Who is looking to preserve New Jersey's dirt and gravel roads?

Earlier this month we saw the very successful running of the 7th Annual "Hell of Hunterdon, a challenging, semi-competitive ride that features some of the most beautiful, scenic roads in Hunterdon as well as Somerset and Mercer Counties.  Modeled after the Spring Classics of Europe, the main feature of this ride are the numerous sections of dirt and gravel roads that offer an extra challenge for the riders.

A cyclist's eye view of the 2009 running.  Photo - Hell of Hunterdon.

However, dirt and unpaved roads are also called, "unimproved roads" and engineers hate things that are unimproved or not quite up to modern AASHTO standards.  Near the Hell of Hunterdon route, Long Hill Road in Hillsborough was paved about 10 years ago.  Closer to Lambertville, Mill Road part of this years ride in West Amwell was also paved not so long ago.  How long before more and more of what makes the Hell of Hunterdon a "Modern New Jersey Classic," is paved?  Will Montgomery Road get chip-seal next?  What about Lake Road?  Quarry?  Or super scenic and quiet Stompf Tavern Road that rises from the Delaware River next to a creek bed just upstream from Bulls Island State park?  Will the lovely "Hell" be entirely lost someday soon?

But dirt roads are much more than a challenge ultra-fit road cyclist on a moody spring weekend.  As my friends and I found out, dirt roads can also provide a wonderfully scenic and quite hiking/walking experience.  In West Amwell's and Hopewell Township's Pleasant Valley, Hunter Road (a dirt road close to through traffic due to a rickety bridge and also featured in the Hell) and several others made for a great walk.  It was such a pleasure passing through some of the most scenic landscapes in New Jersey without worrying about cars.  It's called Pleasant Valley after all!

My friend Paul walks south on Hunter Road with Kuser Mountain behind.

My other friend Adam crosses Moores Creek on the bridge closed to motor traffic.

Dirt roads also provide places for people to ride horses as well.  In the ultra-wealth enclave of Bedminster, many of the roads have purposely been left unpaved for horseback riding.  This also has the added bonus of keeping the "riff-raff" out in their Chevrolets (but not my friends and I on our bikes).  And that is likely the ultimate benefit of dirt roads.  They are very effective at preventing most New Jersey drivers from using them as short cuts and therefor provide a quite respite for the adventurous sole that might be on foot, bike or horseback.

Unfortunately, except in some rich locals, no one is looking to preserve and maintain dirt roads as they are.  Admittedly as traffic become slightly heavier on these once hidden roads, it likely becomes more cost effective for local officials to pave them.  That is likely what happened on Mill Road in West Amwell and Long Hill Road in Hillsborough.  But something is also lost when the steamroller comes.  Driver speeds increase and that coziness of a bygone era seems to evaporate.  And in rapidly developing New Jersey, we need places that we can step back into a bygone era and quaint little dirt roads are one of those places.

Who's going to fight to save the dirt roads?

Will a slight uptick in the economy mean a return to sprawl in New Jersey?

It's BAAACCKK!!!!

Yes suburban sprawl is alive and well once again in New Jersey and it seems destine to destroy our favorite rural cycling roads.  Prior to the Great Recession, the housing bubble was eating into vast swaths of what makes New Jersey the Garden State.  During that time I personally saw many wonderfully charming, quite rural roadways straightened, blown out and widened to modern "safety standards" to accommodate large new car-dependent developments and traffic demands 30 years into the future.  With a slight uptick in the economy my rides have once again been filled with the sight of new housing starts like that seen below.  While the rediscovery of urban centers and urban living have been absorbing much of the housing boom here in New Jersey, old habits still seem to die hard here in our state.  Also the massive amounts of wealth being generated in New York City and the region make the dream of a house out in "the country" (well it was the country till all of you moved here) all too attainable and attractive for those who can still easily afford this style of living.

New "estate homes" being built in an empty field off of wonderfully bikeable and entertaining Burnt Mills Road in
Somerset County.  Much more of this and the traffic volume on Burnt Mills will render the road un-bikable.
BTW - Note the budget bin fiberglass street lamp.  Luxury indeed!

