Own a section of a Greenville County Greenway

Well, you won’t really technically own it, but this is a great way that you can support and help build the county’s Greenways network. Purchasers will receive a plaque that recognizes their ownership and list the GPS coordinates of their particular section. A 25 foot section of Greenway will only cost you 25 bucks, so you can give out sections as Christmas gifts (plaques are scheduled to be ready next Thursday).

To order a section, double click the form shown here to enlarge it and save to your computer. Email all the information to Ty Houck at ty@gcrd.org. If you are interested and need the form in a word doc format, leave a comment with your email address or just get in touch with Ty. I am sure he would be happy to forward it to you.

A letter to all cyclists

For those of you who may have missed it, I want to quickly pass along a touching letter that was emailed to the Palmetto Cycling Coalition membership. The letter was written by George Rice, a friend of Tom Hoskins, one of the cyclists who was tragically killed in South Carolina less than two months ago. I think George’s message is a good one; all of us who ride need to give back to cycling and try to make a difference. Sometimes it is hard to find the time, but it is important to remember those who have who have been injured or killed doing what we all love to do. Anyway, I won’t ramble on; here is George’s letter:

There aren't many cyclists who venture out cycling without their sunglasses. Rose colored glasses is a term used to describe something that inhibits us to see things for what they truly are. I had rose colored glasses on when I first thought about the value of membership in groups like the Palmetto Cycling Coalition. I had the selfish agenda of WIIFM (What's In It For Me)?

On October 21, 2007, lives were changed forever. A century ride turned into what I hoped was a horrible dream. Since that day, families, friends, and cyclists have celebrated the lives of two people who put aside selfish ambition to bring light to the tragedies of brain injuries. Tom Hoskins and Lee Ann Barry logged hundreds of miles for the benefit of others. Lee Ann wore a jersey on that beautiful, sunny day, embossed with Spoke n" Word. A church in Kentucky gave it to her. I did a Google search using Spoken Word and one web site that came up was the University of Central Florida Bicycle Team. A member of their cycling team died after being struck on his bicycle the same day, October 21, 2007.

A year prior, I stood in a line of 2000 bicyclists, waiting to finish the second day of the MS ride. We learned of the death of Rachael, who died cycling for the benefit of others. Like others, I have to live with being one of the cyclists who survived. I now know the pain others have felt as they tried to revive someone they had been drafting for or being pulled by earlier in the day.

My high school band performed "One Voice" during our field show. The words include "just one voice, singing in the darkness, all it takes is one voice. If you venture to the PCC website and click on links, you will see rows of bike clubs and bike shops. One hour of your time during 2008 may save the life of a cyclist. One hour writing letters to politicians, one hour sitting in a hearing room with your favorite cycling jersey on, or one hour encouraging someone to keep peddling on their first ride, will make a difference.Prior to October 21, 2007, I didn't see it that way. I was too busy having pitty parties because of the heat, the steep hills, or the lack of a water stop.

You and I can name someone who lived through a bicycle/vehicle collision, or died from the collision. Take a moment, fill out a PCCapplication in appreciation for that saved life or in memory of that life because your one voice singing in the darkness can make a difference.

A Greenways presentation and more

As the header says, this is an occasional blog and lately it has been very occasional. I have been posting infrequently this month, but there is still a lot of Greenville advocacy information to pass along. My travel schedule has been a bit hectic lately and will continue to be that way until mid January. Posting here might continue to be a little slow for a while, but look for an update on the Share the Road efforts and more in the near future.

One event that you will want to mark you on your calendars is a Trails and Greenways Public Presentation on Tuesday, December 11th at 6pm in the Downtown Hughes Library Meeting Room. Andrew Meeker, Greenville’s urban designer, will be presenting the newly completed 'Trails and Greenways Master Plan' and discussing what projects are currently underway or soon to be underway. Ty Houck from the Greenville County Recreation District will discuss progress on the Greenville Hospital System Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail and other County-wide Greenway efforts. I’ll be there to see the presentation and I hope that some of you will be able to attend as well.

The City is currently working on the trail section, shown here, between Cleveland Park and Greenville Tech. Andrew has some pictures of the construction progress online for those of you who are interested. By the way, this section of greenway is scheduled to open to the public in the Spring of 08. That is right around the corner.

While I am posting, I want to mention a few other things that I have seen lately. Dual Chase Productions has online some interesting Powerpoint presentations, which show ways that cyclists interact with traffic. I have only glanced at a few of these so far, but they seem like a good resource for proponents of transportational cycling. Read more here at a post on Cyclelicious.

