The rules for the Bike to Work Week Corporate Challenge have been posted on the Bike Carson Corporate Challenge page HERE. Time to start building your teams and enter the competition!
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Nevada Bicycle and Pedestrian Conference
The Nevada Bicycle and Pedestrian Conference will be held May 20-21 at the Mont Bleu in Stateline. A flier is available, as well as a web page. The detailed agenda will be available soon.
The conference is for people interested in Safe Routes to School, Pedestrian Design, Bicycle Design, ADA Design, Safety, Education, Enforcement, Maintenance, Advocacy, Event Planning, Bike Tourism, Alternative Mode Accomodation, and Planning.
AB 247 bike bill moves to Senate
AB247, the bill which improves bike law by allowing bicyclists to signal a turn once rather than continuously, and to use the right arm for a right turn, has passed the Assembly and moved to the Senate. The Senate Committee on Energy, Infrastructure, and Transportation will hold a hearing on AB247 on Friday, April 24, at 8:30AM, in Room 2135. Info at http://www.leg.state.nv.us/75th2009/Reports/History.cfm?ID=497 . This bill, introduced by Assemlyman David Bobzien, deserves our support. It is not as strong at the orginal bill that had language about sidewalks and sidepaths, but it is real progress.
Street Skills for Cyclists
learning on the road with the group
Learn how to safely and confidently use your bike for everyday transportation! The League of American Bicyclist’s Traffic Skills 101 course is being offered in Carson City on May 21 and 22 (Thursday evening and Friday), following on the Nevada Bicycle and Pedestrian Conference. Muscle Powered is one of the course sponsors.
The course is great for educators, whether PE teachers or others who work with adults and children, bicycle commuters who want to feel safe and confident sharing the roads with cars, and for recreational riders who just want to have more fun.
Some people think “but I already know how to ride.” This class will teach you how to confidently take your rightful role as a vehicular bicyclist on the road, and teach you about the most common causes of injury and death for bicyclists and how to avoid or reduce these dangers. The opportunity to share ideas and experiences with other local bicyclists is a reward in and of itself. Yes, the nine hour course is a significant commitment of time, but isn’t you and your bicycling experience, and your life, worth it? We hope you will join us!
The instructors for the course will be Bruce Mackey from Hanford, California, formerly with the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, Charles Nelson, an avid bicyclist from South Lake Tahoe, and Dan Allison, Muscle Powered member and Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Carson City.
Details about the course and registration information are at http://srts.raincloudpub.com/profdev/ts101.shtml.
Bike Month News
The latest Bike Month News can be found on Bike Carson HERE.
Please note there is a Bike Month planning meeting on Wednesday, April 22nd!
Bicycle Routes in Carson City
Bicycle Lane on Silver Sage
Muscle Powered member Dan Allison has created a bicycle routes wiki for Carson City. This information supplements the Carson City Bicycle Map (see resources page) which was published by Muscle Powered and partners, by providing more detail about the routes and their condition. By identifying places that need improvement, as well as hazards, it will help Carson City enhance its bicycle routes and become a more bicycle friendly city.
The reason for using the wiki format is so that bicyclists in the community can add and correct information. If you would like to contribute, send an email to Dan (allisondan52 at gmail.com) from the email address you’d like to use, and you’ll be added as a user.
Muscle Powered Hike in Ash Canyon
On April 4th, Muscle Powered board members got together to hike the Ash Canyon trail network. A few friends came along too, including Kerstin Wolle, president of the Carson Valley Trails Association.
At the Trailhead
Earlier in the year, Muscle Powered attended the CVTA annual meeting, a presentation showcasing the wonderful trail network they have built in the Jobs Peak area. We were inspired at the number of attendees at the meeting. It was standing room only, the building full of enthusiastic supporters for trails in the Carson Valley. On the way home we decided we needed to do something like this in Carson City, and wondered if Muscle Powered would be the ones to do it.
Climbing the 7 Steps Trail
After much discussion between the Muscle Powered board members, we had a meeting with Carson City Parks and Recreation and Mark Kimbrough from the Tahoe Rim Trail Association. We explored the possibilities of Muscle Powered branching out to become a trails organization. Mark shared his trail building wisdom, and Parks and Recreation was excited about the idea of forming a trails partnership with Muscle Powered. The plan would be to start off simple; adopt an existing trail and maintain it. The sites are currently set on portions of the Ash Canyon trails that are on city land.
Ash Canyon
Saturday’s hike was a great opportunity to present the trail to all the Muscle Powered board members, and meet a few new friends. The blue sky offered great views of the snow capped mountains, and signs of spring were everywhere. Green grass, flowers, new buds on the trees, and a swift running Ash Canyon Creek. Normally I ride this loop on my bicycle, but it was nice to walk the trail for a change. My son came along, and he had a great time. The loop trail we did was the perfect length for a family outing.
Much still needs to be done, and many things would need to fall into place for Muscle Powered to adopt a trail, but we’re off to a good start. Stay tuned for further developments.
More pictures from the hike can be found HERE.