We've talked about the connection between sprawl and the degradation of New Jersey's wonderful rural road cycling before (if you don't understand it, read that old blog article).  Luckily there is something we can all do to slow and hopefully stop New Jersey sprawl once and for all. On this Election Day you can vote YES for Ballot Question #2 which would permanently dedicate a small portion of the state corporate business tax to fund openspace preservation, park maintenance, new trails (!) and new park facilities.  Support is strong for this question in the local New Jersey media.  For details about the question itself see this in the Daily Record.  And here is The New Jersey Conservation Foundation rundown on what voting YES on Ballot Question #2 would mean.

So voting yes on Ballot Question #2 would preserve open space which means preservation of scenic areas we love to cycle, along with the old quirky roads that have so much charm and make cycling in New Jersey so much fun.  It would also provide monies to build and improve trails, parks and park facilities.

A win on Ballot Question #2 is a win for cycling and the overall health of the Garden State.

NJDOT to repair two bridges in Somerset County - Forgets to provide bicycling detours

In some ways NJDOT is a leader in bicycle and pedestrian and Safe routes to School facilitation but in too many others ways its the same old 1960's NJDOT.  Recently NJDOT announce that it will be repairing two bridges in Somerset County which happens to have some of the best road cycling in the state.  Unfortunately NJDOT failed to recognize cyclists needs in their closure plans.

In Franklin Township it will be replacing and rehabilitating the bridge that goes over the Delaware and Raritan Canal on the Weston (Manville) Causeway near Manville.  According to the press release, the bridge will be closed until early summer.  The press release then goes into significant detail about detours for motor vehicles.  However this bridge is directly adjacent to the Canal Towpath which is a very popular bicycle route and part of the East Coast Greenway.  There is also a parking lot on east side of the canal which serves the Tow Path on the west side (not seen in the Google image below).  The bridge to be closed is the only access from the parking lot to the path.  While it may be inevitable that the bridge will need to be closed to all forms of traffic, there are no details given about how this project might effect or even close the Tow Path.  There is no information if pedestrian and cycling access might be maintained over the bridge during the project, and if not, a detour for bicyclist and pedestrians that might be not be so effected by detoured motor traffic.



While cyclists familiar with this area should be able to navigate around the Weston Causeway closure with only little problem, further north in Bedminster, the closure of Burnt Mills Road as bridges are rebuilt over both I287 and I78 will cause significant inconvenience for cyclists.  This area is exceptionally popular with cyclists as riders will come down from Washington Valley Drive and connect to Burnt Mills Road and the fantastic cycling roads to the west.  The bridge replacement project will last until the end of 2014.  In the NJDOT press release, detours are given for but use I78 and I287.  It is rather disappointing that the detours given by NJDOT are simply not an option for cyclists and that the press release mentions noting about bicyclist or pedestrian needs.  Fortunately WalkBikeJersey has you covered with the bicycle friendly detour provided below.



We all understand that these bridges need to be repaired and that closure to all traffic; motor, bike and pedestrian is likely the only way to safely get the work done.  However, failure to address the needs of cyclists regarding these road closures by NJDOT in areas that is exceptionally popular with cyclists is just not acceptable today.

Op-Ed: Hey, New Jersey's political leaders! Bicycling Means Business!

I am the mayor of a city.  As far as this discipline is concerned, it's about talent attraction.  It's about attracting business.  I have to create the kind of city that attracts talent.  And putting in bike lanes and trails is a part of that.  People in their teens, twenties and thirties are looking for bike lanes and trails.  They are looking for that kind of connectivity.  They are looking for multi-modal transportation and that's what we are trying to do.

Those are the words of the Republican Mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard, who gave a key speech at this years National Bike Summit.  If you've been following the bike advocacy news this past week you know that the National Bike Summit happened last week.  Maybe you were even lucky enough to go and if you did, you knew that the theme of this year's Summit was "Bicycling Means Business."  To get a good understanding of the gist of the Summit, take a look at this great (as always) rundown video by Clarence at Streetfilms.  Mayor Ballard's speech is in there.