Not too long ago, I mentioned a few interesting pedestrian and cyclist safety campaigns in other cities. Portland has a new pedestrian campaign that recently caught my attention. I think efforts like these go a long way toward helping people to remember that cyclists and pedestrians who are killed or injured on the roadways are more than just statstics. Innovative ways to alert drivers to simply watch out is something that I think we need more of.

Also at Bike Portland is a post about the bike sharing program that is soon to be implemented in that city. The Velib bikes in Paris have received the most press lately, but bike sharing or rental programs are taking off in many cities around the world. For those of you who are interested in reading more, the Bike Sharing blog covers such programs in cities worldwide. As the Greenville City/County Greenways plans come together, I think a program like this would make a lot of sense in this area. I have a few thoughts on the subject, but I am running out of time so I will have to save those for a future post.

The end of T-Mobile

This isn't exactly advocacy news, but I thought I would pass the press release along. So what does this mean for Hincapie next season? Hopefully a new title sponsor will step up soon.

Edited: It appears that both the men's and women's teams will continue on under the name "Team High Road". Read more at VeloNews.

Charges filed in October cycling deaths

I have been out of the country for the last couple weeks, so I haven’t been hearing follow up stories regarding last month’s tragic cycling fatalities in this state. When I returned, I was a bit surprised to read this story out of Columbia. As I have mentioned before, South Carolina has a poor track record when it comes to prosecuting motorists who hurt or kill cyclist, so I was glad to hear that the driver who killed Lee Ann Barry and Tom Hoskins is being charged with murder.

The article contains a statement by the Hoskins family in response to charges.

"Just like a bicycle, the wheels of justice must turn. Nothing can replace the lives of Lee Ann Barry and Tom Hoskins. It is our hope that those operating a motor vehicle will be focused on the road before them. The death rate continues to rise due to the inattentiveness of motor vehicle operators. Two spouses must now walk through life alone raising families."

Let’s hope that South Carolina continues to take cycling fatalities like these seriously. I am glad that they are doing so in this case.

Share the Road TV ads

Recently, I posted what I thought were a couple of interesting and effective ways that bicycle advocacy groups in other cities are spreading the “share the road” message throughout their communities. Here is another really great example. The San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition recently created a set of Public Service Announcements that will run on local TV channels. On their website, they point out that the TV spots will hopefully “encourage civility among bicyclists and motorists and to better educate the public on safe and responsible behavior on our roadways.” They also point out that the new spots will “complement past accomplishments with the campaign, including our safety messages in local movie theaters and ads on county buses.” Great idea; take a look at the ads here.

Via Cyclelicious

A letter from the PCC

Last night, I posted about the tragic cycling fatalities that occurred this week in our state. I’ll be honest, when I wrote that post I was very tired and feeling a mix of anger and sadness that made writing anything at all very difficult. I think that I made my point about the very poor track record that South Carolina has in prosecuting those who, through reckless driving or carelessness, hurt or kill cyclists and pedestrians. I did not go into enough detail on specific actions that we need to take to solve some of South Carolina’s problems.

Yesterday, Natalie Cappuccio Britt, executive director of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, sent a letter to all members that mentioned a few of the projects that the PCC is working on to improve conditions for all cyclists in the state. Training law enforcement regarding laws that affect cyclists and pushing for a minimum safe passing distance law are just two of the things that she mentioned in the letter. Those of you who are members have already seen this letter, but I am posting it (with Natalie’s permission) for those of you who have not yet seen it. Again, if you are not a PCC member, I encourage you to join today to help with the “fight for a more bicycle friendly South Carolina.”

Now on to Natalie’s letter:

PCC Members,

By now all of you are aware of the horrific crash that took two avid cyclists lives earlier this week. A hit and run fatality killed a third cyclist in SC on Tuesday. No one has to die on a bicycle, but they do. Contrary to popular belief, bicycling is not inherently dangerous, especially when everyone follows the rules of the road particularly motorists. What is dangerous are the often-illegal interactions that occur between bicyclists and motorists every day, increasing the danger for everyone. Cyclists must deal with careless unyielding drivers, the threat of bike theft, and undereducated authorities and institutions. If everyone followed existing laws more carefully, we would be able to share the road safely. If motorists remembered to be a little more considerate, patient and respectful we would have fewer fatalities across the board. Motorists by law have a responsibility to look for bicycles in traffic just as they do other automobiles. Unfortunately, when a car meets a bicycle in a collision, it is almost always the cyclist that loses. At motor vehicle speeds above 35 mph, the result is almost always a bicyclist fatality. Even if the bicyclist does not die, they may suffer life-altering injuries. We are all responsible for traffic fatalities when we drive a car or bicycle carelessly or lawlessly. Don't think it could happen to you? How often do you "zone out" while driving? How often does a motorist who has just hit a bicyclist say "I didn't see the bicycle"? Did they not see? Or were they not looking...not paying attention. Cell phones and radio’s are potential recipes for disaster while operating a vehicle. A crash is no accident...a crash can be prevented.

