Slow Down Nicely

I've been cutting through Highland Hills on my last few solo rides, heading back and forth to the Narrows Bridge. I noticed that there are a few large speed bumps and many polite signs encouraging drivers to slow down.

As I stopped to take on of these photos, a homeowner came out of his garage and asked if I needed air. I ask the same sort of questions when I see folks prowling around in front of my house. 

"I like these signs. You've got quite a collection along this street." The neighbor explained that the HOA had asked the City of Tacoma to help them with speed control and they did nothing. "We get lots of speeders cutting through to miss the light at N 21st an Pearl."

So the HOA paid to put in the speed bumps, with the help of some grant funding, and put up the signs throughout the neighborhood. The Highland Hills neighborhood has plenty of pedestrian traffic between the golf course, retirement communities, families and kids playing, and the bus line. The 25mph zone could easily be a 20.

I thanked the neighbor for the chat. He was happy to share his story and happened to be heading out on a bike ride that evening, too. His family was biking to a restaurant for dinner.

Until the City of Tacoma engineers safer streets and increases traffic enforcement, neighborhoods like Highland Hills will be forced to take matters into ther own hands. And they are even doing it nicely.

My Other T-Town: Tulsa

I learned to ride a bike as a kid in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We lived in a quiet, secluded neighborhood with a very low speed limit and plenty of other kids. We rode our bikes in the street, helmetless and carefree.

Clowning on my little sister's bike

Once while sleeping over at a friend's house down the street, we snuck out and biked to the video store, leaving the neighborhood and riding on the narrow shoulder of a few 40mph arterials in the dark. I realize now that the two mile roundtrip was extremely dangerous, but those kinds of bike experiences stuck with me over the years.

I reconnected with some of those biking memories on a recent visit to Tulsa with my family. The arterials are still wide and fast, many without sidewalks or shoulders. We did not see a single bike lane. My wife and I talked with Jason at T-Town Bicycles in South Tulsa, a shop very close to my childhood neighborhood. He said that he often rides to work using the marked Bike Routes that zig zag through the neighborhoods and subdivisions, connecting the large grid of arterials. There's a strong bicycle culture growing in Tulsa, but it's hard to see it through the sea of cars.

T-Town Bicycles is located very close to the Riverparks Trail, a haven for all types of bike riders. Mrs. TBR and I had a chance to ride part of the trail on cruiser bikes that we checked out for free from the Tulsa Townies bike share system.

It's FREE!

Only 2 of the 4 bikes worked.

The 40mph arterial adjacent to the trail has been punched through the field where I played as a kid. Riding through there on the trail as a grown-up was a surreal experience to say the least.

Iconic Landmarks of South Tulsa!

When a bigger bridge across the Arkansas River was built, they converted the old one to bike/ped only.

We ended our trip with a walking tour of downtown Tulsa, where I was surprised to see bike racks used to distinguish shops and business districts. And we found one sharrow painted street! I'm sure there's another one somewhere.

And with the passage of Vision Tulsa, a local ballot initiative to help pay for livability improvements, USA BMX will be relocating to Tulsa and the old baseball stadium will be turned into a world-class bmx arena. This was announced just days after we returned home, so I'm excited to see how this plays into the bike culture movement in T-Town. My other one.

Missing Pages

Over the years I've used this blog as a place to document our bicycle adventures.  Even though 2015 was a big year for us on bikes, I didn't get a single thing posted. I won't attempt to go back and fill in the blank, but I am disappointed that I won't have TBR to use a a reference for 2015 - Tacoma's Year of the Bike.

Moving forward, I will make a renewed effort to get a few photos posted now and then in more of a micro-blog style. I used to feel like Tacoma needed to be showcased as a good town for bikes and wanted to help promote what the city had to offer. Now I just need to try and keep up with my family and our memory-making days on two wheels. Tune-in or tune-out; either way TBR is getting a tune-up.

Tell Tacoma to Budget for Bikes

We need more Tacoma residents to speak up for the importance of bike funding. If you have not done so already, please visit the City of Tacoma's budget website and follow the link in the upper right to “Provide Your Input”.

http://budget.cityoftacoma.org/

There is some funding proposed for trails and pedestrian improvements, but we really need more on-street bicycle infrastructure that connects people getting to and from these trails and walkable areas to jobs and business districts. The recently completed bicycle boulevard that runs from South Tacoma to the North End is a good example of how our city can be more connected with just a little paint and signage.

For a list of the proposed Transportation projects, see pages 4-6 of this budget document: 

http://cms.cityoftacoma.org/finance/budget/2015-2016/proposed_15-16/10_Capital_Projects_2015-2016_Proposed.pdf

If you want to speak directly to our Mayor and City Council, consider attending a Citizen's Forum at 5pm on the second Tuesday of each month. The Citizen's Forum provides an opportunity for citizens to speak about items under the City Council’s jurisdiction that are not on that evening’s City Council meeting agenda. There are a few rules and limitations, but this is a great opportunity for you to take the mic and tell the city why planning and building more bicycle infrastructure in Tacoma is important to you.

Please feel free to pass along the link to any one else who has a voice that needs to be heard.

Our Turn to Give Back to 2nd Cycle

2nd Cycle is a non-profit community cycle center in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood. After years of making-do in sublet spaces, they will be moving to a new, permanent location at the end of this month. Moving is expensive and they are quietly asking for financial help with this process. Please consider making a donation through their Indiegogo site or swing by their existing shop at 1314 Marting Luther King Jr Way before the end of October to make a purchase or donation in person.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/second-cycle-is-moving--2

Mock-up of the new shop at S 12th and MLK

2nd Cycle has always been located in the heart of the Hilltop neighborhood. Organizers and volunteers have donated thousands of hours to keep this resource affordable and accessible to anyone and everyone. Since their humble beginning in the alley behind Le Le Restaurant, the vision for the shop has always been clear:

"To build a resilient, sustainable, connected community of cyclists promoting equity and acting in solidarity.  We see cycling demystified, normalized, and a part of daily life."

I started this blog in 2008, just after 2nd Cycle had opened it's doors. I watched them become an integral part our cycling community as it has grown substantially over the last six years. They have done this by making bikes accessible and understandable. They host a weekly Women and LGBTQ Night, offer neighborhood kids the chance to learn mechanical skills in a safe environment, and use a pay-what-you-can cost structure on some items and services.  

The efforts of the organizers and volunteers are commendable and this community resource deserves our support. You can find out more about the shop at 2ndCycle.org and on their Facebook page.