Unfortunately, most New Jersey political leaders remain completely unaware of how bicycling is transforming cities and towns all across the U.S.  Yes there are our darling towns of Hoboken and Ocean City.  Political leader in these towns seem to be "full in," but leaders in other towns that talk a good game on bicycle issues, I believe, don't have a complete grip on what will be require of them and of their towns to make them truly bike friendly.

One major indicator of how serious a community or town takes bicycling is the presence of a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator on full-time staff.  Save for Rutger's University, not one town, county or other institution has a full-time, exclusive bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.  Meanwhile, not far from New Jersey, the City of Rockville Maryland (population: 62,334), is hiring a full-time bike/ped coordinator.  Yes, with only 62,334 people Rockville has there very own full-time bike/ped coordinator!  There are many towns in Jersey that have at least that many residents, and many others with much more.

So why are New Jersey's towns and so late to the table?  Why don't any of our towns or even counties have a full-time bike/ped coordinator?  Why are bike lanes still a rarity in our streetscapes?  NJDOT is an innovator in policy, and Rutgers University hosts one of the few centers in the nation dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian research and Rutgers is also home to John Pucher, the nation's leading bicycle and pedestrian scholar.  Why the disconnect between the state and it's agencies and our local governments where bicycle and pedestrian improvements would be of most use?  

Well one theory is that those other states have nothing better to spend those Federal Transportation Enhancement monies (soon, if not already Transportation Alternative dollars), while New Jersey spends almost all of it to help run and fund the nation's only state-wide transit agency, NJ TRANSIT.  But I think its more fundamental than that.  I just think local leaders still don't "get it." 

There are glimmers of hope outside of the usually places, namely in Jersey City, Newark and New Brunswick but change has been still been slow.  Bike lanes are still rare in these towns but some good ones have popped lately.  However, none of these places have yet made an investment in that big indicator of bike friendliness, a full-time bike/ped director. Even Hoboken and Ocean City haven't yet.

Significant, tangible change needs to happen soon and it will need to happen fast if New Jersey and it's towns hope to catch up.  Other cities outside of New Jersey have woken-up long ago to the power of the bicycle to transform their cities and communities.  Those cities outside of New Jersey are not just riding away from us but are breaking into a full sprint while our leaders are just starting to look at the bicycle, trying to figure out how the thing works, so to speak.  If we don't change fast, New Jersey will continue to see the drain of its young best and brightest to out-of-state cities and towns that do "get it" and know that Bicycling Means Business.

Sourlands Planning Council makes the link between land preservation and great cycling

We at WalkBikeJersey have long made the connection between open-space preservation and New Jersey's superb, if not world class road cycling.  Well now the Sourlands Planning Council is making the connection as well by hosting the Sourlands Spectacular, a hiking and road cycling event, on Saturday September 8th starting at 7:00am.  If you can't make the Gran Fondo on Sunday (like me), then this event could be for you.

If you are not familiar with the Sourland Mountain, it is located on the boarders of Mercer, Hunterdon and Somerset Counties.  It is the last large contiguous forested area in Central New Jersey and it is home to some of New Jerseys best road cycling.  The area's geology has made it near impossible for agriculture and not very suitable for sprawl development.  This fact and progressive forward thinking local leaders determined to maintain the area's natural heritage have nearly halted sprawl development on and near the mountain.  The end result for cyclists is that roads that have long been small, very quite, scenic favorites of New Jersey's cyclists, have remained unchanged for decades.

Enjoying the view on quiet Rocktown Road in Hunterdon County. The farm in the foreground
and much of the forest on Sourland Mountain in the distance are protected from development.
This photo is over 10 years old and this sight on this Rocktown Road remains unchanged.

 

Much thanks needs to go to Micheal Heffler for helping the Sourlands Planning Council make this connection.  He not only got the Council to see that their efforts to preserve the Sourlands has helped maintain the areas world class cycling but also planned the routes for Saturday's ride.

There are three road ride options; a 37 mile, 50 mile and a Metric Century (63 mile).  More info about the event and directions can be found on the Sourlands Spectacular website.

