Good things are happening here

I have been too busy to update this blog lately, but I want to take a few minutes to quickly pass along a few links that I have been meaning to share.

Charleston Cycling Attorney Peter Wilborn will be the guest speaker at the next Greenville Spinners club meeting (Monday, April 2, 2012, 6:30 pm at the Caine Halter YMCA). According to the Spinners website, Peter “will speak about the lost art of the group ride and provide an update on legal issues for SC cyclists.” This is one meeting that you won’t want to miss, so mark your calendars and plan to be there one week from today.  

The National Bike Summit took place last week, and eight advocates from South Carolina were there representing our interests as cyclists in the state. You can read a recap post on the Palmetto Cycling Coalition blog and see the Summit leave-behind that the PCC developed along with the Palmetto Conservation Foundation. 

Pamela Wood Browne was the lone representative from Greenville in DC last week, and she shared her thoughts about her first Summit experience at Carolina Cycling News. Of particular interest to me was her mention of the “Finally, the Racing and Advocacy Worlds Collide” session and the discussion of multiple U.S. Cyclocross National Champion Tim Johnson’s Ride on Washington. As someone who has been involved with both racing and advocacy for a long time, I am really glad to hear of real discussion on this topic. In the past, I have witnessed some tension between recreational/racing cyclists and those who ride strictly for transportation (with some valid concerns expressed by both sides). I really hope that we are a point where ALL cyclists can see the benefit of working together toward a common goal of making our roads safer, and kudos to Tim Johnson for raising awareness and spreading that message within the racing community. 

If you haven’t already seen it, be sure to read Spinners advocacy chairperson Frank Mansbach’s March update on the Spinners’ site. Also see his guest post on the PCC blog about Greenville County Transportation Spending, which highlights just how little actually goes toward bike/ped projects currently. Hopefully though, that will change as advocates like Frank help to raise awareness about the need for creating a safer environment for bicycling and walking in the County. 

The City of Greenville’s 2011/2012 Annual Report was released recently, and bicycling is mentioned a few times throughout the report. Links to the Trails and Greenways Master Plan and the Bicycle Master Plan can be found on page 23. The USA Pro Cycling Championships are mentioned on page 31, and Greenville’s National Bike Month events (coming up again in May) are covered on page 34. These are all things that enhance quality of life here in Greenville, so it is good to see them recognized as such in this document. 

Greenville is offering a Bicycle Traffic Skills 101 course at McPherson Park on Sunday, April 29th (scroll down for information and to register online). According to the description, “participants will learn things like bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, rules of the road, and crash avoidance techniques. On-the-bike training features certified instructors and real-life experience on Greenville streets and bicycle facilities.” It is also worth noting that the Traffic Skills 101 course is a prerequisite for the League Cycling Instructor (LCI) training seminar, which qualifies you to teach the courses in the League of American Bicyclists’ “Smart Cycling” curriculum.

Finally, I want to mention that TTR Bikes was recently recognized as a Platinum level Bicycle Friendly Business by the League of American Bicyclists. They are one of only seven companies in the entire US to be recognized at that highest level, so congratulations to Nathaniel and Scott on the designation and everything it represents!

Update 3/28: I want to add one more “good thing” happening in Greenville that Bo Campbell mentioned yesterday on the Bike Greenville Facebook page.  On April 21^st from 9 to 12, TTR Bikes, the Greenville Spinners Safety Foundation, First Baptist Greenville, and the Nicholtown Neighborhood Association are hosting their 2^nd Annual Youth Bike Safety Rodeo (and helmet fitting) in support of the Nicholtown Bike Share program. 

I have a hard time keeping up with all the bike related events in Greenville these days…and that is definitely a good thing. Feel free to add any more in the comments.

Go Magazine, Joyride, and the Master Plan

Greenville City Council’s first vote on the Bicycle Master Plan is less than a week away, so please email a letter of support if you haven’t already.

Speaking of the Master Plan, I encourage you to pick of a copy of the September issue of Go Magazine (and not just because the back of my leg is featured on the cover). The issue features a good article by Gary Hyndman about the Bicycle Master Plan, which I think does a good job of expressing the community support for better bike infrastructure, and safer streets, in Greenville. As City Councilmember Amy Ryberg-Doyle says in the article, “the people have spoken. This is not a top down initiative.”

