. Stay away from moose tracks. Common injures for road cyclists include road rash and head injuries. Mountain bikers have problems with broken collar bones and bad knees. Alaska snow bikers are always being tripped up by the deep, narrow holes moose leave when they walk through the snow. Avoiding these minefields will help curb post-holing injuries like broken ankles.

10. Stay away from dogs. We talk a lot about fear of angry moose, grumpy bears and rabid wolves, but our most likely animal to have a dangerous encounter with remains the sled dog. They approach so quickly and quietly that we sometimes don’t even have time to jump off the trail. A collision can be disastrous — imagine tangled lines, confused canines and a lot of sharp teeth. Add to that an annoyed musher who’s likely packing heat, and you stir up the kind of fear that convinces snow-bikers to give those racing puppies a wide berth.

Jill Homer blogs at Up in Alaska.

A new interstate road map especially meant for bicyclists has been produced by a coalition of groups, including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Adventure Cycling Association, which chose routes and established a route numbering system deliberately reversed from that of interstate highways. The new road map, complete with its own route numbers, puts together more than 50,000 miles of paved roads suitable for cyclists, linking together cities, byways and off-road trails. The next step is for states to create routes and erect signs. Long-distance bicycling has become an area of focus for many parts of the world. Europe is working on the 38,000-mile EuroVelo network, which will connect a dozen long-distance routes, and Quebec, Canada, last year completed the 2,700 mile Greenway, or Route Verte. The United States does not have that much organization when it comes to a national bicycling scheme but there are a number of routes already mapped out by various organizations, such as the 38,000 miles mapped by Adventure Cycling that include the 4,262-mile TransAmerica Trail from Virginia to Oregon – Burlington (VT) Free Press, 12/8/08

Verdi CAB Meeting

Motorists live in a world with very well defined rules. Two motorists can confidently approach each other with a closing speed of 150 mph and think nothing of missing each other by only a couple of feet. When a motorist encounters a pack of testosterone charged bicyclists with no regard for the rules of the road, he is confused. Confusion leads to fear, fear leads to anger.

The Verdi Citizen Advisory Board had bicyclists on their minds on Sept 4th. They admit that not all bicyclists behave badly but enough do to anger Verdi residents. The CAB’s complaints boil down to two issues: 1) bicyclists don’t follow the rules of the road and 2) they are rude and inconsiderate.

Follow the rules: Bicyclists blow through stop signs, especially as the bottom of Silva Ranch Road, impede motorists by riding more than two abreast and fail to yield in the new roundabout.

Rude behavior: Bicyclists shout obscenities and flip “the bird” at motorists who honk at them when they fail to follow the rules of the road. They purposely impede motorists and then shout “Share the Road” when the motorist is finally allowed to pass.

The Chairman of the CAB offered this example: He was driving his children to work and had to slam on the brakes to avoid a bicyclist that blew through a stop sign. When he honked his horn, the bicyclist made a rude gesture and rode on. The Chairman then had to explain to his children what had just happened, a task he found uncomfortable and difficult.

The CAB was especially critical of riders who race through their neighborhood on Saturday morning with no regard for motorists, the rules of the rode, residents and, apparently, their own safety. I think I know this group. The hammerheads in front are bent on punishing the followers. The followers risk life and limb to keep from being dropped. The result looks and feels just like a continuous sprint from the inside. From the outside it looks like mob chaos. To the motorist that encounters them, it’s quite scary.

Bicycle racers need to remember that the Nevada traffic laws are not suspended when they train on public roads and that they are guests in Verdi. Testosterone is no excuse for rude behavior.