Are Fall leaves turning your bike commute into an unnecessary hazard?

Rt 27 South near Carnegie Lake - Photo M. Hommer

It happens every Fall.  Towns all across New Jersey and elsewhere in the country tell their residents to "pile all leaves at the curb."  Not only does this often squeeze cyclists out of the only place that they feel safe to ride but it also creates an additional hazard as many of these leaves get crushed into a fine puree by passing cars which then turns into an incredibly slippery paste that can drop a cyclist in a split second.

While this is a problem all across New Jersey,  a good friend of mine often finds himself riding on New Jersey Route 27 just north of downtown Princeton.  Every year he tells me that leaves and other yard waste completely block the relatively wide and useful shoulder.  What makes this hazard of particular concern is that this section of Route 27 is also the on-road route of the East Coast Greenway.

Imagine if it was common practice to tell people to block a motor vehicle traffic lane with yard debris.  It wouldn't be tolerated and neither should this practice as there are clear alternatives.   In my town, residents are required to bag their leaves into large paper leaf bags.  Even better, most home owners could compost their leaves on sight and use them to increase the organic mater content in your garden and flower beds.  Brush and branches could be left on the grass off the shoulder and sidewalk.

More photos of the hazards on Rt 27 after the break

US Senate to Bicyclists - GET OFF THE ROAD!!!

Sign the League of American Bicyclists Petition!

Yesterday, I quickly put up a link to a Streetsblog DC article that gave a good rundown of the major aspects of the proposed US Senate transportation funding bill.  While that article was good at giving a overall summary of this big piece of legislation, it did miss this small clause on page 226 of the Senate Bill:

(d) BICYCLE SAFETY.—The Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency shall prohibit the use of bicycles on each federally owned road that has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or greater and an adjacent paved path for use by bicycles within 100 yards of the road.

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  This is a mandatory sidepath law that forces bicyclists off federally owned roads (mostly in National Parks and Forests and military bases) and onto bicycle paths no matter how poorly the pathways are engineered.

Luckily, the hard working folks at the League of American Bicyclists didn't miss this egrigious little detail and fortunately for all of us, they are not going to take this lying down (HINT! This is a great example of why you need to join the League!).  In his blog post (read it!), LAB President, Andy Clarke blasts this clause as "paternalistic," and a "pretty awful" precedent.

Well, you don't have to take this direct assault to your right to ride a bike on a public right-of-way lying down either!  The LAB has put together a quick and easy petition that takes no more than a minute to fill out.  As I write this over 2,100 have already signed this petition and about a hundred people have been signing it every hour.

Make you voice heard in the US Senate.  Remind them that, "You ride and you vote!"

2nd Annual Tour de Long Valley presented by the David Hammar Foundation

I normally don't post about charity rides on WalkBikeJersey but this is a true exception that all New Jersey cyclists should come out to support.  On Sunday, July 31st the David D. Hammar Foundation will be hosting 2nd Annual Tour de Long Valley to support the Long Valley First Aid Squad.

The mission of the David D. Hammar Foundation is to "promote and enhance bicycle safety by providing resources to children, educating the public and supporting activities that raise awareness to cyclists and drivers alike."  The foundation was organized after the fatal crash that took David Hammar's life while he was on a recreational ride in the Long Valley area.  His death was an unspeakable tragedy, made all the more sad as it happened in what is by far one of the most beautiful rural places in New Jersey.

I highly recommend this ride as the cycling in the Long Valley area is very challenging and spectacularly beautiful.  And it's a great cause to boot!  You can't beat that!

Both routes are can be seen by following this link and go counterclockwise.  The 40 miles route has some truly challenging climbs along with great views (I know from first hand experience) and with nearly 1,900 feet of total climbing, will be a great training ride for those of you looking to do the Gran Fondo New Jersey a month later like me (more on that in a later post).

When you are there, also look for the East Coast Greenway Alliance / New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition booth.

