Covering Tucson's cycling community

Thomas Oehler, the rider you saw in the video, will be in Tucson tonight demoing trial biking during the Tuesday Night Bike Ride.

Emily Astiz, who works for Red Bull, Oehler’s sponsor, said he will be doing his demo at the Main Library whenever the ride makes its way there.

Check out Oehler’s site here.

Here is a some info from Wikipedia about mountain bike trial riding, which appears to be the similar.

Mountain bike trials, also known as observed trials is a discipline of mountain biking in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Derived from motorcycle trials, it originated in Catalonia and is said to have been invented by the father of Ot Pi, a world champion motorcycle trials rider. Pi’s father had wanted his son to learn motorcycle trials by practising on an ordinary push bike.

Trials riding is an extreme test of bicycle handling skills, over all kinds of obstacles, both natural and man-made. It now has a strong — though small — following worldwide, though it is still primarily a European sport. Skills taken from trials riding can be used practically on any bicycle for balance, for example controlled braking and track standing, or balancing on the bike without putting a foot down. Competition trial bikes are characterised by powerful brakes, wide handlebars, lightweight parts, single-speed low gearing, low tire pressures with a thick rear tire, distinctive frame geometry, and typically lack of a seat.

Unfortunately, I can’t attend the ride tonight to check it out. If anyone takes photos or video, please send it along and I’ll post it on the site.

How many of your neighbors are commuting to work by bike?

A new map produced by the Pima Association of Governments uses census information from 2000 to detail the percentage of people commuting to work by bicycle. It is broken down by neighborhood blocks.

According to the map, a neighborhood near the University of Arizona had the largest percentage of people riding to work, with 32 percent.

Ann Chanecka a transportation planner with PAG, said the point of the map was to figure out where people are commuting by bike and where they aren’t and then determine why.

“You can see around the University the rates are really high,” Chanecka said. “You can take a look and say, ‘Well is it the facilities? Is it the destination? Is it the density?’”

Tom Thivener, the City of Tucson’s bike and pedestrian program manager, said based on the map it looks like the types of facilities play a part in the number of people commuting.

“If you look at our map it is clear around the UA, we have four really good facilities; Third Street, Mountain, University and Highland,” Thivener said. “Folks living right in those areas have a lot of choices on how they can get around. That is why we see so many bikes. You can follow Mountain up and the ridership stays pretty high all the way up to the Rillito.”

Thivener and Chanecka said the challenge is to figure out how to get people in the areas where few people are commuting by bike to start riding to work or school.

“They live in urban core, they are surrounded by the grid and yet they are not out there biking,” Thivener said. “Why is that? I think that is a big question that us planners have to look at. We should go out there and target those areas. I see a lot of potential.”

Chanecka said she was most intrigued by the areas that appeared to be anomalies.

“What is it about those areas that aren’t completely downtown, but people are biking,” Chanecka asked? “It is just interesting  to figure out what is it about those areas that people are biking.”

Chanecka said the map is a “snap shot in time,” and unfortunately won’t be able to be recreated in the same way because the census switched to a shorter form for the 2010 census, which did not include a question about bike commuting.

According to Chanecka, the American Community Survey replaced the census when it comes to getting detailed information about people’s transportation, but it doesn’t survey everyone and doesn’t get as detailed as the census did.

Download the full map here. Is there anything that jumps out to you in the map?

Post any interesting links you find in the comment section.

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• Tempe Tour de Fat 2010 – Create a volunteer team
• Man’s bicycle accidentally sold at estate sale
• Mom calls out bicycle thief
• 85K participate in London SkyRide
• Bicycle safety day: Important tips for cyclists, motorists, pedestrians
• Boisterous Bicycle Picket Puts Brakes on Jimmy Johns
• UM-Flint DPS to utilize bicycles during patrols
• Adventure awaits exploring Majorca’s west coast by bicycle
• Strikes Give Cycling a Push in Europe
• Royal trousers go to Oxfam as Charles gets on his bike
• Cycling to recycling: the ethical way to dispose of your bike
• Bike tours and more offered in, around Philly
• Cycling in Ottawa: Five tough problems, five other easy fixes

Editor’s note: I’ve had a few little updates that weren’t worthy of their own post and I’ve collected them in this notebook.

The University of Arizona’s bike valet is scheduled to open on Tuesday and will be free for students and faculty to use until Sept. 24. According to an email from Charles Franz, the alternative transportation program coordinator for the Parking and Transportation department, the bicycle must be registered to be parked in the valet area.

Other interesting details from the document outlining the program:

• Tipping the valet attendant is not permitted.

• The Parking and Transportation Department will not be responsible for damaged or stolen bikes.

• Bikes must be picked up by 5:45 p.m. and will be locked to the rack if they aren’t picked up.

Check out the document for the rest of the details.

UA underpass repainting

Last week, the Olive Street underpass on the UA campus was closed to bikes because the pedestrian crossing zones were being repainted. This came just days after a collision between a pedestrian and cyclist.