The recent SCDOT Pelham/ Roper Mountain resurfacing projects are also mentioned in the article. Neither of those roads will get bike lanes…a fact that still frustrates me quite a bit (more on that later). Hopefully once the BMP resolution is passed though, SCDOT will pay more attention to their own “Bicycle Accommodation Policy” and include provisions for bikes as part of resurfacing projects in the Greenville area. With both of those recent paving projects, we missed a great (cost effective) opportunity to include bike lanes on roads that are included in the plan, but there will be future opportunities as well.

While I am posting, I want to mention the Joyride reception with Mia Birk, which occurred just over a week ago. Overall, I think it was a big success. Around 200 cyclists attended (the bike racks in front of the Greenville Little Theater were packed), and Mia’s presentation was very encouraging. Personally, it was good for me to hear her perspective, and to step back a bit and look at our accomplishments in Greenville over the years. I have been somewhat involved in bicycle advocacy efforts here for the past seven years, and though it is easy to be discouraged by setbacks (like the one I mentioned in the above paragraph), we have come a long way and the small successes along the way are worth celebrating. Mia took notice of the good things happening in Greenville, saying this via this twitter after her day here:

"Greenville SC rocks! Love the Swamp Rabbit Trail, bike lanes & beautiful downtown."

Great to hear! Now let’s just build on that and make Greenville an even better place to live and ride a bike.

…and check out Mia’s book if you haven’t already. It is encouraging to hear stories the stories about Portland in the 90s and realize that the opposition we sometimes face here is not unique.

For more about Mia’s tour of South Carolina, check out this post at the PCC blog.

Bicycle Safety Law

It’s official; the bicycle safety bill, H.3006, is now law! Governor Sanford signed the legislation yesterday at Outspokin’ Bicycles in Columbia. For any of you who don’t already know, we now have a safe passing distance law, which will make it easier to charge a driver who hits a cyclist. There is also a law against harassing a cyclist by yelling, honking, or throwing something out the window. A driver who does so will now face misdemeanor charges. Of course, those are just two elements of this legislation, which updates the South Carolina vehicle code pertaining to bicycles. All of the changes were designed to make our roads safer for cyclists, so this is a major victory for cyclists (and all road users) in South Carolina. Today’s copy of The State newspaper has a great article about the signing of the bill that I encourage you all to read for more information.

Some of you may have seen the article in The Greenville News about the legislation on Monday. Unfortunately, several of the people who chose to leave comments on the online version of that article expressed a less than favorable opinion of cyclists and our right to the road. Comments like “I too have lusted in my heart to throw stuff at bike riders” or “Bikes have no business on the road as they present an unnecessary safety issue” add no value to the news story and are most likely just attempts to cause a little trouble. Still, we shouldn’t overlook them entirely. Naturally, my first reaction to those comments is to get angry, but they do point to the fact that there is still much work to be done on the advocacy front. I hate to even acknowledge the people who left negative, even threatening, comments to that story, but I think it is important to remember that we still have a lot to do. I just want to point it out because if we don’t speak up for cycling issues and do our best to educate the cycling and driving public about sharing the road, you can bet the very small minority of drivers who want bikes off the roads entirely will make their voices heard.

Lastly, I want to share a message that Paul LeFrancois of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition sent out to thank everyone involved with the passage of this bill. Certainly, we all owe Paul, Natalie, and everyone involved with the PCC our thanks for their hard work to make this happen. This really is a big deal for all cyclist in South Carolina.

Here is the letter from Paul for any of you who missed it:

I'm not sure what role fate plays in life, but perhaps it had a little to do with the timing of today's signing of the Bicycle Safety bill by Governor Sanford. At the signing were Becky Giblin whose daughter Rachel lost her life in a automobile-bicycle crash during the 2006 MS Ride, and the family of Tom Hoskins, who died in October, 2007, in a an automobile-bicycle crash during a ride raising funds for brain injury research. As it turns out Monday, June 9 would have been Rachel's birthday and Wednesday, June 11 would have been Tom's birthday. Governor Sanford presented the two pens he used to sign the bill to Becky Giblin and to the Hoskins family. It was an emotional day with sadness for the losses these families suffered, but also a day filled with resolve and commitment to create a safer and healthier South Carolina and to reduce the likelihood of such tragedies occurring in the future. The work of the past two years did make a difference as H3006 - The Bicycle Safety bill was signed into law by Governor Sanford..

I wanted to share some thoughts on what helped us reach this achievement.