New Jersey bicycling photo of 2011

A bit of Portland / Amsterdam comes to Newark

While passing through Newark's Branch Brook Park on Sunday as part of the Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey's 2nd (or 3rd?) Annual Cherry Blossom Bike Tour (which shouldn't be confused with the Brick City Bike Collective's ride of the same name), I came across this most beautiful vision of cycling perfection:

There were just so many things right about this sight which I assume was a mother and her three kids. Seeing them brought such joy to me that day as it does again as I write about this two days later.  When I first passed the quartet, one couldn't help but notice the wide smiles on all of their faces.  It was clear that they were all having a blast.  When I stopped to take a picture of them, I asked if they were from the city or just passing through.  "Captain Mom" replied, "Right here in Newark!"  to which I said, "Perfect! Even better!"

And before you reply telling me all about Bakfiets, cargobikes, and the Danish/Dutch minivan, I'm way ahead of you.  I just hope that sights like this become more common in New Jersey and all around the USA.  With gas prices climbing ever higher I feel its inevitable. 

Star-Ledger covers cycling at Rutgers Newark

Thanks to Streetsblog's Headlines I was made aware of this great story from The Star-Ledger covering bicycling at the Rutgers, Newark campus.  It's great to hear that the University is trying to take a more proactive role it getting its students, faculty and staff to think of the bike, with the use of transit, as a viable means of getting to and from campus.

As a two time alumni of Rutgers, New Brunswick, it would be great to see the Department of Parking and Transportation get more proactive in promoting cycling in and around the five campuses in New Brunswick.  I personally think that while the bus system is fantastic between the campuses, there is really no reason why many of the trips currently taken by bus, couldn't be done by bike.  And reducing bus demand would obviously reduce costs to students in an era of out of control student fees. I think to do this Rutgers should look to hire a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator (hint, hint - I know some one who would be perfect for the job - wink, wink).  And it would be really, really special to see Rutgers try to become a League of American Bicyclists, Bicycle Friendly University.

Come on Jack!  I know your up to it!

Sightline Daily asks, "Who Bikes?" using Pucher, Buehler data

 

Eric De Place, of Sightline Daily put together a few very informative charts in his post that goes a long way to help visualize the numerical reality of who is bicycling in America.  Most notable is the pie chart above that goes far to disprove the false notion that most cyclists are "rich, yuppie elitists."  In fact, that is far from the truth with the poorest making up the largest portion of cyclists but with people of all economic fortunes almost equally represtend.

The data for Da Place's article comes from a new report from our very own John Pucher of Rutgers University and his protegee Ralph Beuhler who is now at Virgina Tech.  The report title "Analysis of Bicycling Trends and Policies in Large North American Cities," take a look at trends in number of large American cities and takes special focus on New York City highlighting its achievements as well as its failures.

I highly advise that you take a look at both De Place's short blog post and Pucher and Beuhler's report.

Videos you can use - Moving Beyond the Automobile: Bicycling

Streetfilms is currently in the midst of a great series called Moving Beyond the Automobile and this weeks installment is focused on bicycling. I figured I'd share it with you all as a bit of fodder to feed your excitement for this Saturday's Bike and Walk Summit.



One note:  It's a shame that of all the towns talked about, there is not one mention of anyplace in New Jersey.  Heck!  Even Columbus, Ohio gets a prop!  Well, then again, I don't think that Philly is mentioned either but it would still be nice to have a town in our state that was at the forefront of this movement to be noticed.

No Duh! Aussie study finds drivers at fault 87% of conflicts with bicyclists

I got wind of this story from Streetsblog's Daily Headlines:

From a site called Bicycle Radar comes the story "Drivers at fault in majority of cycling accidents".
(Read the story first before continuing here.)

As a cyclist who takes my responsibilities as the operator of a vehicle very seriously, I find the results of this report to be right on the money with the reality I see on the streets here in New Jersey. Even when following the letter of the law to my best abilities, I constantly have issues with motorists. Dangerous passing including passing too close, passing on blind turns and passing on narrow roads with oncoming traffic make up the vast majority of issues I have with motorists. Still, such incidents add up very quickly on a 2 hr, 40 mile ride. It's not uncommon for me to have up to 10 such uncomfortable incidents on a ride of such length on roads with very little traffic. I've even had three incidents in the past 14 months where I followed my LCI training, took the lane and tried to waved off the overtaking vehicle on a blind turn or rise, only to have the vehicle ignore my actions go, for the pass and nearly cause a head-on collision with the on coming car. What else can one do to proactively defend one's self on the road!

