For the Love of Bikes

Life is better on a bike!

Page 35 of 102

Arcadia Lake Trail

September 28, 2012 /

Shoreline at Arcadia 4

Mark and I attended the meeting last night on the proposed trail around Arcadia Lake in Edmond, OK. We are very excited about the prospect of the trail which will be around 20 miles in length and paved. As cyclists we would use the trail frequently and take pride in having it in our community. So many people I talk to here would ride bikes or walk more if they had a separate and safe way to do so. The trail would certainly offer that – and more.

Although the trail will be quite the boon for local cyclists, runners, families, seniors and most any nature lover, the people that are less than thrilled about it are some of the nearby home and property owners and those that ride horses at the lake.

The Arcadia Lake Coalition working to bring the trail to fruition, has been proactive by meeting with stakeholders and has accommodated and amended the proposed trail when possible.

It seems one of the big issues has nothing to do with the proposed trail, but rather is a current problem with the area surrounding the lake – namely, trash. Not the type of trash that people leave, but trash that was dumped by the lake when it flooded and has never been cleaned up.

I understand their frustration at having to live with that and also their expectation that it be cleaned up by the city of Oklahoma City or Edmond, but it is a separate problem from the proposed trail and should be handled as such in my opinion.

Another main concern of the home/property owners, who are by far the biggest part of the voiced opposition, is safety and security and the fear that the trail will attract people that engage in criminal activity.

There will be further meetings and discussion to work through any outstanding issues or concerns.

Trail completion is currently slated for November 2014.

Bike Riding Love

September 14, 2012 /

246465_4285353063809_1010963006_n

                                   Photo by Les Bikes/Facebook

I love this image… that’s just how I feel when I ride.

Rode for 40 minutes for Day 14 of 30 day Challenge in this glorious weather – cool and damp – felt like I was in Seattle. Reminded today what a difference biking in street clothes makes over biking in "cyclist" clothes – my typical attire. I’ve never seen such polite drivers – they gave us room to spare and followed at a distance. Day 13 of 30 ride was nearly 4 miles – not much time to bike this week. Did swim 1000 meters today does that count?

Have a great weekend!

My Day in Court

September 13, 2012 /

After getting the ticket for “disregard of a red signal light” back on May 25th, I commented to my husband Mark that I would give up the $119 fine, but I wanted something good to come from it.

Something good did – meet the new ordinance for affirmative defense for cyclists passed by the Edmond City Council Monday, September 10, 2012:

Affirmative Defense Ordinance Page 1

I can’t begin to convey how pleased I am that this was accomplished. It is a big help for cyclists and I’m thankful that my experience helped to bring it about.

Today I finally had my day in court. I found the Judge to be both fair and empathetic; finding me guilty of the offense, but waiving the fine and court costs. Most meaningful to me was that she stated several times that she admired my riding and that she wished our community could be accessed better on foot or by bike. She genuinely seemed sorry that she had to find me guilty because she understood the dilemma I was faced with.

The Affirmative Defense ordinance for bicyclists will go into effect next month. Although I got the ball rolling we would not have this ordinance if not for the efforts of the Edmond Bicycle Committee, particularly Jan Fees, Steve Murdoch (City Attorney), and of course the City Council.

This ordinance is an accommodation for cyclists which recognizes that not all traffic signals detect cyclists and gives us an affirmative defense should we receive a ticket – if all conditions are met. 

I would like to state here for the record that my incident met all of the criteria specified in this ordinance – in other words I did not roll through a red light. Mark and I waited through two cycles before proceeding safely through the intersection.

There seems to be some belief out there that this ordinance gives cyclists the license to roll through stop signs or red lights. It does not and it is imperative that every cyclist obey traffic laws. If you’ve spent much time here on my blog you know one of my pet peeves is cyclists who blow through stop signs or red traffic signals.

The fact is I recognized the red light and stopped and waited; unfortunately the red light didn’t recognize me and change. As every cyclist knows, the infrastructure is geared towards motorists not bicyclists, and presents us with a myriad of challenges where we must do our best to act safely and responsibly.

Edmond is moving forward on becoming a bicycle friendly community, this is just one step toward that. The Bicycle Master Plan is a huge step as is the proposed Arcadia Lake Trail. For local cyclists, please support and acknowledge Edmond’s attempts to better accommodate and encourage people to ride bikes.

Keep riding and stay safe.

Affirmative Defense Ordinance

September 10, 2012 /

100817a5351There’s a new ordinance in town!

An ordinance allowing for a cyclist to have an affirmative defense should they proceed through a red light that fails to recognize them was unanimously passed by the Edmond City Council tonight. This ordinance resulting from my ticket back in May goes into effect in 30 days.

Thanks to the Edmond Bike Committee and local cyclists for working with the City Attorney and others to get this done.

A big victory for local cyclists!

I can’t speak for everyone, but my advocacy efforts on behalf of cyclists with the City of Edmond and the Edmond Bike Committee have been successful both times – back in 2007 to get the 3 foot ordinance adopted and now the affirmative defense ordinance.

Edmond is obviously motivated to be a community that is safe and supportive of bicycling. In addition to the ordinances mentioned above Edmond is in the process of developing and implementing a bicycle master plan, as well as working with private sector partners to build a paved trail around Lake Arcadia.

The future looks brighter for those of us who ride bikes or would ride with better infrastructure and safer roads.

(Updated 9-10-12/10:00pm)

Court Date

September 6, 2012 /

My day in court to contest my ticket (for proceeding through a traffic light that failed to detect me on my bike) is almost here – finally.

Originally scheduled for July 12, 2012, it was canceled and rescheduled for August 9th which didn’t work for me (out of town) so rescheduled again for September 13th.

In the meantime I’ve been busy working with the City of Edmond’s Bike committee, the City Attorney and fellow cyclists to get an ordinance passed similar to the Affirmative Defense statute in Missouri. It isn’t a city ordinance yet, but we’re close.

Once again I have found the Edmond Bike Committee and city officials (in this case the city attorney) to be responsive and willing to take necessary action to correct problems.

All that I wanted when I posted the $119 bond to have “my day in court” was to have something good come from it for those of us that ride bikes.

I hope to have the fine waived because given the circumstances I feel a ticket was not warranted, but if not, having an affirmative defense ordinance in place as a result of my ticket will be a positive outcome for me and every other cyclist navigating through traffic lights here locally. 

With any luck and some justice I’ll get my $119 back and the ordinance!

« Older posts Newer posts »

For the Love of Bikes Blog (2009 - 2023) is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Based on a work at www.loveofbikes.com.

© 2024 For the Love of Bikes

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