1. I'll start with the PCC's Executive Director Natalie Cappuccio-Britt and the PCC board. When you look up multi-tasking in the dictionary it should read: see Natalie. I don't think I need to go into the details of the demands on a one employee statewide advocacy organization. All I will say is that there were numerous challenges and obstacles to overcome (some expected, others not) through the two years from the initial drafting of H3006 to its signing today. Natalie handled them all with determination, endurance, professionalism and passion and with a belief that we can and will make a difference. PCC board members have given of their time and resources to invest in a better future for bicycling in South Carolina. Numerous trips to Columbia, fundraising, organizing local events, attending meetings, contacting local and state officials all took time away from what they and all of us enjoy - riding our bikes. Most of the PCC board members are also involved in advocacy activities in their local communities so they were doing double duty to advance the cause of better cycling conditions both locally and statewide. I want to thank them for the efforts they've made that led to today's success.

2. I remember a line from a movie that went something like "politics is in everything so you better get good at it." To help the PCC get good at it we hired Palmetto Public Affairs to assist us in moving H3006 through the political process. Rebecca Ramos and Matthew Van Pattern of PPA served as our eyes and ears at the State House. Their knowledge of the political process, their contacts with legislators and their ability to work with legislators across party lines were invaluable. They made a great team to support and mentor Natalie and the PCC board.

3. Politicians listen to their constituents. When we needed the cycling community to step up to the plate it did so - and it hit a home run. There were some bleak times when we feared H3006 was on life support if not dead. The contacts from constituents - in person, via phone calls, letters and e-mails proved critical to breathing life back into the bill and changing opinions of legislators about the merits of the legislation. Your voices were heard and without them we wouldn't have succeeded. Individuals matter. And each individual who contacted an elected official sent a message - I'm a cyclist, I'm a voter and I want you to support safe cycling conditions in South Carolina.

4. Champions. We had some tremendous support from legislators who went to battle for us and for a bill they truly believed could make for a safer and healthier South Carolina. Representative James Smith (D - Columbia) was the primary sponsor who the PCC worked with to pre-file the bill in December 2006. Representative Garry Smith (R - Greenville) attended every legislative event the PCC sponsored over the past two years and provided critical leadership along with James Smith in reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bill. Senator Danny Verdin (R - Laurens) moved the bill through subcommittee in the Senate and smoothed the way for final adoption when the bill came back from the House. Senators Hutto (D - Orangeburg), Hawkins (R - Spartanburg) and Malloy (D - Darlington) added amendments that strengthened the penalties against drivers at fault when cyclists are injured in crashes and those who harass or endanger cyclists. The list could go on, but needless to say these individuals were critical to passage of H3006.

What happens next?

If any of the above four ingredients had been left out of the mix we could not have succeeded. So for everyone who participated in the process please know that you did make a difference. It's now up to us to continue moving forward. H3006 wasn't a beginning or an ending - but it was a major accomplishment and part of a long-term process of advancing the idea that bicycling is a viable source of recreation, transportation, tourism and economic development in South Carolina and that bicycling can play a critical role in promoting healthy lifestyles and healthy communities and it can improve the quality of life in our state.

To all of the individuals and organizations who have supported the PCC from its fledgling years in the mid-1990s to the present - THANK YOU! Today's accomplishment would not have been possible without your support. There are still tremendous amounts of work to do in the areas of education, engineering, enforcement, etc. and we look forward to your continued participation and support in creating a truly bicycle friendly South Carolina.

Paul LeFrancois
Palmetto Cycling Coalition

H3006 press conference

I have mentioned H3006, The Bicycle Safety Bill on the blog a few times. This legislation, which will update our state traffic laws pertaining to bicyclsts, is extremely important. For those of you who don't know, the bill went though the House and then through the Senate. Just this week, the House adjourned without voting to approve the Senate version of the bill. One legislator is strongly opposed to the Senate amendments and is working to convince others to vote against concurrence with the Senate version and to send the bill to conference committee. We don't want the bill to go to conference committee, so please contact your representative if you haven't already.

Also, please plan to attend a press conference on Tuesday, May 27 at 11 AM in the lobby of the State House in Columbia if you can. Please wear regular clothes and the PCC will give you a sticker to identify you as a bicycle supporter. I know it is late notice on Memoral Day weekend, but attend if you can. Unfortunately, I have a speaking engagement on Tuesday at 12:30, so I won't be able to make it down to Columbia. Hopefully some of you from Greenville can attend and show our support. We really need to see H3006 signed into law.