For those of you interested in more here's the link the abstract of the original study called "Naturalistic Cycling Study: Identifying risk factors for on-road commuter cyclists."

New Jersey Bike Month Events!

Courtesy of the NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian News Digest (all the NJ Bike/Ped News you would ever need, besides WalKBikeJersey of course, once every 5 days).

S Orange / Maplewood BC

May’s 1st Friday Ride… ‘Public Art’
Brick City Bike Collective • Friday, May 7, 2010 – 7pm
http://tinyurl.com/24nkrjh

1st Annual Tweed Ride (New Jersey’s first?)
South Orange / Maplewood Bicycle Coalition • Saturday, May 15, 2010 – 10am
http://tinyurl.com/2fhftv3

Sixth Annual Family Hilltop Bike Ride or Hike
Hilltop Conservancy • Saturday, May 15, 2010 – 11am
http://tinyurl.com/2camzc4

Tour de Montclair
Bike&Walk Montclair • Sunday, May 16, 2010 – 10am
http://tinyurl.com/2bchkfj

14th Annual Bicycle Tour of Edison/Metuchen
East Coast Greenway, Edison & Metuchen • Sunday, May 16, 2010 – 9am
http://tinyurl.com/3xhgtpm

South Orange / Maplewood Bike Week Events (May 16 – 21)
South Orange / Maplewood Bicycle Coalition
http://tinyurl.com/2b688ve

Ride of Silence (three official NJ locations)
Ride of Silence • Monday, May 17, 2010 – 7:00pm
http://tinyurl.com/rc54uq
West Windsor: http://tinyurl.com/27pk83f

7th Annual Tour de Elizabeth
Groundwork Elizabeth • Sunday, May 23, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/2f6b59x

The Jersey City Ward Tour
Bike JC • Sunday, May 23, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/24qsmp5

14th Annual Trenton Bike Tour
Trenton Cycling Revolution • Saturday, May 29, 2010 – 8:30am
http://tinyurl.com/3ybm5jj

Seventh Annual West Windsor BikeFest
WWBPA • Saturday, May 29, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/295n28f

The Lantus Tour of Somerville Cycling Series
(NJ’s premier and America’s oldest bicycle race)
Somerville area • Friday, May 28, 2010 through Monday, May 31, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/2w9oxa3

May 2010 Biking Event Calendar (more events)
NJ Off-Road Biking
http://tinyurl.com/38elekw


For more Bike Month events in the area surrounding New Jersey see the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia Bike Month page and Transportation Alternatives NYC Bike Month page.

NJ Bicycle Coalition's 1st Annual General Meeting

From Jim at the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition:

We'd like to remind you about the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition's first Annual General Meeting, being held this Thursday, 29 April 2010. The location is the Community Room at REI in East Hanover and the meeting will run from 7 pm until 9 pm. Directions to REI can be found here.

The REI facility holds approximately 40 people and we have almost 200 members, so space might be limited. I really don't think that all 200 of you will show up but if all of you do, 40 or so will attend the meeting and remaining 160 will just have to go shopping downstairs at REI. I'm sure that REI would not be too broken up about that!

With no Coalition elections in play at the AGM, we would like to use it as an opportuntity for you to get to know your Board and give us your views on how the organization should progress over the coming year.

One very exciting thing to share with you is that the Alliance for Biking and Walking has awarded NJBC with a $25,000 matching grant (meaning we need to raise $25,000 over the next year to get the Alliance's $25,000). Our primary aim is to hire an Executive Director within the next six months to help move NJBC forward.

Below you will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting, and some proposed discussion points. If you are planning to attend, please let us know so we have an idea of how many members to expect on Thursday.

