|
|
Palmetto Cycling Coalition E-newsletter August 2010
|
|
Visit our Facebook cause. Please join and donate today!
SC bicycling photos uploaded to our flickr photo sharing account weekly. Check it out!
To stay 'in-the-know' about the latest in bike gear, advocacy news, events and much more, subscribe to the PCC RSS feed.
|
The
South Carolina Share the Road license plate is a great way to
contribute to the Coalition AND show your support of bicycling in South
Carolina. Don't worry if you just renewed your plates, the cost of a
new Share the Road plate will be pro-rated. Click here to download the appropriate form, fill out the necessary personal information, and then head down to your local DMV office to purchase your plate today!
|
The Hawley Company
is a nationwide bicycle parts distributor, based in our very own
Lexington, SC. The Hawley Company believes in success through
people. They strive to empower Independent
Bicycle Dealers with the tools and services that they need to
survive and thrive. Not only is Hawley a longtime supporter of the
Coalition, but they are devoted to the cause of bicycle advocacy by
supporting other great organizations and taking on their own initiatives
in the community.
On a quarterly basis, Sponsor Spotlight
will feature a different supporter of the PCC that has donated an
exceptional amount in terms of time, money or in other meaningful ways.
To find out how to support the Coalition, visit our Sponsorship page.
|
|
|
On July 23, the Charleston community lost a dear friend, a bicycle advocate, and an all-around fantastic person, Edwin Gardner, who died from injuries sustained in a bicycle/car accident two days prior. Edwin will be sorely missed by all whose lives he touched and inspired. Edwin's death has come as a sobering reminder to all about the need for improved bicycling conditions locally and statewide. These improvements need to take place on so many levels--within education, enforcement, infrastructure, planning, policies--and in South Carolina we face a unique challenge culturally, where change must also occur to address preconceived notions of transportation and road-use.  As we try to reconcile this terrible tragedy and look toward the future, it is important to remember Edwin's legacy and the community values of service and dedication that he upheld. Such are the values that allow for positive change that Edwin and many of us envision for the future of our state. --Your friends at the Palmetto Cycling Coalition |
| August Recess
| The US House and Senate will go on their August/Labor Day recess beginning August 9, continuing thru September 10. This is
an important time to connect with your members of Congress, many of whom spend
August at home in their districts talking with constituents. Here are key ways you can help:
1. Set up a meeting: Request
a meeting with your Senators and/or House member and discuss with them bicycling issues in South Carolina that concern you the most. Requesting a meeting is as simple as calling the scheduler in
your Member's nearest local  district office to check availability. Not sure who's your Senator/Congressman? Find out by searching your 9-digit zip code here.
2. Attend an existing event: Watch
the websites of your Members of Congress or your local newspaper to find
out when your Senators or Representative might be holding a town hall
event to hear from constituents or when they may be participating in
local events. Go to these events and try to get a minute with the Member
of Congress and ask him to support bicycling in South Carolina.
3. Send a letter:
If you aren't able to make an in-person connection, you should send a letter or email.
What should your 'ask' be? In addition to any issues that are personal to you, be sure to ask their support for Complete Streets and Safe Routes to Schools funding in the next transportation bill. See the article below for more on these issues.
|
| Support Outdoor Recreation & Conservation
| Tell Congress to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund with dedicated, permanent and full funding. This moment holds
great promise for mountain bikers and recreational trails.
Take action right now!
In 1965, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF). The idea behind LWCF is simple -- some of the wealth from
offshore drilling should be reinvested in conservation and recreation.
Although the plan was for Congress to reinvest up to $900 million in
LWCF every year (of the billions of dollars collected from energy
companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico), this almost never happens.
In light of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress is now
looking to make some changes. One of the major changes is to fully and
automatically fund LWCF at $900 million per year. Every year.
Despite being chronically underfunded, LWCF is still the most
effective funding mechanism available to Congress to expand and improve
opportunities for human-powered outdoor pursuits, from climbing,
backcountry skiing and paddling to hiking and mountain biking. A fully and permanently funded LWCF means that there will be more
resources available to protect the outdoor places we love and make sure
they have trails, river access and backcountry entry points we need to
enjoy them.