Four things need to happen to make Mayberry’s 3 lane design a success:

1. RTC needs to finish the paint and signage. Some curbs need to be painted red around Roy Gomm Elementary School and a few signs need to be installed. The flashing caution sign near Edgewater needs to be removed, too. These changes need to happen soon so that a true test of the design can begin.
2. Edgewater residents need to learn to make a two-stage left turn to leave their neighborhood during higher traffic times. The first stage is a left turn into the center turn lane. The second stage is to leave the center turn lane and merge with eastbound traffic. Contrary to popular belief, this turn has been legal since 2005. In the old design they had to deal with 3 lanes of traffic at once to make a left turn. In the new design they have to deal with 1 motorist lane and a bike lane at once.
3. Roy Gomm parents need to get comfortable dropping their children off at school in the new design. Engineers call the area in front of the school a “chaos zone” for good reason. It’s a slow motion free for all that should benefit from the increased organization of the new stripping.
4. Recreational and commuting bicyclists need to be seen using the new bike lanes. This design was implemented partially in response to high demand from bicyclists on Mayberry. If bicyclists aren’t seen using these bike lanes, residents in opposition will claim that these lanes are unnecessary. They will be missing the point, of course. The bike lanes are there to make the fearful bicyclist feel safer and encourage them to get out of their cars and on to bikes. They are not there to accommodate the experienced Sunday cyclist who will ride Mayberry with or without bike lanes.

Change is challenging for everyone. Everyone involved need only change their behavior a little to make this new design for Mayberry a success.

Reno’s most popular bike route is about to get a makeover.

Mayberry Drive is by far the most popular bicycle route in the Washoe Valley. Hundreds of bicyclists use it every week, both to commute to and from work and shopping and for recreational rides to lovely Verdi. Not to be overlooked, it is a key piece of the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway, a project enthusiastically supported by the City.

When we’ve ask for a bike lane in the past, the answer from local government has always been 1) “Is it in the long term plan” and 2) “we only put bike lanes on existing roads when they are being widened or otherwise refurbished if there is enough room”. Well, Mayberry Drive meets both of these criteria and it’s time to step up to the plate and put down some paint.

RTC has drawn up plans for a 3 lane solution and a 4 lane solution. The “3 lane solution” has one travel lane each direction, a center turn lane, bike lanes and parking. The “4 lane solution” has 2 travel lanes each direction, parking where needed and intermittent bike lanes.

The Reno City Council will meet at 6:00pm on August 20th in the Council Chambers in Reno City Hall, 1st and Virginia Street, to discuss and decide which solution they want Public Works to implement.

The Nevada Bicycle Coalition strongly supports the 3 lane solution. The 3 lane solution is the only solution with full bike lanes from 4th Street to McCarran. In addition, this configuration is noted for having a traffic calming effect, slowing motorists to a less frantic pace. Full length bike lanes and slower motor traffic both improve the safety of bicyclists on Mayberry and encourage more people to give bicycling a try.

The RTC has some concerns that traffic volumes in 5 to 10 years may require a 4 lane configuration, especially if they can’t get their funding situation fixed in November. Fortunately, roads are slurry sealed every few years and each time RTC will have the opportunity to propose a new configuration for the pavement stripes. It’s just paint…

The Nevada Bicycle Coalition urges all bicyclists in the area to attend the meeting and be counted in favor of the 3 lane solution.

Originally uploaded by Terry McAfee

I just got back from a week long birthday celebration in the wine country of British Columbia, Canada. It’s a wonderful place to celebrate, by the way. While on the way to a lavender farm, this Share the Road sign caught my eye. It’s obviously modeled on the symbol for Yin and Yang, conceptually “two opposing and, at the same time, complementary (completing) aspects of any one phenomenon (object or process)…” according to Wikipedia.

Is that cool or what? You got to hand it to the Canadians to refer to a symbol that, to my mind, accurately captures the relationship between bicycles and autos, two opposing and, at the same time, complementary transportation modes.

One of the most challenging aspects of improving bicyclist safety is getting bicyclists themselves to ride safely. On the back of this Share the Road sign was a little lesson in bicycle safety, the perfect place to give it. Riding against the flow of traffic is a common but very dangerous way to bicycle.