Jim

Brick City Bike Collective’s Egg-Mazing Race this Saturday

All Roads Lead to Fun in Newark’s Ironbound this Saturday for Brick City Bike Collective’s Egg-Mazing Race.

WHEN: Saturday, April 24, 2010, 10:30am – 1:30pm. Meet at 10:30am at Peter Francisco Park next to Penn Station. End for an awards ceremony at 1:30pm at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge, 150 Lafayette Street.

WHO: Brick City Bike Collective, East Ward Councilman Amador, Ironbound Improvement District, and you!

WHAT: The "Egg-Mazing Race" will be a free two-hour, five-mile bicycle challenge. Riders use a map to find checkpoints, where they solve clues,
complete challenges, and gain points to win prizes. The event ends at Hell’s Kitchen for a closing and awards ceremony, refreshments, and light lunch.
Prizes for both youth and adult riders.

WHERE: The checkpoints and challenges are all located within the Ironbound. The ride begins at Peter Francisco Park (small triangle park next to Penn Station) and ends at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge.

INFO: For more information, or to pre-register, visit www.brickcitybikecollective.org, or call us at 973.937.8443.

Bicyclists using NJ Transit trains will see a 64% fare increase

Hidden in the NJ Transit fare increase debate until the very last moment was the elimination of off-peak fare discounts on NJ Transit trains. These off-peak discounts typically equated to 15% off the price of a peak one-way fare. According to an Asbury Park Press article from Sunday, the elimination of this discount in conjunction with the 25% fare increase will be the equivalent of a 64% increase for riders who use the train during off-peak operations. Since bicyclists using NJ Transit can only use the train with their full size bicycles during off-peak times, they should expect ticket prices far in excess of the widely discussed 25% increase.

My personal calculations did not quite come up with an increase of 64%. Based on a hypothetical $10 peak one-way fare, the old 15% discount for buying an off-peak round trip would make the off-peak one-way equate to $8.50. With the 25% fare increase and elimination of off-peak discounts that old $8.50 off-peak one-way fare will now come to $12.50. My calculations have that increase at 47% which is still massive but who am I to argue with that 64% figure when train fares are already too high and set to go way higher.

I've been a great fan of combining my bike and transit to get about for work and recreation. I would have begrudgingly accepted the 25% increase and kept on using NJ Transit trains during off-peak times for trips where I have the option of using my car. However this massive fare increase will have me saying sayonara to NJ Transit and choosing to use my car for all but trips to NYC and even those might be more economically done by driving to the Staten Island Ferry.

At least I'm not the only person who believes that this off-peak fare increase will devastate off-peak fare-box revenues on NJ Transit.

8th Annual Tour de Montclair, Sunday May 16th 2010

Bike&Walk Montclair and the Montclair YMCA are thrilled to announce a joint celebration — the 8^thannual Tour de Montclair and the Y’s Healthy Kid Day. This community event will be held at Brookdale Park on Sunday, May 16, (rain or shine).

The Tour de Montclair is Bike&Walk Montclair’s signature event held each May during National Bike Month and in conjunction with May in Montclair.

It was attended by over 1000 cyclists last year. This year, cyclists of all abilities are invited to ride one of three routes: a car-free loop within the park, a short on-road route (about 8 miles) and a more challenging “long route” throughout Montclair (about 12 miles) There will be something for everyone!

The theme of this year’s tour, — “I Bike Montclair!”– celebrates the joy of cycling and to encourage people to bike more often. Arrive at 9 AM to check-in & warm-up. Ride starts at 10 AM. After the ride, enjoy the festival and fun! Participants will receive a commemorative Bike&Walk Montclair t-shirt (while supplies last).

Montclair YMCA Healthy Kids Day will also be held on May 16 in Brookdale Park, beginning at 11:00 AM. Participants are encouraged to “Put Play in Your Day” by joining the games and activities led by YMCA staff and volunteers.

Register - Online registration for the Tour de Montclair is convenient, easy, and will reserve a collectible souvenir “I Bike Montclair!” 2010 Tour t-shirt! Online registration is $12 per person or $30 per family (up to 5 members). On-site registration for the Tour de Montclair will open at 9:00 AM and is $15 per person or $35 per family (up to 5 members).