In South Carolina, the LWCF is administered by South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism. To find out more about the program and who is eligible to apply for funding, visit their website.
Congress plans to take this legislation up this week or next. Take action and write Senators Graham and Demint, and your Representatives today!
This alert comes to us from the International Mountain Biking Association.
|
| Transportation Bill Update
| The next multi-year federal transportation bill
-- the key funding legislation for U.S. bicycle infrastructure projects
and programs like Safe Routes to School -- is unlikely to be seriously
considered by Congress until early 2011. While bike money continues to
flow thanks to a series of funding extensions approved by Congress, the
delay is not good news. Why? The Administration, the Secretary of
Transportation, a growing number of members of Congress, and a dozens of
big-city mayors are ready to make additional, cost-effective
investments in bicycling, but they can't, because the dollars simply
aren't available.
Despite the federal budget deficit and tight
economy, federal bike project investment surpassed $1.3 billion during
fiscal year 2009. This unprecedented sum is proof that bike projects are
viewed positively by senior government officials as job creators, road
congestion-reducers, and beneficial to public health and quality of
life. The next federal transportation bill will be crucial for the
future of bicycling in the United States. Extensions of the last transportation bill are no longer sustainable, and we need Congress to introduce new legislation in early 2011.
This news brief comes to us from the Bikes Belong Coalition.
|
|
|
|
|
| SC Bicycle Law Video Update
| Last month, we told you about our initiative to produce a video for law enforcement training on the South Carolina bicycle laws. The importance of this project is ever more crucial in light of the tragedy that resulted in the death of our dear friend Edwin Gardner.
 We continue to make progress in the fundraising for this effort, and are thrilled to add more sponsors to the list: Anonymous, Carolina Cyclers, In Memory of Jesse Gamble, In Memory of William Wilson, Rock Hill Bicycle Club, Tandem Touring & Recumbent Bicycles, and the Trek Bicycle Store of Mt. Pleasant.
All organizations donating $500 or more will be listed
as sponsors in the video and training materials. If you or your organization is interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Rachael today.
We continue to have conversations with various production companies, and will
begin the planning and creative process soon. We are also hoping to soon meet with the SC Criminal Justice Academy to make sure that our project is in-line with their other curriculum.
|
| Smart Cycling Update
| Early 2010 was a very busy time for bicycle education in SC--several Traffic Skills 101 courses occurred and in late March five South Carolinians became League Cycling Instructors (LCI) in a seminar hosted by the PCC. In May, several other Smart Cycling courses occurred statewide in celebration of bike month.
Now that we are passing through the summer doldrums and looking forward to fall, many LCI's around the state are preparing to offer several more Traffic Skills 101 courses before the year's end. Tentatively, we are planning a lowcountry course in November; a course in the midlands in October; and a course in the upstate. As soon as these dates are confirmed, we will let you know.
The TS101 course ranges in price from $20 - $50, and is a 9-hour class to help you become more confident with riding in traffic. This is a pre-requisite to becoming an LCI.
As always, contact Rachael if you have any questions.
|
| Increase in Cyclists Measured in Charleston,
an update from Philip Overcash
| The bicycle population in downtown
is exploding. In an effort to demonstrate the increasing number of
bicycle on City streets, the City of Charleston Department of Planning,
Preservation Sustainability conducted bicycle counts at high-traffic
intersections.
Using data
collected in 2006 and more recent counts collected during the past year,
planners have been able to track bicycle usage at the intersection of
King and Calhoun Streets and at the foot of the Ravenel Bridge
bicycle/pedestrian path.
The results of the counts are astounding. At the
King/Calhoun intersection, more than 1,000 bikes were counted in
September 2009. This is a significant jump from the 465 bikes counted
in September 2006. This 116% increase tells us bicycles account for a
larger and larger percentage of the traffic on King Street. The newest
bike count included the intersection of Saint Philip Street and Calhoun
where data collectors in April, 2010 saw 1,361 pass through.