I saw proportionately many more bicyclists in Canada wearing helmets than I see in northern Nevada. Could Canadians be smarter than Nevadans? Perhaps they are just more resolved to living a long life with full mental function. Bicycle helmets may reduce up to 85% of serious head injuries but, alas, they can’t keep you from colliding with a car. For advice in that regard, I recommend this website to you: www.bicyclesafe.com, “How to Not Get Hit By Cars”.

Ridin’ your bike to the river to listen to some strummin’ gui-tar and not having to worry about your front tire going missing…that’s what summer in Reno means to me. The Reno Bike Project and the Nevada Bike Coalition were in West Street Plaza (Brick Park) last Friday, and will be every Friday during Rollin’ on the River to valet park your transportation, leaving you free to enjoy the season. Did I mention it’s free? No gas, no parking meters, no hassle- just pure, Reno-style convenience in a quintessential Reno atmosphere. Last Friday was a blast with the Procrastinating Peddlers volunteering. We parked some SWEET chopper bikes, like the Rat Fink we got to cruise around the plaza, THANKS DUDE!  It was great to see so many people riding downtown, partaking of everything Reno has to offer at a crusin’ pace . Pick up a Reno News and Review to see who’s playing. Next up on our celebrity valet hot list: the cycling assemblyman David Bobzien! So roll by to get your ballot signed and we’ll see ‘yall there!

-carrie

Bikes get the valet treatment in downtown Reno this summer with the Nevada Bike Coalition and Reno Bike Project “Bike Valet” at Rollin’ on the River every Friday at Wingfield Park.

We’ll have a safe, convenient and FREE bike corral in West Street Plaza Fridays from 5-8pm, June 13th through August staffed by friendly and vigilant volunteers. And by volunteers I mean bonafide local celebrities and cyclists just like you, like City Councilman David Aiazzi, Assemblyman David Bobzien and others looking out for your trusty Trek and talking to people about cycling issues in Reno. We’ll have a different influential celebrity each week so check back to find out who you’ll want to come meet next.

So no more driving around the blocks of one way streets looking for a place to parallel park. And don’t worry about buying popcorn at the theater just to get your parking validated, either. The last time I parked in the alley off 1st st. a guy with a blanket over his shoulder and missing one shoe offered to park my car for me. That was nice. But not this summer. This summer friendly valet attendants will park your bike inside a barricaded corral and retrieve it for you when the concert is over.

Directly across the river from Wingfield Park, our Bike Valet in West Street Plaza couldn’t be more convenient. A fantastic opportunity to save a few bucks on gas and meet some great people.

If you’re worried about your commute back to the south meadows area after the beer and sun goes down, consider parking someplace a little closer with your bike in the car and riding from there. You’ll still be saving gas, reducing congestion, and LOOKING AWESOME, but won’t have to commit to 20+ miles at the end of a long week. Any ideas of good places to park in close proximity to downtown? Leave a comment and get the wheels a rollin’! See you there!

-Carrie

Well geeze, if you don’t know that Friday May 16th is Bike to Work Day…you must be OK with the rising price of fuel and the growing expanse of your waistline. These things are not so hot in my book, so I’ll be down at Papa Wheelies Friday morning , the only place in town giving out free fuel for your ride. They will be flippin’ pancakes and serving hot coffee starting at 6am so you can breeze in to your job and grab that front row parking space, the bike rack!

Yes, yes, you don’t know a quick route from your home to your job. You don’t want to have helmet hair for that biweekly staff meeting where there’s always way to yummy donuts. Well, what can I say…you could easily burn upwards of 200 calories on your ride into work, and save a few bucks on that gallon of gas…might it be worth it? Open up Google Maps and look at some side roads that connect the dots between your home and destination. Those 25mph zones you avoid while speeding in late to work are great for a safe and energizing ride to start, what I predict, will be a highly productive work day, and the beginning of a long and sustainable life style. See you on the road!

-Carrie