Become a Sponsor - This is a great opportunity to advertise your business thousands of participants and throughout the year. How many prior Tour de Montclair t-shirts do you see each week in Montclair?

Volunteer - This event is fully volunteer-run and we need you to help make the annual family-friendly bike ride and festival a success! The TdM Committee is looking for leaders to help with Site Management, Volunteer Management and Registration. Please contact TourdeMontclair@bikewalkmontclair.org for more information.

Route Maps: Car-free Loop, Short Route, Long Route

Enjoy the Ride: Get Smart. All participants (adults and children) are advised to watch this 7 minute video prior to the event.

For more information see, Bike&Walk Montclair's Tour de Montclair webpage.

Cherry Blossom Rides (yes plural) & Bike Share all in Newark!

I had the pleasure of taking the train up to Newark and joining up with our friends from the Brick City Bike Collective this past Sunday for their Cherry Blossom Bike Tour. The ride was a smashing success with nearly 100 people in attendance, way more then anyone expected. Included in the mix was Kendra and Dave from the Morristown Pedal Pushers Blog. Elizabeth Press from Streetfilms who I invited on a last minute lark came with her camera along with some of her friends at Transportation Alternatives. We were all very glad she could make it and her Streetflims "shorty" below really captures the family friendly fun of the afternoon, despite the fact that most of the cherry blossoms were done blooming due to last week's heat.



Some of the sights along the way include Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the ever elegant Forest Hill Neighborhood, the old Tiffany Factory (smartly converted into apartments) amongst many others and of course, 4,000 cherry trees in beautiful Branch Brook Park.

With this ride such a success, I was surprised to find out that the folks at the Brick City Bike Collective had done another Cherry Blossom Ride the week before with the transportation folks at Rutgers Newark. They too brought a film crew and in the below video of the event they even talk about Rutgers Newark's new Bike Share Program! My God! Who would have thunk it!

Op-ed: What took Lance so long to speak out about violence against bicyclist?

I've never blogged about Lance Armstrong before. I usually leave that to my friend Jen over at Benepe's Bike Blog. I like him, sure and he's done wonders for cycling in the US but I've always been bothered by his lack of activity in bicycle advocacy.

However, as many of you already know, Lance's latest big foray into the news wasn't about his performance at the Criterium International but rather with his Twitter induced spat with ESPN Sports Radio shock jock, Tony Kornheiser. If you don't already know, you can read all about Lances justifiably angry Twitterings here, and then read about how the two made all buddy, buddy here. Without fail Jen made sure to cover the story too.

"So Lance! What took you so long to speak up?!?!"

This is far from the first time someone has made comments about perpetrating violence against bicyclists for doing nothing else but riding a bike on the road. The League of American Bicyclists even has a special page where they keep track of violent anti-bicyclist media rants since 2008. Appropriately enough it's called "Trash Talk" (they also us it to keep anti-bicycling politicians and columnists honest too). There you can read about Joe Soucheray, a St Paul Pioneer Press columnist who said "GET OFF THE STREET, YOU MORONS!" or about Detroit radio talk show hosts Deminski and Doyle (yeah the same ones that used to be on NJ101.5) who said, "How many of them (their listeners) have seen a bicyclist and would just LOVE to lob something at their heads? ... OH GOD, you just want to go Grand Theft Auto on them. … Just move over." There's even a link there about that infamous Facebook page that came up earlier this year.

Anyway, my point is that this BS has been going on for some time in the media and Lance has been painfully silent about this issue of unprovoked violence against bicyclists for far too long. I’m quite sure Lance has been a victim of these shenanigans while riding. Imagine where his career would have been if he had been shunted off the road by some careless if not purposely malicious driver?

If he loves cycling as much as I believe he does, I’d suggest he become more vocal in making American roads safer for all users. Just imagine if he took to overcoming anti-bicyclist road rage like he has done in his fight to cure cancer.

Hey Lance! I've even got a name for his new cause. You could call it...

RIDESTRONG!