The heart of the Charleston
downtown is not the only place bikes can be seen in large numbers. The
counts from 2006 to 2009 at the Ravenel Bridge saw an increase of 80%
from 130 to 235. The data at the Ravenel Bridge path also included
pedestrians which also saw an increase.
The data collected for bicycles
included sex, age, helmet use, sidewalk use and comments from count
participants. Future plans include a more comprehensive bike census in
that would necessitate groups like Charleston Moves, Coastal Cyclists or
Holy City Bike Coop to partner with the City for accurate counts. For
more information and to learn how you can participate in future bicycle
counts, contact Philip Overcash with the City of Charleston Planning
Department.
Philip Overcash, a Planner with the City of Charleston Department of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability and leader on the City's Bicycle Friendly Community efforts, issued this report after the most recent bicycle count in April 2010. If you are
interested in helping out with these counts, you should contact Philip directly or get in touch with our friends at Charleston Moves. Thanks!
|
| Northern
Beaufort County awarded $3.1 million grant for Public Transportation &
Pathways,
an update from Karen Heitman
| Finally! After many years of hard and patient
work, we now have funding for the first 6.7 miles of a beautiful Rail Trail in
northern Beaufort County. As part
of the East Coast Greenway it will serve not only local residents, but in the
future, touring cyclists riding from Charleston to Savannah.
In early July, Senator Lindsey
Graham announced that the Federal Transit Authority would fund $3.1 million
request for public transportation and pathways in northern Beaufort County.
Pathways Connect, a local organization advocating for more pathways and trails in the Bluffton region of SC, has been working
for several years to find funding and support to convert a 25 mile long
abandoned railway corridor into a Rail Trail that would connect Yemassee at I-95
to the town of Port Royal. We envisioned all or part of the corridor as also
being part of the East Coast Greenway. Last winter the railway corridor was
purchased by Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) for $3 million. We thank BJWSA for helping to match the
grant monies.
The application outlined the need
for transit service and pathways that would link much of northern Beaufort
County to the area's major employers, shopping centers, neighborhoods and
schools. The grant was prepared by
a team from Beaufort County, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, the
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, local municipalities and the Lowcountry
Council of Governments.
This funding will help convert
6.7 miles of this corridor into a wide paved Rail-Trail serving the most
populated areas of northern Beaufort County. Local advocacy organizations
(Pathways Connect and Greater Bluffton Pathways) had written letters of support
that were included in the grant application.
Southern Beaufort County has
built or improved nearly 55 miles of public pathways and many miles of bike
lanes over the past ten years. As a
result, many of our citizens use this new infrastructure to bike or walk to
local schools, businesses and neighborhoods for recreation as well as
transportation.
Karen is the founder of
Greater Bluffton Pathways, a bicycle advocacy group in the Bluffton area.
GBP has lobbied and succeeded in getting funding for many miles of bicycle/ped
facilties. As a result, over 200 children now are able to safely ride
bikes and walk to and from local schools. She is also a past president of Sun
City Cyclers, board member of Pathways Connect and past PCC Representative from
the Lowcountry.
|
| July: a time for Trash Talkin'?
| On July 13, the Fairfield Herald Independent Newspaper published an opinion article written by Mark Vasto (of The Kansas City Luminary) entitled 'Lance Armstrong, You're Not.' Many in the bicycling community agreed that the article was offensive and malicious (to quote the League, we'll call it Trash Talk), and several have written formal complaints to the editorial staff at the Herald Independent. It seems that the Herald Independent has somewhat conceded by publishing this column and printing many of the letters of complaint that they received.
Then, on July 23, Paul Edwards wrote in to the Spartanburg Herald Journal Stroller section, complaining about bicyclists holding up traffic and not paying their fair share in taxes. Many of us in the advocacy community have heard this arugument many times before, and we all know that is is just not true. Check out what the League has to say on the issue.
|
| City of Columbia Approves Complete Streets Resolution
| The City of Columbia's Bicycle Friendly Community
organization, known as
BikeColumbia,
is proud to announce that City Council approved a Complete Streets
resolution for Columbia at their council meeting on July 21. Complete
Streets
are designed and
operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians,
bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must
be able to safely 20 years after the ADA and we're still seeing incomplete streets, incompatible for many including those with disabilities. Where are our transportation priorities?
 | move along and across a Complete
Street.