Many of you have written me in the past few days wanting to know what you can do to advocate for cyclist rights in SC. First, I want to say this anger, this passion that you all feel now as a result of three cyclists being killed, please keep it up. Do not let the momentum die down. All too often after a fatality, cycling advocates are fired up and ready to work. However, far too quickly this energy dies down and we all seem to go back to our normal daily lives. In order for cyclists to have an impact on the decision makers in this state we must forge a united front. We need THOUSANDS of cyclists to stand together and tell our elected officials, “enough is enough”!

The PCC is working harder than ever on the fronts of enforcement and education in order to prevent more unnecessary fatalities. Just last week we hosted a law officer training course. The major objective of the training was to give law enforcement officers of all backgrounds the tools they need to properly enforce the laws that affect bicyclists and to protect cyclists. The course aims to change officers sometimes negative attitudes toward cyclists. Peter Wilborn traveled to Columbia to assist in teaching the course which included a speaker from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. Over 65 officers participated. Currently we are working on making this a statewide program. Last year we hosted a law officer training course in the upstate. We plan to host our next training at the SCDOT bike/ped conference in December and then in the lowcountry.

In addition to this you are all aware of the legislation the PCC proposed last year. PCC volunteers worked tirelessly with legislators to educate them on the bicycle legislation. The bill went through the house committee and will go to the floor for a vote in January. The bill still needs to go before the Senate Transportation Committee. I do not need to explain how vital this piece of legislation is to you (visit our website for more detailed information). It is the stepping stone to introducing additional legislation proposing specific fines and penalties against motorist that kill cyclists. The creation of a minimum safe passing distance law will save lives and ensure prosecution of motorists that hit cyclists. As we approach the legislative session, I will be calling on SC cyclists to support the successful passing of this bill. We will need you all to call, write and even come to Columbia to interact with your elected officials. If you do not do it, who will?

Finally we will continue to work on public service campaigns with PSAs, literature, classes and much more. We must work to change perceptions regarding cycling and educate the general public on the rights of cyclists. Currently there are PSAs running in Charleston and the Midlands. The PCC worked with the SC Department of Public Safety to include bicycle related questions on the SC Driver’s exam. The PCC submitted new revisions in 2006 to improve the bicycling and Share the Road section of the SC Driver’s manual. It now states that drivers should give bicycles a minimum three foot clearance when passing. The PCC provided scholarships for 8 individuals to go through the LAB’s Road 1 and League Cycling Instructor courses and worked with Partners for Active Living to hold these courses in Spartanburg in January and March of this year. We now have 14 LCIs in South Carolina because of this initiative. The PCC produced several thousand bicycle safety bookmarks in English and Spanish for law officers to distribute. Several hundred bookmarks were also distributed to children through the Spartanburg County library. A few years ago we successfully moved a Share the Road license plate bill through the SC legislature becoming only the second state (behind Florida) in the country to do so. We raised $4,000 to produce the first 1,000 plates. With 2800 plates sold it is now the most popular non-profit specialty plate in the state. In 2003 the PCC worked with SCDOT to get their board to adopt a complete streets policy – one in the first half-dozen states to do so. The PCC is working with BCDCOG on educational programs aimed at cyclists and motorists. We are working to distribute bicycle lights throughout the state in conjunction with law officers.

There is way too much happening to mention here, but none of this would be possible without the support of cyclists statewide. We have a long uphill climb but we cannot do it alone. I ask you to join me in the fight for the rights of cyclists. I ask you to give your precious time to fight in honor of all those cyclists that died doing what they loved on SC roads. I ask you to stand with me in front of elected officials this session and demand better laws to protect cyclists. I ask you to the support the PCC, local cycling organizations and national groups as well. If you are a PCC member, I would strongly encourage you to ask other cyclists to join. There is a lot of power in numbers, the more members we have statewide, the more influence we have when we go to the statehouse! Let us work together to prevent future tragedies and work in honor of those that are no longer with us. I hope you will join me in our fight for a more bicycle friendly South Carolina!

I am so grateful to all of the PCC members, I thank you!

Cycle Safe

Natalie Cappuccio Britt
Palmetto Cycling Coalition
http://www.pccsc.net/