Here is a photo of the repainted area:

Reader photo of law-breaking motorist

Tucson Velo reader Edward sent in photos in reference to the opinion piece in the Tucson Weekly about TPD’s enforcement. The author mentions Mountain and Grant being a particularly bad intersection for motorists violating the law.

Here is one of the photos Edward sent in:

Post any interesting links in the comment section.

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Post any interesting links you find in the comment section.

• Bicycle Coalition shows off real pedal power pulling a pro-green two-wheeled move
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• Pros and passers-by help paint Bike Boulevard mural

Mike Sanchez was cruising around Fourth Avenue on his 1965 Diamondback cruiser in the hopes he could sell it.

According to Sanchez he added the suspension fork and handlebars. The paint is original, but the wheels were powder coated, which Sanchez said is an expensive process.

He said he was going to go into bike shops to see if they might want to buy it. He said he wouldn’t take less than $150 for it.

Post any interesting links you find in the comment section.

• Interactive graphic: The rise of biking and walking
• Courier-Post readers restore bicyclist’s faith in humanity
• Bike riders can take class, avoid fine
• Feds Push ‘Active Transportation’ for Healthy Communities
• The World’s Five Bike-Friendliest Cities
• Carbon Fiber Conundrum
• Medics hail power bike
• Don’t Leave Your Bike on the Bus
• At Burning Man You Must Wear Pants On This Bike
• Evil Bike Salmon Ruining the Roads for Reuters’ Felix Salmon (No Relation)
• Bike Path Bollard 1, Car 0
• Spreading bike love Fort Collins style
• Traffic Death Experts Ignore the Role of Dangerous Streets
• More home shoppers include bike access on their list
• Powell joins cities fighting bicycle theft with registration

Three roadway projects near downtown Tucson will be finished in the next few weeks and will all include bike lanes.

Anklam should be completed this morning, according to Tom Thivener, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian program manager.

Anklam is a popular route for cyclists making their way to the west side of Tucson because it is one of the only roads with continuous bike lanes under the freeway.

Toole Avenue from 5th Avenue to Stone will start on Monday and should be finished by Friday morning. Thivener said the work on all the road projects are being done at night.

The Toole Avenue repaving will reduce travel lanes to one lane in each direction in order to accommodate bike lanes in both directions.

The last project, which should start Thursday, is Congress from Grande to the Interstate. According to Thivener, the city will eliminate one eastbound lane in order to add bike lanes. The street will remain two lanes heading out of downtown.

“It will serve the neighborhoods a lot better than what is currently out there,” Thivener said. “Bicyclists will finally get their place in the road.”

Thivener said federal money is allowing the city to repave 10 corridors in the city.

“These are some of the worst roads in Tucson,” Thivener said.

Update: Here is a photo of Anklam after receiving the new pavement and bike lanes. The speed bumps are gone.

Anklam paving was completed last night. Some bike lane markings still need to be completed.

John Howard, left, listens as Richard DeBernardis introduces him to the crowd.

Four-time Olympian John Howard, 63, is being honored by El Tour de Tucson event organizers.

In a news conference Thursday, Perimeter Bicycling Association of American’s president Richard DeBernardis announced the 28th El Tour de Tucson would be dedicated to Howard.

Howard, a US National Road Race champion, set the bicycle land speed record by going over 150 miles per hour on a bike.

Howard said it was an honor to recognized by the event organizers.

“It is a huge thrill,” Howard said. “The event stands for so much that is important about cycling. Where else in world can amateur riders ride with professional riders?”

Howard, who finished 60th last year after a crash, will ride again this year.

DeBernardis also announced route changes for this year’s ride.

The ride will return to using Oracle Road, which wasn’t used last year because of construction.

The start of the shortest event has been moved from Ironwood Ridge High School to the headquarters of Sanofi-Aventis, the new sponsor of the — now — 40-mile ride.

Click image for a larger version of the map.

DeBernardis said Oro Valley couldn’t afford to sponsor the event and the high school was too small to hold it.

“The school that we started at was getting to be too congested,” DeBernardis said.  “We needed a starting area that would allow for us to grow.”

DeBernardis said in addition to having more space, the start of the event is uphill and will make it safer for cyclists in the 40-mile event to merge with the cyclists who are riding the longer events.

He said the added distance wouldn’t affect people.

“It is not going to be detrimental,” DeBernardis said. “Those who can do 35 can do 40 because that ride is 95 percent downhill.”

Lastly, DeBernardis said they event will continue to use the frontage road instead of Silverbell. The ride was re-routed to the frontage road last year because of construction.

DeBernardis said the police told him it was much safer and easier to control the traffic with cyclists using the frontage road.

According to DeBernardis, Tucson Police have developed a plan to move traffic through the intersections more efficiently this year, which caused frustration among drivers last year.

The ride takes place on Nov. 20 and offers four ride distances. Learn more about the ride here.

Check out the video of Howard’s land speed record-setting ride: