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Promoting the bicycling lifestyle in The Buckeye State
Public Bike Meetings in Akron and Kent
Posted by on March 26, 2011
The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) agency is holding public meetings in order to receive feedback on the draft Summit/Portage County bike users map. The map can be accessed here.
Two meetings in two locations are scheduled:
April 13, 2011, 6:30pm
Highland Square Branch Library
807 W. Market St.
Akron, OH 44303
April 27, 2011, 5:30pm
Kent Free Library
312 W. Main St.
Kent, OH 44240
Stark Cycling Center thrives, expands
Posted by on March 14, 2011
Founded less than a year ago, the Stark Cycling Center bicycle co-op, located in Massillon, is moving to a new, larger space. Read more details in this article from the Canton Repository. The Center can be reached at 330-689-6376 or starkcyclingcenter@gmail.com.
People for Bikes – Sign the Pledge
Posted by on March 12, 2011
The National Bike Summit has just concluded yesterday, where hundred of cycling advocates from around the country visited our representatives in Washington, DC to talk about the benefits of cycling. This kind of work is slow to see progress, but I’m glad there are people out there who have the time and dedication to do it.
If you’re like most people, you’re probably thinking, “I’d like to help, but who has the time?” Fortunately, there are two things you can do to help, even if you don’t have the resources of a full-time, or even part-time advocate:
- Join your local bicycle advocacy organization or cycling club. Even if you don’t have the time to devote to be actively involved in the organization’s activities, the act of your joining means one more name on the roster, and numbers mean a lot to local officials when they make decisions. Plus, the 15 or 20 bucks of your annual membership fee helps a lot for all of the organization’s little expenses that add up, like web hosting fees and photocopying. And who knows, you may end up making a new friend or riding partner in the meantime.
- Sign the Pledge at peopleforbikes.org. This organization hopes to raise the profile of cycling on a national level by showing the world just how many people care. You are welcome to sign the pledge whether you ride on the roads, or are a mountain biker, commuter, or ride just for fun. Over 200,000 people have already made the pledge. It’s easy, it’s free, and it makes a difference.
Google needs our expertise on biking around town
Posted by on March 1, 2011
Last year, the cycling community was abuzz with the news that Google had implemented the Biking Directions feature in Google Maps. Rather than try to re-hash the issue, I’ll just let you read this guest editorial written by Rob Allen for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News magazine:
I am proud to know the best way to get around my neighborhood, by bike. Not all these routes are obvious. If I were visiting your town, I’m sure you would lead me on the safest, most pleasant bike route, wherever we might go.
Fellow bike riders: We have valuable expertise. Google Maps has a new feature, providing directions by bike. This will be a very useful tool one day, after it has received our input. Google doesn’t have enough digital data to provide the best routes to use by bike. We need to use our extensive local bike knowledge to update their limited information.
When Google introduced Google bike earlier this year I tested it on three slightly obscure routes and it failed three times. A few weeks later I returned and found that one of the routes had been corrected!
Google bike is in “beta,” which means we can update it. We must!
Go to maps.google.com. Click on “get directions.” You will see a four-part menu bar providing auto, bus, pedestrian and bike icons. When you click on the bike icon and put in your departure and destination locations Google will provide a recommended bike route. If you think Google has this wrong, then you can correct it. You will see the notification that “bicycle directions are in beta.” At the bottom of that paragraph, click on the blue “here.” This will allow you to correct the bike route directions by following Google’s instructions. Here’s how it worked for me:
I updated two routes in my neighborhood. Very quickly I got two Google no-reply e-mails, acknowledging my input. A little later I got two more e-mails informing me that my updates were correct, confirming that Google would correct the Google maps site. These e-mails also promised a third pair of e-mails when the site was updated. About three months later I got the final e-mails confirming that the site had been updated. I checked to be sure and it was.
This is an easy process, though it take some time for Google to do the update.
Check it out. Correct it where needed.
Google bike will be a fantastic tool when it contains our collective industry knowledge.
Rob Allen is the territory manager for Northern California and Northern Nevada for Raleigh America. He can be reached at r.allen@raleighamerica.com.
In summary, Google Maps Biking Directions may not be perfect yet, but it will only get better with the help of the experts, i.e. US! I’ve submitted a couple of corrections myself, and the process was pretty much the same as Rob described.
If you’re curious about the details, in one case I had mapped a route through some of the western suburbs of Cleveland, and Google Maps had route some portion of it on bridle trails in the Cleveland Metroparks. While the Cleveland Metroparks does have an extensive network of multi-purpose trails for biking and walking, bicycle are not permitted on the bridle trails. I told Google about this, and they updated their data to avoid this problem.
In another case, I was looking for the best way to get from Newton Falls to Ravenna, Ohio, and Google Maps directed me through the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant, which is closed to the public. I got the e-mail notice that Google will be investigating this issue; however, if I pull up the same route again, it still has the incorrect route, so the data has not been corrected yet.
Columbus mayor continues commitment to Bike City USA
Posted by on February 24, 2011
In last year’s State of the City address, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman outlined his ambition to make Columbus “Bike City USA.” In this year’s address, the mayor reiterated that commitment, with references to past accomplishments and future plans for bicycle-friendly infrastructure. You can read the full text of the speech on NBC4i.com.
On the road again
Posted by on February 19, 2011
I did an indoor trainer session on Tuesday of this week, and planned to get another one in Thursday morning. When Thursday morning came around, the bed just felt too warm and cozy, so I decided to put off the trainer session until Friday.
Thursday evening, I noticed that the weather forecast was looking pretty good for Friday, wither temperatures expected in the low 50’s, so instead of getting on the trainer, I thought it would be a good day to start getting back in the habit of riding to work.
Come Friday morning, that 6:30am inertia starting feeling hard to overcome again, both when it came to riding to work and getting on the trainer. But, I figured taking a real ride outside was the lesser of two evils, so I got my bike, riding gear, and change of clothes organized. As soon as I headed down the driveway, I was very glad I made the decision. The sun was shining, and the air was crisp and cool, but not too cool. The snow and ice had pretty much all melted from the sides of the roads, as well as on the short stretch of bike path that I take out of my neighborhood. The only real inconvenience was the layer of silt and pebbles that collects on the sides of the roads during the winter.
On my way down Route 91, it occurred to me that had I done the hour-long workout on the trainer, then I would have spent a half-hour driving to work, then another half-hour driving home from work. Instead, I was spending an hour riding to work, and an hour riding home from work–two hours total in either case, plus I was getting the added benefit of double the amount of exercise time.
During the day at work, several people commented that it was supposed to cool off considerable by the evening. Since I ended up being actually a little too warm during the morning ride in, I figured I was okay; I’d either be dressed just right or just a little cold. In the end, the temperature during my ride home was a couple degrees higher compared to the morning. It was pretty windy, though, but I was lucky enough to have the wind in my back during the first half of my ride east on Route 303. When I made the turn north on Route 91, the crosswinds knocked me around a bit, but nothing too terrible.
I was surprised when I actually made it home during the last remnants of daylight, another encouraging sign that true spring weather is just around the corner.
Specialized Bicycles Groveport Open House
Posted by on February 11, 2011
Ohio was once home to the factories that produced some of the most recognized names in bicycles: Murray, Huffy, and others. With the exception of a few small custom frame-builders, there aren’t that many bicycles being manufactured in these parts any more. However, the bicycle industry is thriving here in Ohio.
Ohio and other parts of the Midwest enjoy a position in geography that makes us not more than a couple day’s drive from every population center in the eastern United States. That makes Ohio a good choice as a base for warehousing and distributing products made elsewhere around the world. Many of the most well-known names in today’s bike industry take advantage of this by having distribution centers located in Ohio. These include Raleigh USA (in Pataskala), Bianchi USA, Seattle Bike Supply (in Reynoldsburg, distributors of the Redline, Torker, and Lapierre bike brands), and Specialized.
Specialized is based in Morgan Hill, California. They operate a warehouse serving the western US from Salt Lake City, Utah. In December of 2010, Specialized moved its eastern distribution center from Grove City to Groveport, Ohio (both on the outskirts of Columbus), in order to expand their warehouse space and implement other features to make their distribution process more efficient. The company held a grand opening and open house reception on February 11, 2011, and I was among those from the local bike industry and media who were invited to attend.
I drove to the Groveport facility past row after row of mostly featureless buildings, I presumed most of which were in the same business of storing and distributing products. The Specialized building was at the end of the drive on which they are located; fortunately, they had signs and flags posted outside to let everyone know that we were in the right place. I walked in and was greeted by some of the staff, one of whom handed me a bag of schwag, which contained a Specialized Riders Club jersey, a water bottle, a book commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Stumpjumper mountain bike, a sticker, and copies of the Specialized 2011 road and mountain bike catalogs. The bag itself was a re-usable grocery bag (in Specialized red, of course).
I was immediately able to join one of the tours of the warehouse, which was led for my small group of three by Jared, one of the warehouse staff. Jared walked us through the stacks of bicycles, clothing, components, and accessories that were stored in rows of shelving units at least three, sometimes more, rows high. Jared explained that about one-half of the available space is used for bicycles, about one-quarter for what they call “equipment” (anything not a bike), and about one-quarter is currently unused.
The bicycles arrive on one side of the building, and are also shipped to bike stores back out from that same side, using either FedEx Freight or FedEx Ground. The equipment arrives on the other side, and is shipped back out on that side using FedEx Ground. Here’s the equipment side, where orders going to bike shops are packed up and prepared to be shipped out:
The warehouse area was about 63 degrees, but Jared explained that was for our benefit; it’s usually kept colder to save energy. The overhead lighting is controlled by motion sensors, so that lights are only activated when needed in an area of activity. Another energy-saving measure is the use of large industrial ceiling fans, which help to keep the warm and cool air circulating, cutting down on the amount of re-heating that needs to be done to the air (or re-cooling in the summer).
I asked Jared about the employees’ bike commuting habits; he explained that there were quite a few that went to work by bike in the old Grove City location, but now many of them live further away, plus with the cold weather and snow this time of year, there were not many people riding their bikes in. The access road to the industrial park is not very bike-friendly either, with a 55mph speed limit and little to no shoulder, much less any bike lane or trail. Once they get more settled in the new location and the weather improves, they hope to take steps to more actively promote bike commuting. I did notice that they had showers in the restrooms.
Back in the reception area (the staff break room), I enjoyed some refreshments and talked to some of the other guests. I spoke to Lynette Carpiet, a journalist with Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, the bike industry trade publication. She flew to Ohio just to cover this event; being based in southern California, she marveled at how anyone could think of riding in our winter weather!
I sidled up to a group of a few guys, and noticed that one of them was none other than Ned Overend, the mountain biking legend. I asked if it was okay to get a photo with him, and he obliged; he was quite friendly and down-to-earth. We chatted a bit, surprisingly not about his illustrious racing career, but about cycling advocacy. We said he was really impressed with all of the work various groups do all around the country to improve bike access and awareness.
The formal part of the event started after everyone had their chance to take the warehouse tour. Kim Peterson, Specialized’s National Director of Distribution, introduced Jesse Rogers, the manager of the Groveport distribution center in which we were sitting. Jesse is the oldest employee at Specialized, having run the Ohio distribution center from its various different locations since it was first established 29 years ago. He described how the process was run at the very beginning, and how it has evolved and become larger and yet more efficient over the years.
Other speakers included the eastern regional sales manager for Specialized, a representative from the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, a representative from the business development office of Groveport, and Ned Overend, who talked about how the feedback from professional racers sponsored by Specialized goes directly into the product design and development process. Finally, a drawing was held to give away a Specialized Roubaix road bike, and the winner was Matt Ford, an employee of one of the Bike Source stores.
For the final event, the group assembled outside the front door of the building for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Thank you to Specialized for their invitation to this event. You can see more photos in this slide show:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Cleveland Heights and Riverside work to complete bike facilities
Posted by on February 5, 2011
Two stories in this week’s news highlight the efforts of two Ohio communities to improve their bicycle-friendliness.
Cleveland Heights is working to obtain two grants to improve bicycle and public transportation access to neighboring University Heights and the rest of Cleveland. More details can be found in this article in the Sun Press.
The city of Riverside is working to complete a 3.6 mile section of bike trail through the city, completing connections to existing adjacent trails and communities. Funding is in place, but construction cannot begin until easements from several property owners are obtained, along with approval from the city council. A public input meeting is scheduled for February 7. Full details are in the Dayton Daily News.
Winter Cross-Training
Posted by on January 26, 2011
In years past, I’ve done a fair amount of winter riding. This year, however, I can’t seem to get the motivation to bundle up and get out on two wheels, so I’ve not been very good at promoting going by “car less.”
Not that I have any shortage of bikes to ride, but another thing distracting me from my off-season riding is this year’s round of winter bike projects. Each winter, I seem to go through a set of changes to the configurations of my various bikes; not that any of these changes are really necessary, but it’s just something to do to keep things interesting. The problem is, the bike projects are inter-connected, e.g. I can’t finish Bike A because it needs the handlebar from Bike B, which needs the wheels from Bike C, which needs the old crankset from Bike A, etc. I feel like I need a project manager to keep track of it all, but on the positive side, there are worse problems to have.
I’ve been pretty good about putting in some time on the indoor trainer to stay in shape, but yesterday I got out to do some of my favorite cross-training activity, cross-country skiing.
The temperature was about 31 degrees when I left home; I figured that would be perfect, as it was still cold enough that the show would not be wet and sticky, but a relief from the bone-chilling cold in the teens and single-digit temperature ranges that we had over the past weekend.
I drove up to Punderson State Park, in Newbury in Geauga County, Ohio. I skied the Huron Trail (1.3 miles), the Cayuga Trail (2.2 miles), and the unofficial unmarked loop around the perimeter of the golf course (I’m guessing about 2 miles). The snow was in good condition as I had hoped. There were some tracks from previous skiers, although it looked like the last traffic had been before the latest dusting of new snow that had fallen. The only other person I came across was a guy on a snowmobile, which helped in a few cases, as his track packed down the snow in a few spots where the ski track was not well established.
There’s a Sports Center building on the left side of the park access road, but the trails mentioned above (and most of the other trails) are on the right side near the golf course. The Sports Center has a sledding hill, and I’m guessing they probably have snacks, restrooms, and a warm place to hang out and change if you need it, but the web site doesn’t list their hours or services. If you don’t need any of that, then it’s easiest to just park at the golf course (follow the signes) and hop right onto the trails from there.
Public input sought for Towpath Trail route in Tuscarawas County
Posted by on January 22, 2011
The Akron Beacon-Journal reports that the Akron-based Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition is holding two public meetings on January 24, 2011 to solicit public feedback on proposed routes for the segment of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail between Zoarville and New Philadelphia. The first meeting is at 6:00pm in the pavilion at Tuscora Park, 161 Tuscora Ave, New Philadelphia. The second meeting is at 7:30pm in Memorial Hall, 410 N. Wooster Ave, Dover.
