Cyclist hit on W. Jemez

Carol Clark is covering this. Click on the photo to go to her site. Keep an eye on the Monitor, too, which hopefully will have the police report in a few days and we can figure out how this happened.
An update is here. In this update, Carolyn Zerkle indicates there will be a fundraiser as part of this year's Tour de Los Alamos for the hit rider.

Road Rage Season

Yup, its summer, and the stories are starting to multiply again. As far as road rage?

Don't engage, instead count to ten

If endangered, call 911 and press charges

If possible, and the opportunity arises, explain safe cycling to an attentive and calm motorist

Your own safety is more important than "winning" a fight

with acknowledgments to Patrick O'Grady and the Mad Dog Media Whirled Hindquarters for use of the cartoon.

Espanola bans dialing while driving

As reported in the New Mexican.

For all of us who have watched inattentive drivers swerve, brake late, or have near misses while they dial their infernal phones or perform other domestic tasks, this is a small win. A very small one. I suspect compliance will be low.

I suspect we will have a cell phone law up in Bomb Town some day--after we have a deceased to name it after.

People are just too arrogant behind the wheel to know their own limits. We want it all--safety but no limits to the risky behavior we impose on others. When you are piloting 5500 lbs. of steel around our streets in close proximity to other people, you have some responsibilities far more important than that phone call.

Noontime LANL bike safety course, Part II

I am giving a two-session bike safety course based on the League's Traffic Skills 101 curriculum on 10 June and 17 June over the lunch break (2 hrs total). This is NOT equivalent to Neale and Amy's Traffic Skills 101 course and does NOT come with League certification.

If you are a LANL employee and interested in cycling safety but cannot make the full 8 hour League class this week, check out the Wellness Center's schedule. I don't remember the course number but can add that info on Monday.

It is possible that for those who take the 2 hour class version and who wish to obtain the full TS 101 certification, we can schedule the road and parking lot drill sections at a later date and fill in the course details, but the Wellness Center isn't keen on scheduling an 8 hour show all in one gulp. Let's see who shows up.

The on-road and bike handling skill sessions are pretty important. You don't learn this stuff in a classroom, but on the road.

Note: if you left on time on the 10th, you didn't get a copy of Street Smarts by John Allen (no charge, courtesy of Industrial Hygene and Safety Division). So if for some reason you cannot make it to Part II, please contact me at work and I will send your copy by intramural mail. I put a reminder slide into my Power Point to help me remember this time!

Please don't ride behind the Diamond construction barriers

I got an email from County Public Works Director Kyle Zimmerman today indicating that cyclists are riding behind the construction barrels:

Khal,

This morning some of the bicyclists on Diamond Drive were riding on the construction zone side (west side) of the barrels. There is a lot of construction equipment and workers moving around doing the project work. They are not looking for bicyclists riding on the wrong side of the barrels. Please pass the word that bicyclist need to use Arkansas/North Road as an alternate route or take the lane as a vehicle like you did this morning.

Aside from this conduct undoubtedly being illegal and quite dangerous once heavy equipment and workers are in full swing (milling off the pavement will start shortly), taking the lane southbound is relatively easy as it is downslope and I was able to ride with heavy traffic effortlessly as it was moving slowly. Northbound (upslope) cycling in the construction zone traffic is more problematic, but cyclists can use the dedicated left turn bay to turn onto North Road and avoid the whole mess. I plan on turning left on North tonight to go home. I'll post here if I have any trouble.

As an alternative to those who don't want to ride north in "the narrows" or turn left and climb North Road, there is a sidewalk on the South side of Diamond. I would recommend cyclists use North/Arkansas, but suggest to any cyclists who use that sidewalk to please take it slow and respect that pedestrians and other cyclists may be using it for two-way traffic.

There is no real way to eliminate the short term pain of this project. Consider the long term gain, though.

Post comments here if you have them. I will direct Kyle to this page as well. Let's just muddle through this as best and as cheerfully as we can. Everyone is suffering a little bit.