The resolution that Council adopted reaffirms their support
of designing roads for more than just cars; creating
Complete Streets in Columbia means that city departments will
collectively begin to design and operate the entire
right of way to enable safe access for all road users (if they haven't
already been doing so). City staff within these departments will begin
to revise established regulations, policies and
operating procedures as deemed appropriate and feasible so that
transportation systems are safe for all users. Staff will also
begin to incorporate such principles into neighborhood master planning
and implementation process. Finally, these departments will prepare
draft regulations for approval by City Council within 12 months of this
time.
Contact the PCC if you have any questions about what this policy means for the City of Columbia, or how you can instigate such policy changes in your community.
|
| August Gear Review |
Water
bottles come in all shapes and sizes and for cyclists, these differences can
often be negligible. "As long as it holds liquid and is easy to squirt
into my mouth while I'm riding" is standard cyclist reasoning for bottles.
However, with the advent of insulated bottles and flow control nozzles, the
storage and transport of liquid has become increasingly complicated to appease
cyclist's changing needs. The days of a "simple" bottle are long
gone. Yet when it comes to cleaning a bottle, there has been little to no
progress since the first plastic bottles were used decades ago.
Thanks to Clean
Bottle, this predicament has been solved! Using a simple but ingenious design,
the Clean Bottle, in addition to a standard removable top, has a removable
bottom. The bottom uses large threads and a double walled containment system to
prevent leakage. After looking at the test bottles, some were understandably
skeptical.
To put the skepticism to rest, we put this bottle through the paces
with several mountain bike rides and road rides. Vigorous shakings of Cytomax
mix and water resulted in zero leakage! Just to make sure, we dropped it
several times as well a few long distance tosses and still nothing. Catapulting
and baseball bats were eventually nixed because unless you're riding through a
renaissance fair or little league game, you probably wouldn't encounter
anything like that... or would you?
The second test phase involved actually
cleaning the bottle. It was so nice eschewing the scrubber brush for a sponge.
With the bottom lid unscrewed, we could get at the pesky Cytomax residue with
ease and rest assured that the bottle had been thoroughly cleaned. More
importantly, the next bottle would taste like a clean bottle and not have the
lingering, moldy flavor of last week's fruit punch Cytomax lingering around.
The Clean Bottle comes in a 22 ounce size and is made from BPA-free plastic so
it's non-toxic. 10 percent of each bottle sale is donated to an outdoor charity
of your choice. Visit http://www.cleanbottle.com/ for more information.
Thanks to Ken Klatte, Production
Artist with the Hawley Company, for this sneak-preview and words of
wisdom. Be on the lookout for the new Clean Bottle at your local bike shop!
|
| New Board Members
| With the passing of July 1, the PCC marks the beginning of a new term for our Board of Directors. We are delighted to invite the following members to join the Board:
Mark Greenslit, Summerville
Bob Reid, Rock Hill
Kevin Roberts, Columbia
Fred Tolly, Anderson
Also, our ongoing thanks goes to Sally Nicholson and Jim Cox for their
willingness to serve as Board members for the next two years.
In addition to the nomination of these Board members, we have filled a vacancy in the Officers of Board of Directors by nominating a Treasurer from the Columbia area (our home-base), Scott Clark, a CPA with Elliott-Davis.
Please join us in inviting these new members, in thanking Sally and Jim for their continued service. As always, you can contact any of the Board or staff at the Coalition via our website.
|
|
|
The solution lies not in the expenditure of greater resources, but
rather, a reorientation of approach to street design to help people now
and in to the future.
- Erin Mitchell, New York AARP Associate State
Director
|
|
The
Coalition needs the support of cyclists like yourself to continue our
efforts of making SC more bicycle friendly. We are THE voice for
cyclists across South Carolina. If your membership has lapsed, please renew today! If you are not currently a member, please consider becoming one.
| | Your donations ensure our success. Thank you for your support!
|
|
|