Thanks,

Khal Spencer
County Transportation Board Chair and League Cycling Instructor

Bomb Town to finally have a Co-Op

According to Greg Kendall over at Los Alamos County Views, we are finally going to get a cooperative market. It will be located in the Entrada development.

Well, the good news is we will have a Co-op. The bad news is that it will not be downtown. Greg tells us "...there will be turn lanes and acceleration lanes on State Road 502 at Entrada..." Sure. These will serve motorists, but we need to find out how the cyclist will be served. Its probably written down somewhere, and forgive me for not knowing where.

Entrada and Airport Site Details here, including links to blueprints including intersection changes.

The NM DoT link for NM 502 improvements is here. It stops at Tewa.

Its a little ironic that we continue to talk about Complete Streets and a compact, sustainable city, but continue to build outwards with the assumption that everyone will continue to jump into their cars. I guess we have to build where we get the land, i.e., DOE land transfers, since we can't seem to figure out how to fill in some of our vast acres of parking lots Downtown.

Presumably, once Entrada is up and running, an Atomic City bus route will be out there serving the eastern community and this new center for economic development.

All's Quiet on the Fire Front

Those who were here in May, 2000 and saw the fire sweep through town on the 10th can feel a bit of compassion for Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition President Ralph Fertig and the Santa Barbara folks. Ralph posted this email to his cycling friends.
=========================

To my friends,

This morning I woke at my evacuation motel to a fog, cool temperatures, and a breeze off the ocean. It was a radical change from the 90 degree heat, low moisture, and strong winds that drove the Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara for 4 days.

Statistics released tonight said that 50,000 people had been evacuated, 8700 acres burned, 80 homes destroyed or damaged, and 4300 fire fighters\ were on the ground. They say the fire is now 40% contained, and believe that another day like this will bring it totally under control. I also heard that a local bike shop lost 400 bikes stored in a barn in the fire

area.

I was allowed to return home this afternoon about 3:30. I picked up cat Luke at the cat animal shelter where cat carriers were stacked to the ceiling. They said that 250 evacuated cats were there, the volunteers were working nearly 24 hours a day. Nearby in other animal shelters, I could hear LOTS of dogs barking, a rooster crowing, and heaven knows what other creatures were quietly slithering around.

The entire day was cool, about 70 degrees and mostly cloudy. Exactly what we all were hoping for. I spent most of it returning to my barricaded roadway every 2 hours, but couldn't get past the police. (They were very nice, but firm.) I finally got home, brought Luke inside, unpacked my bike, computer, clothing and documents. Took a nap, had a beer, started a load of laundry, washed the ash off my car, put a carrot-turkey meatloaf in the oven, and now am facing a 4-day backlog of catching up.

People are asking whether our Western drought is fueled by climate change. This was the third Santa Barbara fire in a year, totally unprecented. Each one has burned a separate section of chaparrel in the National Forest and the adjacent foothill areas, but they DID occur. If we're destroying our world, I hope that we can halt the process before we all drown, burn, get blown away -- and take down most other species with us.

I see that a beautiful full moon has risen above the hills east of me. Perhaps you are looking at the same one. It brings an illusion of stability to our changing planet.

~~ Ralph Fertig

League Bike Class coming up

League of American Bicyclists
Traffic Skills 101
Dates: June 5th & June 6th

Location: 1990 Diamond Dr (Family Strengths Network, Pueblo Complex), Los Alamos, NM

League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors Neale & Amy Pickett and Khal Spencer are teaching the League's Traffic Skills 101 course June 5th from 4:30pm - 7:30pm, and June 6th from 9am - 4pm (with one hour lunch break). $10 for the 9-hour course.

Learn how to:
* make basic repairs,
* the most common types of crashes and how to avoid them,
* bicycling in traffic, emergency maneuvers, and more.

To register for this course, contact:

Amy Pickett
Phone: 505-310-9804
Contact Email: aim-class0605@woozle.org

* Equipment required: Working Bicycle and CPSC-approved Helmet